2015 HONOREE


Beverly Johnson | Modelpreneur

Twitter @BeverlyJohnson1

Beverly Johnson is a Founder, Chairwoman and CEO of BJE LLC.  The Beverly Johnson Luxurious Lifestyle Brand of products can be found on Beverly’s Online Store at www.beverlyjohnson.com. These products are the “highest quality” luxurious products in Hair, Beauty, Cosmetics and Fashion for the global Multi-Cultural market for women of all colors.

Ms. Johnson is the first African-American supermodel. Her stunning features and superstardom would eventually land her on the cover of Vogue magazine in. 1974, making world history as the First African-American model to ever grace the acclaimed magazine’s cover, and forever changing the beauty ideal in the fashion world.

Beverly’s remarkable career, which spans four decades, is a showcase of accomplishment: from model to mom to actress, author, activist, businesswoman, TV personality, and—finally—icon.

As a model in the 1970s, 80s, 90s and 2000’s Beverly appeared on more than 500 magazine covers from Vogue, Glamour and Cosmopolitan to Essence, Ebony and French Elle. She has thousands of editorial pages, and hundreds of advertising campaigns to her credit. Her success during the 70s and 80s transcended race, as Beverly became a household name. She signed with the Ford Modeling agency and was one of the highest paid models in the industry in a very short period of time. Her work wasn’t limited to print; Beverly also worked the runway for such designers asYvesSt.  Laurent, Valentino, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Halston.

Throughout her career, Beverly has been active in charity work and speaking out about health issues. In the 1980s Beverly worked as an AIDS activist and continues to this day to support health issues affecting gay men. During the Clinton era, Beverly was appointed the Ambassador of Goodwill to the Fashion Industry to help with the elimination of sweatshops. In 2008 she became the national spokesperson for Ask4Tell4, a campaign that seeks to educate women about the options available to treat uterine fibroids, a painful condition that affected Beverly’s life for more than 10 years. In the fall of 2008 Beverly appeared on NBC’s Today Show to discuss the protocol for the Ask4Tell4 campaign. Currently, Beverly is a national spokesperson for the Global Down Syndrome Foundation.

A media mainstay, Beverly is often called upon to speak about beauty, fashion, style, hair, fitness and health. She has interviews with many news outlets and TV shows, including OPRAH, Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, CBS Moring News, ABC News, and The Nate Berkus Show.

 Beverly paved the way for future African-American women in the fashion industry and set the standard for models venturing outside the industry. She wouldeventuallybecomethefirst“Modelpreneur”  withthe  launchofthe Beverly Johnson Hair Collection.

In addition to her numerous ongoing projects, 2012 was a very busy year for Beverly. She appeared in Tyler Perry’s new movie Good Deeds. And last year, Beverly launched her reality show, Beverly’s Full House, on the Oprah Winfrey Network.