Ruth Crilly: Meet the Model who became a Brand
By Nigel Brown
Nigel Brown first met Ruth Crilly as a green reporter at T3 Magazine 8 years ago. They’ve remained friends and in this time Crilly has achieved global fame for much more than just her look.
It’s always intimidating interviewing a model. They’re confident, beautiful and cool. Even when you know them. But it’s even harder this time around, as the lady opposite me has not only adorned the pages of Time Out, T3 Magazine, Elle, Cosmopolitan and Vogue — as well as doing countless fashion campaigns for brands — she’s become a global digital phenomenon in the last 5 years with her blog A Model Recommends. I say blog, but that doesn’t quite do it justice — it’s a global magazine that is a one stop briefing for the latest fashion and beauty trends, as well as lifestyle editorial, including recommended reading, recipes, hotel reviews and travel stories. She’s bought a unique perspective to the fast-growing world of beauty and fashion blogging — a true industry insider but with an air of the attainable, the approachable.
Young girls idolise her, grown women follow her every move and mums look on in pure admiration. Her cat and dog, Mr Bear and Dexter, even have their own Instagram feed, with over 12,000 followers. Ruth Crilly is not just a model, she has become a pin-up for women across the globe, not just through looks, but through her honesty, wit and intelligence — and she’s more than comfortable with the label of role model.
“It’s kind of a mad feeling, but you have to be responsible. You know you can influence a large group of women. It’s important you are honest and true.”
“I used to find that notion a bit embarrassing,” Ruth says. “That sounds like a cliché, but if you put yourself online these days and you start to gain an audience, then you are a role model. You have to accept that. I realised early on that there was a responsibility that came with putting myself out there. And it’s great, I love it when people say they look forward to my next post or that they’ve just finished a book I’ve recommended or loved a cream that I’ve written about. I met a woman the other week who got a job because her and the interviewer had both read my blog, so they got chatting about that and she got the job. It was lovely to hear that they bonded over me.”
When the recession hit, Ruth, a former law student, started to think about writing as a change of career to modelling. It wasn’t easy — she had to start doing work experience on magazines and newspapers, and she admits it was gruelling getting work — many turned her down but she persevered.
“After I got married, my attitude towards modelling began to change. I could see things in the industry shifting and work drying up, but I didn’t want to do the travel and living around the world that I probably needed to do in order to shake things up. I needed a change, but didn’t want to move away because I wanted to settle down and make a proper home. It just so happened that I was starting my MA in creative writing, so I needed to start practicing on a regular basis but I was struggling to be disciplined about it. Doing something online felt like a good start, even if it was just my family reading it.”
The eureka moment came one evening thanks to her photographer husband, “Mr AMR”.
“He was the one who pointed out blogging to me because someone on a job had been talking about their own blog. I’d never even heard of blogging then. People just putting their ideas online, creating little articles about anything they wanted, it seemed like a great idea. And although there were some amazing, good quality blogs, there were lots that were more informal and rough and ready. I thought, ‘I think I can make a really good job of this.’ I really wanted to get into magazines, I thought I had a really interesting perspective, but there was no work out there for me. So all these things were coming together, and I realised was in a unique position: I’m always on shoots that I can talk about, share insider tips and advice. So the idea of A Model Recommends came to me. I wanted it to be really positive, and I wanted it to be honest. I saw a lot of blogs where people were ripping things apart so I wanted to be different. Originally I was going to make it short and snappy but I found myself getting really into reviewing things properly and they became much longer features.”
With over 1.5 million views per month over her various platforms, Ruth now has more readers than most of the magazines she was desperate to find work with. She has over 60,000 Twitter followers, over 140,000 Instagram followers and is now a brand of her own. The internet gave Ruth the chance to flex her writerly muscles, and despite initial rejection, she made it. It’s a great story for any aspiring writer.
“Although there were some amazing, good quality blogs, there were lots that were more informal and rough and ready. I thought; I think I can make a really good job of this.”
An attractive aspect of Ruth’s style is her sense of mystique. She never mentions her husband’s name, only ever referred to as Mr AMR. She’s also obsessed with Mr Bear and Dexter, and now there’s a new addition to the family, a little baby girl. Ruth has invited the world into her life and she has drawn even more plaudits and a weekly audience with her recent baby blog — The Uphill.
“Things have changed a lot since I had a baby. It has opened up a whole new audience. There are a lot of women out there who have had kids and are feeling a bit lost in space, in terms of career, and if they see me writing from home with a dog on one hip and a baby on the other while feeding a cat it’s something they can relate to. That’s nice. The audience I’ve got from writing a baby blog is so amazing, they’re such lovely people. It’s been a real treat. “
Knowing what it’s like to have a little one to look after, I’m aghast at how she manages to keep up A Model Recommends, videos, reviews, her baby blog and of course her social media channels, not to mention Dexter and Mr Bear’s social output. The interesting thing for Ruth, is that her baby blog was the opposite of her day job as A Model Recommends. Instead of her giving the tips, she is asking parents out there to help her out a little bit with their own advice.
“When the baby was very little and I was on my own I loved having feedback from people. It was the opposite from A Model Recommends. There, I was the expert but with the baby blog, it was me muddling along and getting comments from those who had been through it themselves. There’s a power in that.”
As the latest addition to the brood cries out for feeding time I sense it’s the right time to wind up the interview. Having started out as the face of editorial, she now produces the whole package, getting up close and personal with huge audiences and offering a far more appealing read than many more established fashion and beauty titles. One can only see it getting bigger and bigger. But despite all the success Ruth remains down to earth and genuinely in it to help people. It’s her brains not just her look that does the talking, and that makes her an inspiring role model for women everywhere.
She finishes with some wise words for aspiring bloggers:
“I think to succeed in blogging you need to find out what your unique point is rather than trying to copy what everyone else is doing. By copying someone else you’re trying to copy what makes them different and therefore you’re defeating the point of the exercise. So find what is unique about you, don’t be afraid of it. A lot of shy people won’t have the confidence to do that but it’s what gives you power and something original. Be true to yourself and be consistent. If you can only post once a week that’s fine but do it on the same day every week, or if it’s once a month, make it the same day each month so people know what the schedule is. It’s a routine you have to stick to. Give people what they want when they want it.”
You can follow Ruth and all her adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and Instagram.
And of course you can follow Mr. Bear and Dexter on Instagram
