Model Citizen Joan Severance in Taos New Mexico

Drop dead gorgeous (then and now), Joan Severance has had a foot in Taos for over two decades.

She comes and goes, but Taos will always be the place Joan comes to catch her breath (and have some fun), between projects.

And she always has more than one on her plate at a time!

Before the term Supermodel became part of the common vernacular, there was Joan Severance.

One could not open a High Fashion magazine during the 1970’s and 80’s without Joan’s patrician haughtiness (a testament to her acting abilities – she is as down to earth as they come), staring you down through ice-blue eyes. Unlike many models of today, there was no identifying with Joan and her fellow mannequins; these were women of another breed. Goddesses who had descended from the heights to grace us mere mortals with their otherworldly Beauty.

She started modelling (at age 15), to earn money for college. After appearing in the “Miss Houston” beauty contest, she was discovered by a local photographer who introduced her to John Casablancas (the Founder of Elite, one of the Industry’s foremost Modelling Agencies).

Casablancas sent her to Paris to build her Portfolio and hone her skills in front of the camera. When she returned to the States she became one of America’s top models, filming dozens of commercials, appearing on several magazine covers and earning upwards of $7500.00 a day.

In the late 80’s Joan decided to retire from the modelling world and try her luck in Hollywood.

Within weeks she had a manager, an agent and had begun studying with various acting coaches. Six months after making her move, she landed a role on the major TV series, Wiseguy.

In 1992 she posed nude for Playboy which catapulted her into another arena entirely. Over the next decade she appeared in more than a dozen movies and as many TV shows.

Not content to rest on her laurels, Joan continued her broader education. She has a gourmet cooking degree (owned and was the chef for a time, of a restaurant in upstate New York), owned a catering company in New York, and has taught commercial acting classes. She also earned a B.A. in Natural Health and has long been a tireless advocate for alternative, holistic lifestyle choices. She’s that passionate about it, that she’s probably experimented with making her own natural health remedies herself, with the help of these empty vegan capsules, (learn more here) to improve her own health and wellbeing. If anyone has the knowledge and experience to do so, it’s definitely her.

A couple of years ago Joan created a communication game (txTylz) and is currently developing it for a mobile app. Clearly there is more to this woman than her great looks!

Recently Joan has been experiencing somewhat of a revival of her modelling career; as of late it appears that aging well and gracefully has modern appeal. Grey haired models are appearing on runways and in print – Joan appears in a current Celine campaign – what’s old is new again, plus her new Vogue beauty video has gone viral, leaving no doubt that women of a certain age are now most definitely, in vogue!

Always known for her glorious mane of hair, Joan who was one of the first older models to let her hair turn silver, has just launched a new and very timely, organic hair care line along with all of the above and the new book she’s just published! We’re hoping that the hair products her line will sell will be on par with different salon hair products so we can all reap the benefits!

And no it is not a tell all autobiography, but a manual to assist women of all ages, in finding their mates.

Manifest Your Mate: A Journal For Attraction is an easy to read, easy to follow guide to finding your perfect match through the power of positive thinking and creative visualization.

A year ago, once she’d completed the draft, Joan reached out to women she knew who were currently single, and invited a dozen of them (self included) to participate in an experimental exercise; working the steps (of the book) and reporting our results during and after we had completed the study.

Except for a brief marriage to a fellow model during the 80’s, and a couple of serious relationships gone awry, Joan like many women of our generation, has not been overly lucky in Love.

One wonders if it is because our generation of women were in the vanguard of change regarding how we approached our lives, the world around us and mostly, how we related to men. Once we were financially competitive, the men of our generation seemed to shy away from our success and (newfound) feelings of self worth. Perhaps due to their own conditioning, a liberated and autonomous woman was a terrifying prospect. The answer is elusive because many men appear to be attracted by the same yet begin to detach once in relationship with a powerful woman.

Our society for certain is partially to blame, with its emphasis on youth and things of fleeting value, but looking around at friends who are in relationships and who have managed to maintain these marriages and commitments, one realizes that indeed, it is possible and age has nothing to do with it.

Joan has zeroed in on this fact and with her natural scientific bent, has taken on this subject matter with the precision and attention to detail of a Biologist. And indeed, in many ways that’s exactly what she is, recognizing as she does the distinct biological differences between the sexes.

In Manifest Your Mate, Joan invites us to explore our fantasies, to get very specific about what we want in a mate, right down to his shoe size. She asks that we take note of unusual encounters and pay attention to everyday events. With our check-ins we report our findings like archeologists in the field.

I’ll not give anymore away, but I will say I’ve had tons more male attention since working with the book, and would recommend it to any woman who is currently single and questioning her status.

Just be prepared to get what you wish for!