Favorite

Iryna Ivanova Makes Her Business Pleasure

By  | 

While her life may seem glamorous now, former Playboy Playmate Iryna Ivanova rose from a place of extreme poverty. That’s one of the reasons, she never forgets that it’s “business first” and advises other aspiring businesswomen to do the same.

Ivanova was born in Voronezh, Russia, but grew up in Crimea. When she was 16 years old, Ivanova immigrated to America. She explained how she came from a home with little food and no water or electricity.

“I truly experienced what it’s like to be poor and that made me want to be something—to get out, to create something,” said Ivanova in an exclusive interview with Hers. “I never want to experience what I experienced in Russia again.”

Because she immigrated as a teenager, she had to quickly adjust to the English language and American teenage life. She stresses how different it was, but says she was able to adjust just fine. After high school, she attended the University of Arizona, where she received her masters in business.

“It was the best decision I ever made in my life,”  she said. “I could not be happier. Every day, I’m thankful.”

While in school, Ivanova had photo shoot with a student photographer who sent the photos to Playboy. Impressed with her looks and inspiring story, Playboy named her Miss August 2011.

She has been featured in Playboy, GQ, and Esquire, while growing a following of 4.4 million on Instagram alone. Her academic background and modest upbringing, keeps her focused on the business part of her sexy profile, however.

In June 2018, Ivanova settled a lawsuit with mega-producer DJ Khaled, avoiding a trial that was set to take place in July. Ivanova was reportedly to be paid $1,250 for appearing in Khaled’s video for “I’m The One,” which garnered than 1 billion views.

 

 

“That’s why instead of working for someone else, I’m trying to work on growing my own business,” says Ivanova. “People can’t rip me off. I will always get paid. DJ Khaled is great and the experience was great, but ripping off women in the industry is probably not such a good idea.”

 

 

“Women need to take business into their own hands and focus on themselves, building themselves,” she advises. “I don’t rely on other people…I take control of my own hand.”

Ivanova recently took her own advice when she joined Celeb.tv to give fans a more intimate chance to talk with her one-on-one. Instead of being one of the countless commenters on Instagram, her fans can call, chat, or video with her individually. 

However, like any other model on Instagram, not every follower agrees with her confidence. She receives countless angry comments from followers, yet remains positive. She says that responding negatively to these degrading comments would be a sign of her sinking to their level.

“One woman commented, ‘I wish you’d get cancer and die.’ But it doesn’t bother me,” she said, laughing. Despite reoccurring comments like that, Ivanova continues to ooze confidence to her millions of fans.

 

Writer for Hers Magazine. Poet. Lover of words. Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *