Name: Natalie

Occupation: Banker

Age: 21

Hi Natalie. What did you think of the shoot?

It was great; nice and relaxed. Plus I always appreciate people who make me laugh.

You seem pretty comfortable with the whole thing. How long have you been doing this sort of work?

At a guess I would say about two-and-a-half years now.

You don’t really have what I would call the normal bikini/promo model personality. How and why did you get into it?

I was a bit of a geek at school, so I’ve always been a little different in personality I guess. I never had any intentions of getting into this industry, but I went with a friend to meet an agent when I was at uni, they asked me if I wanted to do some work and it just went from there. I guess I decided to stick with it because i really enjoyed myself and love meeting new people, plus in school i would have been the least likely person to be doing this sort of thing.

What, if anything, do you think you’ve learnt since picking up this sort of work?

I’ve definitely learnt a lot about people and their differing personalities. I think I was very naà ve when I first got into promo work, so you could say I’ve smartened up in respect to understanding how people work.

How do you deal with hecklers and idiots at bikini comps?

It hasn’t happened very often, but when it does I just give it straight back to them. If all goes well, they shut right up.

In regards to competitions, in your opinion is any of it really about personality? I mean really?

Honestly, probably not. In saying that, if a girl is being very difficult or very uninteresting on the mic, then she might lose to another girl who has similar points but a better personality.

So besides work, what else do you do to keep yourself busy?

Cooking and surfing generally.

That’s a slightly odd combo, but okay. How long have you been surfing?

About four years now. I’ve always loved the water, so it’s great to head down to somewhere like Karatahi, grab my board, jump in the water and just switch off.

I can see the appeal in that. Thanks for your time Natalie.