From Tia Neyman
I know bios are supposed to be written with a serious tone and used for blatant self-promotion. However, in my opinion, they are seldom read and in too many cases a great deal of liberty is taken with the truth. Now one is required of me so here goes a rather “all too much me” written take on “me.”
I am a native Houstonian and as such have tremendous pride in my city and love the “old historic buildings that avoided being torn down. I fantasize about the truly great elegant stores that reigned in my youth. In fact, my absolute favorite building of the past, a landmark Houston owned store run by our very own Sakowitz family, is frequently a destination for perambulating our dog to which, much like a verse in a once popular song, is currently a downtown parking garage. Paved paradise and put up a parking lot… Shame! Shame!
I started modelling as an elementary student and professionally at age 14 I signed with an agent named Glenn Tillotson. I modeled Saturdays with 2 or 3 other teen models in the Sky Terrace Restaurant in Sakowitz downtown store, my first exposure to elegance and refinement. I walked all their teen fashion shows which were mostly back to school shows in the fall and holiday. Around 18 or 19 I signed with the leading fashion agency in Houston and built a career. I worked regularly (a feat of accomplishment in Houston) building a huge part of my work in trunk shows (likely due to an innate comprehension of modeling actually being a form of sales), fashion shows and special fashion events eventually branching into print and commercials including voice on camera. This required me becoming a member of SAG/AFTRA. Client stores included Neiman Marcus, Sak’s, Marshall Fields, Frost Brothers, Joskes, Foley’, etc.
My husband at the time was a jeweler. He was murdered when I was into the 6th month of a high-risk pregnancy. Total financial destruction as well as emotional devastation. It was a turning point in which I straightened my shoulders and charged headfirst into creating a plan to provide for myself and soon to be born child. I expanded into Dallas, Chicago and New York. Clearly not the usual start to your average modeling success story. In my opinion the secret to success in the industry is common sense and business ethics also referred to as a strong work ethic. I worked tirelessly. Rules were different in that era. There is protection in the industry now to prevent models from being taken advantage of. To model successfully you have to be thick skinned because you face constant rejection.
To save myself embarrassment I will skip the next era of my personal life. Suffice it to say my strong survival skills were put to good use, and we all have a husband or two we’d prefer to forget….
At 35 I again married (one last time) a witty gentleman who worked for a then little known company called Enron. At some point we decided to turn a hobby of mine into an actual business. Be very careful making business decisions drinking margaritas and eating Mexican food on a Saturday afternoon! We took my personal stress management hobby of making pearl and gemstone 18k gold jewelry into a business and grew it to a company that provided work for women who only wanted to work the hours their children were in school, retired looking for something enjoyable to do to earn shoe money or full time, benefits paid staff. It was exhausting, but TiaMia was not only an education in how to turn mistakes around but how to sell, inspire & create. Great friendships were made along the way and having to retire due to ill health and the additional stress traveling imposed on health broke my heart.
Enter the tragedy of health crises in my life! I was diagnosed with a rare genome of Hepatitis C, and because it was rare discovering a cure was the result of years of treatment failures. These treatments were gruesome, expensive, time consuming and living Hell. My family was supportive, my Great Dane Merlin tirelessly at my side and my faith, not to mention failing to realize how seriously ill I actually was, saw me through it all. Originally, I thought once I was cured of the Hepatitis, the Cryoglobulinemia Vasculitis and the Hyponatremia all would be gone, and my life would return to normal. I “thought…”
The treatments used to save my fingers and toes as well as my life brought on more scary health issues after the fact. Massive arthritis, ongoing Hyponatremia and quadruple joint replacement seriously interfered with my plan, my life, my normalcy and challenged my sense of humor! All through the Hep C I trained Pilates daily. When I wasn’t as ill I ran and lifted weights. I managed to stay in surprisingly great shape given my age and my health challenges. Training kept me sane, reduced the tears and frankly, averted my potential frustration with a broken system centered on a few acquiring great wealth at the cost of millions of people in poor health.
At 50 I started studying ballet. Now, a wise woman my age would start with one day a week. I was not wise, and I was a wee bit of an obsessive perfectionist so I danced 5 days a week, sometimes 6, took group classes, private lessons with a Vaganova trained Russian dancer and eventually started pointe work. Walking fashion shows built strong feet plus my training helped maintain strong legs. I was naturally limber so ballet became the replacement in my heart for modeling and TiaMia. My current ballet master has stuck with me through joint replacements, neck surgery, back treatments, injuries…..
Then I turned 60!
The popularity of older, gray haired models spurred the idea in my head I could return to the fashion industry and once again model. Sort of a Phoenix rising from the ashes story. Well…. It took off with a bang. Sort of! I had to learn this thing called social media which did not exist in my era of modeling! My tenacity allowed me to hit the ground running after running mostly into brick walls. I was relentless and kept asking questions, exploring options and agencies and basically sorting “BS” from fact. I booked and walked a few Fashion Week shows and discovered I loved print. In fact in one month, I had the cover of one magazine and editorials in three others! I was on a roll except for one unanticipated event: Covid!
As the world ground to a hibernating halt, a friend who worked as a stylist introduced me to a designer. Together, with 3 other models residing in Houston. New York and the UK, we filmed self-videos in our homes and surrounding safe areas which ultimately were merged together to form one sensational marketing piece for a jacket designer. Covid has eased and my return to modeling has not regained its original traction. This makes me sad, but I trust that God will continue to throw options in my path, and it’s up to me to make productive choices. I’ve been fortunate to stumble into the life of likeminded women who believe in and support our fellow women. Ironically, the majority of our conversations invariably involve cars and shoes.
To summarize my story, life is a series of triumphs, mistakes, tragedies and comedies. It’s what you learn from these experiences that form the better you. There are always people you stumble upon that can become lasting friends or are simply likeminded providing opportunities that open a door to another step in life.
A personal challenge is the isolation that occurs for older people, especially those with health challenges. It’s not just my fellow over 60 peers or the health challenged living in constant pain crowd. It’s sadly a direction our world has taken by creating Ageism and devaluing the over 45 population. We have a culture that literally worships youth. Young women likely know little of elegance and glamor but are overwhelmed with marketing strategies promoting sexiness, turning objectifying oneself into a fashion statement and lifetime goal. Young teen models tend to hang on to the stories I tell backstage at shows about eras past with details of Christian Dior and the New Look Era, the glamour of old Hollywood style and real stockings. The art of dressing elegantly. Young women know little of how to be the true originals and not following a pack. Daring to embrace the self. It makes me sad.
