Height can certainly play a large part in launching a successful modeling career. And in some cases, so can a lack of tall genes. Such is the case with model Nicole Oppermann.
"I missed the height by one inch," explains the 21-year-old Texas resident of her initial attempts to sign with an agency. "It's so sad because had I been signed to an agency early on, I probably would have had a lot more doors opened to me and I probably would have gotten here a lot sooner."
Oppermann is doing just fine these days, thanks in no small part to the agencies that showed little interest in working with the 5-foot-6 model. Rather than sit and sulk, Oppermann decided to utilize the rejection as motivation to succeed on her very own.
Raised in a small town in Missouri, Oppermann always dreamed of a career in entertainment. However, it wasn't until a photographer approached her in a mall and told her that she should consider a career in modeling that her curiosity began to increase.
"That really sparked it," she recalls. "I think I was 16 or 17 when that happened."
After finishing high school, Oppermann was attending college when she suddenly decided that it was time to leave home.
"I was really ready for a change of scenery," she says. "I wasn't really happy with the college that I was going to. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do for a career. And then one day I was finally sick of it and I withdrew from all of my classes and told everybody that I was moving to Florida."
After first living with her grandparents, Oppermann eventually found a job and her own place to live in the Sunshine State. A short while after her arrival, a second chance meeting would finally persuade to follow her dreams.
While working as a hostess one day, a group of Hawaiian Tropic representatives approached Oppermann and inquired about her interest in working spring break, as well as participating in future Hawaiian Tropic pageants and contests.
"I don't really know what I was doing as a hostess that caught their attention because there's plenty of beautiful girls walking around the beach," she confesses.
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