Former bikini model Kathy Ireland suited for business

Since she left modeling, Kathy Ireland has been quietly building a hugely successful company. Just this month she was named as one of the top successful celebrities in business, edging out even Oprah Winfrey. “Today” national correspondent Jamie Gangel visited Ireland at her home in Santa Barbara to give a rare look behind the scenes at her business and her family.

When most people think of Kathy Ireland, they remember her as the stunning California girl who for more than a decade graced the pages of Sports Illustrated.

But in 1993, Kathy Ireland decided there had to be life after modeling so she helped design a product that was not very glamorous, but was very successful.

Jamie Gangel: You started out with…

Kathy Ireland: Socks.

Gangel: Why socks?

Ireland: Socks for a few reasons. A swimsuit would have been too obvious. But, I felt that if women embraced our socks, then we would have something.

Kathy just sold her 100 millionth pair of socks and her company, Kathy Ireland Worldwide, has expanded into clothing, furniture, bed linens, window coverings, rugs, lighting, kitchen ware, even gardening tools – all of which translated last year into a business grossing $1 billion.

Our mission statement is “finding solutions for families especially busy moms” and I take that very seriously, says Ireland.

So seriously, that unlike many celebrities, Kathy is involved in designing of all the products that bear her name and personally goes out to promote.

Gangel: You don't just sell your name?

1. More from TODAY.com
   1. Justin Bieber allegedly batters photographer
      

      On Sunday, Justin Bieber's squeaky-clean reputation took a hit as the singer allegedly launched into a physical altercatio...

   2. Iraq veteran calls VetDog 'life changing'
   3. Bobby Brown sings for Memorial Day crowd
   4. 'Noah's Ark' built to save frogs in peril
   5. Jilted groom suing for $61K: ‘I tried to be a nice guy’

Ireland: No.

Gangel: You said to me earlier, you're not easy to work with because you like to be involved in every part of the business.

Ireland: Right.  For some people that doesn't work. For others they embrace it. But, I have been accused of being a control freak. But, you know what? I feel really passionately about what we do.

Her other passion, no question, is her family. Now 41-years-old, Ireland dotes on her three children who she prefers to keep out of the spotlight.

She's been married for 16 years to emergency room doctor Greg Olsen but it turns out the supermodel needed her mom, a nurse, to introduce them:

Gangel: Did you approach her mother? Or did her mother approach you?

Greg Olsen: Oh, now we're getting into the dirty details. [Laughter] Well, okay … there [are] different versions of this.

Ireland: Let's hear this, yeah.

Olsen: There [are] different versions of this story, depending on who…

Ireland: I actually kind of went after him but… [Laughter]

Olsen: Well, I actually [Laughter] I approached Kathy’s mother and she mentioned to me, "Well, I’m having lunch with my daughter next week, why don't you join us? And so it…"

Ireland: And meanwhile, I had spotted him … I was checking him out [and] I thought he was pretty cute. So, I was trying to meet him.  So, I would keep going back to the hospital, hoping that he would walk by.

Gangel: You were stalking him?

Ireland: I was stalking him, I was. Yeah. [Laughter]

Gangel to Olsen:

Gangel: Does her huge success surprise you?

Olsen: Oh, it doesn't surprise me in the least. I think a lot of people see Kathy as a two-dimensional, very gorgeous person. She's so gorgeous it's hard to not be disarmed by that. But, I think that when you really know her, her intelligence, and her spirit and her warmth and kindness she's an overwhelming force because of that.

Ireland also says she is much more suited to business then modeling.

Gangel: If growing up someone had said to you, “you were going to be a supermodel,” you would have said?

Ireland: You've got to be kidding.

Gangel: Really?

Ireland: Modeling was never anything that ever entered my consciousness. I certainly wasn't model material.

Gangel: No one's going to believe that …

Ireland: Oh.

Gangel: …that you were a geek with pigtails. Is this really true?

Ireland: Absolutely.

Hardly as geeky as she says, but Ireland does admit she has mixed emotions about the career that made her so famous.

Gangel: If one of your children who are stunning came to you and said, "I want to have a career in modeling."

Ireland: Oh. [Laughs]

Gangel: What would you say?

Ireland: Oh, boy. I never felt comfortable earning a living off how someone else perceived [how] I looked. I believe it's so important you're not to get your self-esteem from superficial places, like how you look and what you what you do.

Gangel: You would discourage them?

Ireland: I hope that I would be able to be supportive. But I would strongly encourage them to look at other options.

The story she hopes will influence them and other young people – how at 11-years-old she got her first job in business against some pretty tough odds.

Ireland: When I was kid my big dream was to have a paper route and my dad showed me an ad in the newspaper that reads, "Are you the boy for the job?"  So I wrote a letter to the editor and I said, "No, I’m not the boy for the job. But I’m the girl for the job and I deserve a chance."I had 101 customers in my route. I remember this gentleman, I’ll never forget him, and he says, "What are you doing here? You don't belong here. This is a boy's job. You'll never last."I didn't let him see me cry. I waited until [Laughs] I got past his house.  To this day I’m really grateful to that man and I meet plenty of people like him today in business because they help me persevere. I won best carrier of the year for my district three years in a row. So…

Gangel: You proved him wrong.

Ireland: I proved him wrong and 30 years later I’m still the girl with a paper route.

With all this success, there's been speculation that Kathy could become the next "Martha Stewart." She deflects such talk, calling Martha an icon and saying that unlike Stewart’s picture perfect brand, her philosophy as a working mom is that life is messy.