A model with real ambition

Lisa Mona Fullwood was not a teenager who sat around daydreaming about taking on the catwalk.

Modelling was not her dream or her ambition, and she didn't have any great desire to be the next Cindy Crawford.

But at 18 she found herself taking those few steps towards a career in an industry not exactly known for its gentle handling of women and the female form.

She did it probably because, while it's tough, it's also an industry packed with life-changing opportunities and experiences. And this is one Shropshire woman who has made it work for her with fantastic results.

Lisa's mother was the one who suggested she try it out by completing a modelling course in London, and at that impressionable age Lisa admits she had no other firm plans for her future.

"I also thought it would be a really good way to find out a little more about life by spending some time living in London. At the time I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do," Lisa recalls.

"I had grown up in Shrewsbury and really there was not much to do in the town and very little in the way of larger stores or places you could go. It just seemed like the right move to try London for a while and I certainly don't regret it."

College was hard work and Lisa soon realised that modelling was all about putting in longer and longer hours and having just the right look.

"Even while we were students, we worked on real projects and had to go through the whole process of auditioning and putting in the long hours."

One of the Lisa's first major projects was working on Return to Oz - a film made in Britain which she jokily admitted had since been voted one of the worst movies of all time. But again it was the experience which mattered to Lisa because she had set out to learn as much as she could.

She met Shropshire's own Sadie Frost and maintains that, while it entailed lots of sitting around and waiting, it was a great way to see the film industry from the other side of the camera. She also worked on a Dorothy Perkins campaign.

"I think what it showed me early on was that modelling was half looks and half attitude and work ethic."

After her course Lisa flew to Japan where she worked for several years as a model with a top agency, and travelled to Milan, Vienna and Switzerland with regular trips back to London.

For more than 10 years Lisa was given first-hand experience of just how harsh and just how wonderful such a career could be. She knew all about the pressures to stay a certain size and age, and how often such little concern was shown towards those models working hard to make a project work.

But then there was the travel and seeing different places and meeting different people and doing those things that she enjoyed.

Having experience on both sides meant she was determined to not only look after the interests of the clients but also the interests of the models she represented.

"I really try and come at it from both sides," said Lisa.

"There is a career there for older women and a career for plus-size models; it's not just the skinny variety that are sought after, and I want to look after their interests as well as those companies who hire Ice to look after projects for them.

"The models that work for me not only have to look good but they have to have a good personality too, because many of our events involve dealing with people. I meet every single one of the models on my books.

"I know them all personally and never choose just from a photograph. That's why it's important to me to look after them, because I know they all have the right attitude and will always do their best to do a good job."

And most of all Lisa wanted to prove that such an enterprise could easily be run from Shropshire instead of the bright lights of the city. The company is really causing a stir in all the right places.

Lisa has organised major events for some of the most familiar brands in Britain, including Citroen, MINI and Vodafone.

"I enjoy the lifestyle I have in Shropshire and it is a choice I have made to be here and be a part of the community. Ice is doing extremely well and I am very pleased. I have models on my books from all over the country so it is a smaller world in many ways these days."

Lisa is certainly determined and talks about her hopes for development in the county town.

"I don't just work and live here. I would like to be a part of what Shrewsbury has to offer and see it constantly improve. I think the sign on the M54 motorway for Shrewsbury has helped a great deal but I think we can do more to show people that Shropshire is not the back of beyond and that it can very much be at the centre of things."

By Tracey O'Sullivan