Iman Abdulmajid Quotes & Sayings

Your image as a model is your currency. That's the only thing you've got. No one cares what you look like in real life. Nobody is going to say the make up guy was terrible. They will say, you look awful and let's not book her again. — Iman Abdulmajid

I come from Somalia. We start working young, and we understand that kind of life. I would be bored to death not doing anything creative. — Iman Abdulmajid

Pulling off a zebra-print dress can be challenging for some. — Iman Abdulmajid

Don't be afraid to walk away from things that are just not right for you. — Iman Abdulmajid

If I say something about David [Bowie], I get 1000 tweets, if I say something about my business just a few! The more personal, the better. — Iman Abdulmajid

A self-esteem issue doesn't change whether you're considered beautiful or not because it's about what's inside you. — Iman Abdulmajid

We grew up as poor people but we never knew poverty. I still love and miss the Somalia I grew up in. Things changed, when my father became a diplomat later on. — Iman Abdulmajid

When 9/11 happened, 12 of our neighborhood firemen were killed. I looked around at the country that had adopted me and I became an American. — Iman Abdulmajid

The one thing my mother instilled in me, well both my parents but specifically my mother - I come from a Muslim country where boys were more wanted than girls so she always made me feel that there is nothing that I couldn't do as well as the boys if not better. — Iman Abdulmajid

Every generation and every group brings the door into other things. — Iman Abdulmajid

No one is calling any of these designers racist. The act itself is racist. There were more black models working in the Seventies than there are in 2013. This a time when silence is not acceptable at all. If the conversation cannot be had publicly in our industry, then there is something inherently wrong. — Iman Abdulmajid

There is strength in numbers. — Iman Abdulmajid

One thing my mother always instilled in me is to always know my worth. Don't settle for less. She used to say to me 'Iman, no is a complete sentence, learn to say no. You don't have to explain it you don't have to say anything after it. It's a complete sentence.' So when I came to America 1975, I found out that the black models were being paid less than white models. So the first thing I did was say I'm not going to do the job unless I'm paid the same amount. — Iman Abdulmajid

As a young girl, I was much more preoccupied by my flaws. Everyone teased me because of my long, skinny neck. To hide my so-called deformity, I was wearing a turtleneck when I was 3! Yet my neck is probably my best asset. At the end of the day, what counts is the entire package. — Iman Abdulmajid

My saving grace was that I always knew when to leave the party. — Iman Abdulmajid