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Salome Haymanot is now 21 years old and will soon be celebrating her 22nd birthday. She is proud of what she has achieved. She models, works for different companies with different photographers, travels the world and recently even graced the cover of the fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam.
A success that was by no means a matter of course for her. Salome Haymanot was born in Bergisch Gladbach. When her mother separated from her father, she went to the Dutch border – to Vreden.
From a very early age she had the desire to work in the fashion industry one day. “Ever since I was six years old, I would put on my mother’s heels and turn the house into a catwalk,” says the 21-year-old with a laugh.
At 14 she had her first photo shoot with a photographer from Vreden. The starting signal for an early career. “More and more photographers took notice of me and I then tried to get out of Vreden.” At the age of 16, the first photo shoot in Cologne followed, the pictures went viral, companies and agencies became aware of the young model.
At 18 to America
The professional work began. At 18, Salome Haymanot went abroad, to America. Jobs in London and Paris followed. And then the cover of the fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar. “I was totally upset, I never expected that.”
Because the success of the 21-year-old is by no means a matter of course for her. “My childhood wasn’t that easy. We didn’t have much money or the means and ways. I had to work everything out for myself.” Salome Haymanot worked as a waitress and took the money to go to the next town and work with the next photographer. Only two hours of sleep were not uncommon.
bullying at school
Salome Haymanot now travels abroad a lot. Doesn’t she miss home sometimes? “Of course I miss the family. And the food,” she says and laughs. When she gets back from America, she’ll go to the corner diner for a good schnitzel. She also misses going for walks in nature.
But: “I love being abroad. I’m accepted there the way I am.” Not a matter of course. The 21-year-old was bullied a lot at school as a child. It was also her big goals that made her a target. “I remember it very well: when I was 12 I said I’d be on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar someday – and everyone laughed at me and said, ‘You’re going to be a cleaning lady.'”
How wrong they were. Today, the model can confidently look back on that time. What would she say to those who bullied her then? “I would say thank you for not believing in me. That gave me the edge to work even harder and show people it’s true.”
In the future, she wants to help people who are going through something similar, and she is already doing so. “It was very bad for me. I will never forget the thoughts I had about such stupid things. It is difficult to deal with such issues as a child.”
Use for Tigray
But not only the topic of bullying is important to Salome Haymanot. She also uses her reach (including 21,000 followers on Instagram) to draw attention to the situation in Tigray. “Tigray is a region in Ethiopia. My father is from Ethiopia. Genocide began there two and a half years ago.”
Thousands of people were killed and many were forced to flee. The 21-year-old lost her grandfather and uncle herself. “All of this has devastating consequences. I just had to stand up for the people there.” She started talking about it in public and with well-known people, attended demonstrations, gave speeches – even before the EU Congress.
This was followed by an offer for an internship in the Bundestag. “It was great, I didn’t expect that I would be able to gain so much experience and that people would listen to me.” During the time in the Bundestag, she dealt with the politicians, talked to them about the topic of Tigray, about how the topic can be put on the agenda of the Bundestag.
Future in the fashion business?
And what does the future bring? “I’m very interested in politics,” says the 21-year-old. A career in politics? Still unlikely, but she could imagine studying journalism.
But first, the modeling should continue. “I feel like this is just the start. I know I can still get a lot out of myself.”
At the same time, Salome Haymanot wants to be a role model for young girls. “There are many girls from the Münsterland in particular who write to me, ‘I would love to be like you’. And I say it’s a hard road, it hasn’t been easy. But you always have to keep fighting, you can’t give up, you can’t let people put you down. You have to believe in yourself and you have to believe that you can do it.”
