Guest Spotlight: Kim Alexis

Life Beyond the Cover

Before Kim Alexis became one of the most recognizable supermodels of the 1980s, she was a competitive swimmer from upstate New York who thought she might become a pharmacist.

Then, at 17, someone suggested she try modeling.

It was an unexpected turn for a self-described tomboy who says she knew little about fashion and didn’t even know how to put on makeup. But shortly after turning 18, Alexis left home for New York City. Within days, she was working in Europe, and within months, her face was appearing on magazine covers.

It was the beginning of a remarkable career.

Alexis became one of the defining models of the late 1970s and 1980s, appearing in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan and Sports Illustrated, where she became a familiar face in the magazine’s iconic Swimsuit Issue. Her career included dozens of magazine covers and major advertising campaigns, and in 1983 she succeeded Lauren Hutton as the face of Revlon’s prestigious Ultima II cosmetics line.

Her career eventually moved beyond modeling. Alexis became a television personality and host, including work with Good Morning America, and appeared in television and film projects including Cheers, The Commish and Holy Man.

But when Alexis sat down with Roy Ice on Lifestyle, the conversation quickly moved beyond the photographs, magazine covers and celebrity.

Finding Yourself When Everyone Is Looking at You

Alexis was barely out of high school when she found herself in a world where the values she had grown up with suddenly seemed to have changed.

In New York, good grades, swimming times and the things that had once defined achievement no longer mattered. Instead, she found herself navigating an industry intensely focused on appearance while trying to determine where she fit and what she believed.

She admits those early years weren’t always glamorous. There was loneliness, uncertainty and plenty of self-questioning. She also had to learn something many young adults struggle to master: how to set boundaries.

“I think it was probably setting boundaries,” she tells Roy, remembering situations in which she had to decide what was legitimately part of the job and when someone was crossing a line. What helped was the foundation she had received at home, along with a strong work ethic and a willingness to say no when necessary.

It is an interesting glimpse behind an industry built largely around appearances. While millions of people saw the finished photograph, Alexis was learning in real time how to remain herself.

More Than a Famous Face

That ability to look beyond appearances has followed Alexis into the years since her modeling career.

She is the mother of three sons, and her concern for children has fueled her support of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She participates in charity golf events that raise funds and awareness, joking with Roy that her imperfect golf game may actually serve an important purpose: making everyone else feel better about theirs.

Her desire to give back took another very personal form when she decided to cut the long hair that had been part of her signature look for decades.

Alexis donated 19 inches of it to Children With Hair Loss. She told Roy that once she learned young girls particularly wanted longer hair, she instructed her stylist to cut as much as possible.

For someone whose appearance had been part of her livelihood, her perspective was refreshingly simple: the hair could grow back. Giving it to a child mattered more.

What Comes After the Thing You’re Known For?

Perhaps the most compelling part of Alexis’ story begins when the career that made her famous began to change.

After her Revlon contract ended, Alexis faced a question familiar to anyone entering a new season of life: What now?

Her answer was not to try to recreate the past.

An opportunity to work as a fashion editor for Good Morning America opened an entirely different world. Alexis recalls going into a meeting about the position, accepting the job and discovering she would be appearing live on television the very next morning.

She said yes.

That experience became another chapter in a career that would include television, speaking and writing. Alexis says she spent 11 years traveling regularly between Florida and New York, including three years with Good Morning America.

That willingness to try something new is now at the heart of her podcast, Unexpired, where she talks with people about reinvention, resilience and discovering that their most meaningful contribution may not be behind them.

Alexis is particularly interested in people who refuse to believe they are finished simply because one season has ended.

Again and again, she says, she finds a common thread among them: they get back up. They remain open. They take chances. Sometimes years of preparation meet one unexpected opportunity, one relationship or one moment when someone simply decides to say yes.

It’s a lesson Alexis has lived herself.

Still Becoming

More than four decades after she first stepped in front of a professional camera, Kim Alexis seems less interested in looking backward at what she accomplished than in asking what life still has to offer.

“There’s so much potential, and there’s so many gifts in all of us,” she tells Roy. As we grow older, she believes our experience gives us something valuable to pass along to those coming behind us. “I think we all need hope and we all need a purpose.”

For someone whose career began in an industry devoted to capturing the perfect image, perhaps that’s an especially fitting perspective.

A photograph may capture who you were in one extraordinary moment.

It doesn’t have to define who you become next.

Life Beyond the Cover

Before Kim Alexis became one of the most recognizable faces in American fashion, she was a competitive swimmer from upstate New York who thought she might become a pharmacist.

Then, at 17, someone suggested she try modeling.

It was an unexpected turn for a self-described tomboy who says she knew little about fashion and didn’t even know how to put on makeup. But shortly after turning 18, Alexis left home for New York City. Within days, she was working in Europe, and within months, her face was appearing on magazine covers.

It was the beginning of a remarkable career.

Alexis became one of the defining models of the late 1970s and 1980s, appearing on the covers of magazines including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan and Sports Illustrated. In 1983, she became the face of Revlon’s Ultima II line, succeeding Lauren Hutton. Her career eventually expanded beyond modeling into television, acting, speaking and writing.

But when Alexis sat down with Roy Ice on Lifestyle, the conversation quickly moved beyond the photographs and magazine covers.

Finding Yourself When Everyone Is Looking at You

Alexis was barely out of high school when she found herself in a world where the values she had grown up with suddenly seemed to have changed.

In New York, good grades, swimming times and the things that had once defined achievement no longer mattered. Instead, she found herself navigating an industry intensely focused on appearance while trying to determine where she fit and what she believed.

She admits those early years weren’t always glamorous. There was loneliness, uncertainty and plenty of self-questioning. She also had to learn something many young adults struggle to master: how to set boundaries.

“I think it was probably setting boundaries,” she tells Roy, remembering situations in which she had to decide what was legitimately part of the job and when someone was crossing a line. What helped was the foundation she had received at home, along with a strong work ethic and a willingness to say no when necessary.

It is an interesting glimpse behind an industry built largely around appearances. While millions of people saw the finished photograph, Alexis was learning in real time how to remain herself.

More Than a Famous Face

That ability to look beyond appearances has followed Alexis into the years since her modeling career.

She is the mother of three sons, and her concern for children has fueled her support of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She participates in charity golf events that raise funds and awareness, joking with Roy that her imperfect golf game may actually serve an important purpose: making everyone else feel better about theirs.

Her desire to give back took another very personal form when she decided to cut the long hair that had been part of her signature look for decades.

Alexis donated 19 inches of it to Children With Hair Loss. She told Roy that once she learned young girls particularly wanted longer hair, she instructed her stylist to cut as much as possible.

For someone whose appearance had been part of her livelihood, her perspective was refreshingly simple: the hair could grow back. Giving it to a child mattered more.

What Comes After the Thing You’re Known For?

Perhaps the most compelling part of Alexis’ story begins when the career that made her famous began to change.

After her Revlon contract ended, Alexis faced a question familiar to anyone entering a new season of life: What now?

Her answer was not to try to recreate the past.

An opportunity to work as a fashion editor for Good Morning America opened an entirely different world. Alexis recalls going into a meeting about the position, accepting the job and discovering she would be appearing live on television the very next morning.

She said yes.

That experience became another chapter in a career that would include television, speaking and writing. Alexis says she spent 11 years traveling regularly between Florida and New York, including three years with Good Morning America.

That willingness to try something new is now at the heart of her podcast, Unexpired, where she talks with people about reinvention, resilience and discovering that their most meaningful contribution may not be behind them.

Alexis is particularly interested in people who refuse to believe they are finished simply because one season has ended.

Again and again, she says, she finds a common thread among them: they get back up. They remain open. They take chances. Sometimes years of preparation meet one unexpected opportunity, one relationship or one moment when someone simply decides to say yes.

It’s a lesson Alexis has lived herself.

Still Becoming

More than four decades after she first stepped in front of a professional camera, Kim Alexis seems less interested in looking backward at what she accomplished than in asking what life still has to offer.

“There’s so much potential, and there’s so many gifts in all of us,” she tells Roy. As we grow older, she believes our experience gives us something valuable to pass along to those coming behind us. “I think we all need hope and we all need a purpose.”

For someone whose career began in an industry devoted to capturing the perfect image, perhaps that’s an especially fitting perspective.

A photograph may capture who you were in one extraordinary moment.

It doesn’t have to define who you become next.