During our interview Cindy Joseph points to herself. ‘These crows feet, this silver hair, the skin on my neck? They are all badges that I have lived. Why would I want to hide them? I am proud of them.’
Now in her 60s, Cindy recalls how she was scouted to become an international model at 49. Unheard of. To begin a modelling career at 49. Age was no barrier.
Of course Cindy has physical beauty on her side but her beauty truly shines from within. She explains it like this: ‘All women look most attractive (and I don’t mean beautiful) when they are happy. When we are turned on; when we are excited (laughing with a girlfriend, making passionate love, playing with our grandchildren), our circulation revs up, our complexion becomes more dewy; we are our radiant, joyful selves.’
From makeup artist, mother and model to founding her own international e-commerce brand of cosmetics, she is now spearheading the ‘Pro-Age Revolution’. Cindy is certainly a force to be reckoned with.
She speaks for woman of all ages: ‘Every women wants to know that there is hope, that our lives get better. But we are easily convinced that we fade; that we hit ‘prime’ and then it is all downhill.’ She is, she admits, a natural rebel. She has never accepted common beliefs without questioning them. She questions ageism most of all. ‘Now I understand that women can only add to their lives. That as we live we become wiser. There is no such thing as the ‘prime of life’, only right now and right now and right now’.
It is intoxicating. And refreshing. And attitude-changing. The interview could have gone on for hours – her answers so honest, so inspiring. Was she different from other kids in school? Yes, she was always the thinker, the philosopher, the enthusiast. Has she ever taken a wrong turn? She doesn’t believe there is such a thing; to see steps of your life journey as ‘wrong’, Cindy believes, is not productive. ‘We are all responsible for our own lives,’ she explains. When we lay the blame for our own unhappiness at other people’s door, that’s too passive. We have a choice when we meet adversity; we can ‘accept it, change it or reject it’. That done, we are free to get on with living to the full.
This self-awareness is what lies at the heart of her pro-Age stance. Each woman, she believes, should claim the love of her own age – must stop being ageist towards themself. ‘When we start valuing ourselves, when we realise how wonderfully attractive we all are, then the world will fall in line.’
‘Biologically we are built for fun. So lets claim it!’
We hear you Cindy. We hear you girl!
Cindy has inspired a generation of women to embrace aging! Yes she has beauty on her side,but she also has intelligence and guts!
This is inspiring, I will be turning 51 this year but i am feeling fat and old. I want to leave my grey hair just grow but I hear the comments that I will just look old, I cut my hair and I get them anyway. I am working on snapping out of this. I want to feel good and free