Bosom buddies

• Yvette Neilson
• 4 July 2008
• Page 1 of 2 : single page

Photo credit: Anita BHeany

Even the genetically blessed are not immune to the pain caused by a pair of killer stilettos. Models turned businesswomen Sarita Stella and Danielle Atkin are probably more in tune than most with the discomforts imposed by high fashion. The pair have spent years clad in dresses that needed help concealing their goodies, and teetering in heels some would say belonged more in Guantanamo Bay than the bottom of a Melbourne wardrobe.

The glamorous best friends met during their three-year stint on The Price is Right, helping host Larry Emdur glam up the dishwashers and holidays to Brampton Island. Realising their use-by date was approaching, they teamed up to create Secret Weapons, a range of fashion aids and accessories formerly known only to models, celebrities and the stylists who prevent their boobs popping out at the wrong moment – a fate both women endured during their time on The Price is Right.

The Secret Weapons range amounts to a toolbox for women of clever products, which have been stock tools of the modelling trade for years, such as Chicken Fillets and Headlight Dimmers, and Stick It Rescue Tape. Thanks to Atkin and Stella, Hollywood’s best kept secrets are now available to women everywhere and are loved by celebrity clients such as TV presenter Catriona Rowntree, newsreader Jennifer Keyte and ex-Neighbours star Nicky Whelan.

Expanding your shelf-life By their mid-20s, both women realised their days of showcasing frocks were numbered. Refusing to be put out to pasture before they were 30, they decided to stick to what they knew, and Secret Weapons was born.

“I got into modelling when I was doing my Bachelor of Business,” 28-year-old Atkin explains from the pair’s Melbourne headquarters. “It’s been really good for me because it’s given me the flexibility to start the business and work on something I really want to work on. The Price Is Right was great because it was a regular gig, which is hard to come by in the modelling industry.”

Now 25, Stella’s modelling career began when she was 16 and took her across the globe. Although she’s too short for the catwalk, it’s likely most readers will recognise Stella from the pages of catalogues and magazines.

“I came back from working in Hong Kong and landed The Price is Right job,” she says. “It was regular work and gave Danielle and me a profile so that when we started the business, we were able to generate lots of publicity.”

During the hour or so they spend chatting on the phone, it’s clear a tight friendship underpins their business relationship. The partnership does not end when they go home for the day: they’re both engaged and are planning weddings later in the year – four days apart. Do they ever worry business tensions will cause their relationship to head south like so much ageing cleavage?

“We just don’t let it get in the way,” Atkin says. “You’ve got to realise it’s a business and it’s not your friendship. We’re honest with each other and if one of us thinks strongly about something then that’s fine, you go along with it. It’s all about compromise and listening to the other person. I think we both bring special qualities to the relationship so you have to listen to each other.”

“A lot of people said when we first started it’s a bad thing to get into business with friends,” Stella adds. “I definitely think it could be a bad thing, because you find you are always talking about work. Every now and again it’s nice to just go out and not worry about work, have a drink, have some fun, go dancing. I can see how it could be a problem, but we’re lucky in that we are both level-headed – and we’re nice girls so we don’t argue.”

As for demarcation disputes, the partners’ areas of responsibility evolved out of playing to their strengths. “We share most things, but it just happened naturally,” says Atkin. “I was a little bit better on the computer than Sarita in the beginning so I took over that, and I had an accounting background as well so I do all the bookwork. But Sarita is great with PR and dealing with people so we evolved into those roles, but we also come together and share a lot of things as well.”

Learning to walk

While the Secret Weapons idea was germinating, Stella and Atkin learned their first valuable business lesson from an ill-fated venture involving muddy days at the races, sequined thongs – the ones you wear on your feet – and drunken fillies of the two-legged variety.

“We brought out a range of thongs to sell at the races for women to buy when their heels got too uncomfortable,” Stella recalls. “It was a great idea because at the end of the day, you see a lot of woman walking out with no shoes on, holding their high heels – it’s been a long day. So we thought lets bring out some beautiful sequined, diamanté thongs girls can purchase so they don’t have to be barefoot.

“Everyone said it was a fantastic idea, but unfortunately it rained nearly every single race day that season, so there was a lot of mud everywhere. The idea just didn’t work as well as we’d hoped. We ordered too many thongs and got too excited about the whole thing.”

“The mistake we leant from that was projection; you’ve got to be realistic with your projections of what you’re ordering,” Atkin adds. “We lost money, but we just tried to brush it off, knowing we were going to make mistakes. And it was a good lesson. Every mistake is a good lesson, you learn something.”

Models Inc.

Secret Weapons is only one half of the business. Eighteen months earlier, they developed a course called Model Behaviour, which teaches aspiring fashionistas how to strut, pose and sashay.

“Model Behaviour doesn’t take up a huge amount of time, it’s just getting the bookings, but sometimes it does feel like we never stop working,” Stella laughs.

“Having your own business is a 24-hour job,” Atkin adds. “If you’re not working you’re always thinking about it, it’s always on your mind. Even on the weekends, if I sit down to watch a DVD I’m still thinking, ‘What should I be doing?’

“It does tend to rule your life so you’ve got to try and pull back and have your down time as well. But I think I was born with motivation. I think I’m almost too motivated – I have a lot of trouble switching off.”

For Stella, inspiration comes from the stories of other young women in business. “I don’t specifically have any mentors,” she says, “but I do look up to young women who are trying, especially models. You’ve only got 10 years to model and then it’s all over so it’s really important to have something behind you and to actually use your brain after all those years. I love stories of people who’ve come from nothing and have built their way up to have successful businesses.”