How do you get picked to be in People magazine’s first-ever “Real Beauty at Every Age” feature (on newsstands now)? In the case of D’Andra Simmons, a 43-year-old businesswoman/philanthropist from Dallas, you submit your head shot, fill out a form online and write, “Real beauty is a positive attitude, a pure heart and a willingness to serve others.” You get interviewed a number of times by the magazine and sign a notarized document swearing you’ve never done any nude modeling or anything otherwise scandalous or illegal.
You wait around and wait around until last Friday, when you find out from a friend that, out of more than 15,000 women who entered, you made the magazine’s May 7 issue. You go on WFAA’s Daybreak and Good Morning Texas and, this Friday, on CW33’s national morning show to talk about it. You learn that because of the exposure, Westerly Natural Market, a hot-shot New York store, has placed an order for your Hard Night, Good Morning skin-care line and that the product’s sales are “going through the roof” in general. Then tonight your friends throw a party for you at the Bubble Bar (pictured), where everybody celebrates with drinks and a big pink cake.
