Supermodel Lyndsey Scott Proves Beauty And Brains Happen

What two words come to mind when you think of a supermodel? ‘Computer genius’ may not be on that list, but supermodel Lyndsey Scott proves that it can be. The 29-year-old model, who’s rocked Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show runway and was the first black model to stomp down Calvin Klein’s runway in 2009, is making headlines for recently revealing her interesting side-gig: computer coding.

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The stunning beauty said in an interview with ELLE Magazine that she enjoys coding because it gives her a necessary “balance” in her life and the ability to use all areas of her intelligence.

When I’m modeling or acting, I need a distraction to keep my mind off the bookings I can’t control. When I’m programming, I like having a more glamorous and energetic distraction to get me away from my computer screen.

Lyndsey doesn’t have any plans of getting rid of her “distraction.” She’s worked on two Apple apps already — one for her Ugandan charity Educate! and another called the iPort, which allows models to create mobile portfolios for the iPad. With a dual-degree in theatre and computer science from Amherest College, Scott obviously made her studies work in her career. According to her ELLE interview, though, she took college classes with many female programmers and wasn’t deterred to pursue it.

I was lucky to have quite a few great female programmers in the majority of my college computer science classes, so I never thought of female programmers as being an oddity. I’d give women who are struggling to break into tech the same advice I’d give to women who struggle to fit into any male-dominated field. Have confidence, don’t think of yourself as being “less than,” don’t be afraid to speak up or contribute or disagree or lead.

This supermodel is definitely one who rocks and can inspire us to think a little differently about our own perceptions of what “smart” looks like. Yes, there are intelligent women that we do see (i.e., Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey), but we rarely see any young women who are balancing two vastly different interests given the spotlight.

Hopefully that will change this year. **sigh**

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