Ben Barry
Entrepreneurship & Diversity
The Ben Barry Agency represents models of all ages, sizes, races, and abilities and have appeared in fashion publications including, Seventeen, Flare, Elle, and Vogue and in advertising campaigns for such national and international brands as Coca-Cola, Dove, MTV, The Hudson's Bay Company, Nike, and Sears. Ben Barry's passion for diversity and entrepreneurship have allowed him to share his vision globally and to build his successful modeling agency.
“Aren’t you something!” (as told to Ben Barry)
- Oprah Winfrey
Hailed as a “hero to real women everywhere” by The Boston Globe, Ben Barry is dedicated to changing the face and shape of the fashion industry.
At age fourteen, Ben helped a friend who was told she was "too big" to be a model by sending her pictures to a magazine editor. The editor called him back, hired his friend, and with that one phone call, Ben launched his modeling agency. Today, Ben serves as CEO of the Ben Barry Agency, a model agency headquartered in Toronto, Canada. His company scouts and sources models of all ages, sizes, colours and abilities for fashion and beauty brands.
Ben has been the subject of feature interviews on Oprah, CNN, MTV, and Fashion Television, and his work has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, and Glamour. He is the author of the bestseller Fashioning Reality: A New Generation of Entrepreneurship. His book was acclaimed by Profit Magazine as “a manifesto for young entrepreneurs and a call to arms to everyone.” Ben has received the CIBC Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award and is the first male winner of the Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case for his leadership in advancing the equality of girls and women in Canada.
In 2009, Ben partnered with Project Runway Canada winner Sunny Fong to build the emerging luxury fashion label VAWK. The label has received acclaim for its sophisticated designs and use of diverse models on the catwalk. Ben has also served as a Special Advisor to the Quebec Government where he helped create and launch North America’s first charter to encourage the fashion and advertising industries to promote healthy and diverse representations of women and men.
Ben holds an Honors Bachelor of Arts in Women's Studies from the University of Toronto, and a Master's in Innovation and Strategy from Judge Business School at Cambridge University. He is currently a PhD student at Judge Business School where he is conducting research on perceptions of beauty around the world. Ben serves on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Foundation of Women's Health and as Chair of the Toronto Fashion Incubator.
1. The Change Makers
Whether you want to change a program, organization, or society, Ben discusses how each person can help change a status quo system. Ben shares his lessons about transforming the beauty ideal from oppressive to empowering. From his experiences, he extracts tools that audience members can apply to any situation in which they seek change, such as how to developing like-minded allies, using a staggered approach, and framing your case.2. Capturing Opportunities
Opportunities are all around us, but it those who see the ones that others do not who build, develop, and grow thriving initiatives, organizations, and businesses. By sharing his story of changing the culture of beauty, Ben imparts a road map of how audience members can see and then realize opportunities all around them, such as drawing from lived experience, changing the process to change the result, and developing complimentary offerings.3. Innovation for Success
Innovation is a critical ingredient to the success of any initiative, organization, or business. By sharing his strategies for helping to revolutionize the fashion industry, Ben extracts a road map on how individuals can innovative their projects, organizations, or industries, such as how to extend a limited budget, use a staggered approach, and change the process to change the result.4. Youth Entrepreneurship and Leadership
Ben shares his adventures of building the Ben Barry Agency Inc. from the basement of his family home to international offices. He explores strategies such as starting a business with limited capital, developing mentors, finding your niche, growing a venture, and creating social change through business. Ben shatters the myth that young people have to wait until they have decades of experience before they can begin their own companies. Instead, he explains how youth have all of the knowledge and skills to begin their entrepreneurial journeys today.5. Beauty and Body Image
What does beauty mean? The answer depends on who you ask. In this address, Ben shares his story of discovering about the beauty ideal, the damaging impact it can have, and the crisis of conscious that led his to change the standard for models and revolutionize the fashion industry. His talk is filled with anecdotes, groundbreaking research, and strategies for the audience to be ambassadors for an authentic beauty movement to empower themselves and others in their lives.6. Small Business Marketing
Based on his small business-marketing column, Ben shares his marketing strategies and solutions for small businesses in any industry. He explores ten problems that small businesses face when attracting new consumers and retaining existing ones, and offers strategies to solve them. His innovative solutions include turning competitors into allies, using the power of personalization, and unleashing the power of social networking. Each technique is brought to life with examples from Ben's experience and from interviews he has conducted with entrepreneurs across the country.All of Ben's speeches are carefully tailored to the audience and specific gathering.
“At Saatchi & Saatchi we believe that good ideas come from anywhere . . . and more and more they come from people without experience, without years of knowledge, and without fear. People who are ready to fail fast, learn fast and fix fast. People driven by the "I" words—Intuition, Imagination, Inspiration and Ideas. People like Ben Barry. We live in the Age of the Idea . . . and this book will inspire entrepreneurs throughout the world to have faith in their ideas, and give them great insight on how to bring them to life and make them come true."”
“Ben's socially oriented, profit-driven approach to changing the fashion industry illustrates how young passionate entrepreneurs are changing the world. This is a compelling story and he is certainly a most deserving recipient of the CIBC Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award.”
“Part adventure, part activism, part business, part instruction manual. Above all, an inspiring story of Ben Barry's attempts to transform girls' and women's experience of their bodies so that anguish can be replaced by pleasure and self acceptance. Where will he go next!?”
“Like Moneyball did for baseball, Fashioning Reality takes on the time-honoured 'truths' of an industry—fashion modeling, in this case—and exposes them as nothing but stultifying myths. ... Ben Barry combines a keen mind, an irreverent personality, and his own successful experience to show that for a committed and entrepreneurial change agent there is always a better way, despite the nattering naysayers! Readers old and young will gain the inspiration to forge a 'Balanced Contract' to change for the better a current reality they find unacceptable.”
“Inspiration is an understated way of expressing the impact of Ben Barry on our audience. His passionate message about challenging the social norms and empowering each individual taking responsibility for contributing to social change in our society, is heartfelt and impactful. Not only does he have a story to tell, but he tells it in such a way that left our audience wanting more...All I can say is Bravo!”
“Ben is an inspirational speaker who reminds every audience that social justice is not just a dream, it is a real possibility. Whether speaking to high school students or a university academic gathering, Ben draws rave reviews for his story of passion, wit and perseverance in challenging the status quo in business and the fashion industry.”
“Ben Barry has the unique ability to get all types of audiences up and out of their seats when he speaks. He not only has an amazing success story as a young entrepreneur, but also exudes so much passion and enthusiasm for the causes he believes in that it is contagious.”
“It's no wonder why Ben has been named "one of twenty-five leaders of tomorrow" by Maclean's Magazine; he is a truly remarkable young man, speaker and entrepreneur. His message was powerful and passionate and encouraged everyone in the audience to take responsibility for social change. He made us aware that we, as consumers, have the power to influence such change. It was encouraging to see a young entrepreneur stand up for his beliefs, make every effort to challenge the status quo and develop a successful business in the process.”
“Ben's talk at Simmons College in Boston was a smashing success on all levels. The campus buzzed with excitement for weeks as students from all academic disciplines voiced their readiness to go make their mark in the world. Faculty, staff and alums were equally enthused and inspired. Ben helped us all recognize and embrace our inner entrepreneur!”
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