LeToya Graham
Being a 25-year-old Pediatrician may not have gotten the attention of our loyal Beauty & Brains readers, but with book smarts, a measurement of 34-22-32 and captivating eyes that shine like Times Square, makes this New York University gal a standout.
Although we took a bye week, Beauty & Brains continues to make brains beautiful and Ms. Letoya Graham is no exception to the rule. The Florida-born Virgo with a deep cinnamon skin sits down with your favorite section to give better financial advice than Henry Paulson, talks tough about Obama and explains why she’s such a “dangerous” girl to come across.
Beauty & Brains: Just for the record… what’s your ethnic background?
Letoya Graham: My mom is born Jamaican and my dad is British.
B&B: When you attended NYU – how did that help and hurt your chances at modeling with all that time spent in academia?
LG: I was going to school for Pediatrics and about three years into studying I had realized that I lost the real drive and interest to pursue it. I work in the music industry now and I have a lot more respect for the game, as far as the networking and things that you can learn from being involved in it. School really didn’t influence me because that versus modeling are two different type of subjects.
B&B: You’ve had a lot more modeling experience than the last few girls – during this financial crisis – what would be your advice for those starving models out there?
LG: Wow… I always say have a back up plan in terms of never being a full-time model. If that ‘s what you want to do, props to you, but you should definitely have a back-up plan. I’m not downplaying jobs like working retail or whatever, but just have something that you can fall back on. If you’re in school, stay in school, it’ll help you out in life…
B&B: If you had your way what would you do to balance the nation’s budget?
LG: If I had my way, I’d let it be known that the government is taking money away from all of us, so I’d offer more jobs for people to have something to do. The unemployment is making us all depressed because we all can’t be taken care of by the government. They should provide more jobs. I know not everyone is educated, but you give out more jobs, you’ll have people fueling the economy. Personally, when the recession comes, I do not want to be here when it happens. I have dual citizenship and I’m thinking about getting my tail to Britain before the drama hits. I can’t live through [Barack] Obama. People are voting for him because he’s black and although it’s highly appreciative, no one is saying anything different than before Obama. I just think that there’s not going to be much of a change during his administration. We’re putting the country in his hands because he’s a black guy and will be the President for us, but it may not necessarily be that way because he may be a sell-out.
B&B: The Hip Hop game is suffering as well, but you were able to pull a Roc-A-Wear ad back when Jay and Dame got along. Did you ever think that Jay would be married?
LG: Yes. He’s a really nice guy. He’s very goal oriented and really does care about his fans and people. I was hoping that he got a good woman and I think he did, so kudos to him.
B&B: Your entrepreneurial spirit got you from Boca Raton, Florida to spots on New York’s Urban Fashion Week, BET’s Spring Bling and meeting up with Talib Kweli and Ne-Yo. What’s your favorite Kweli verse?
LG: I’m not much into his verses… I am more into his personality. He has a lot of insight and he’s very intelligent. His music does appeal to me, but not as much as other things that most people don’t know about [Talib] Kweli [click to read]. When it comes to music, I’m a Dinah Washington, Nat King Cole, kind of girl. The people who I work with own a lot of the other catalogues, like Natalie Cole and Willie Roundtree. So, I’m very into that type of music and love it...
B&B: Are you still in Florida?
LG: No, I’m in New York, now…
B&B: Who’s more attractive to you – an Usher type of guy or Plies?
LG: [Laughs] Funny… I know them both and I think that neither are my type. I do like Plies' [click to read] bad boy swag and his country-bama self is really sexy. But that was more so back in the day, not now. I’d like a guy with the swagger of Lil Wayne [click to read], but the body of a football player. [Wayne] has a lot of charisma and is very confident. He’s not the most attractive guy, but the way he walks is very confident and any guy who can pull that off and is not Shemar Moore looking-fine is a guy that I can appreciate.
B&B: How can you separate entertainment from reality with a loved one?
LG: I tend not to date guys who are outside of the industry. I have… but they cannot deal with the photo-shoots or the events. I tend and do prefer to date those who are in the industry because we both have something in common. But when I’m home with the person who I’m with and it’s just me and him, then you’d see that I’m an old-fashioned kind of girl who cooks, cleans and watches football with her man.
B&B: No camera for you and your man…?
LG: If I am dating someone who’s in the industry, then I do prefer him to have his own life and I would like to have my own. I’m not fully single, but I’m not fully in a relationship.
B&B: You have a very interesting quote where spit some fly-ness about your dreams. What is one dream that you’ve been blessed to make come true?
LG: Right now, in terms of my modeling, I never expected to be published or to see myself in an ad or have a billboard. That was a dream that came true and I am blessed. I was big nerd when I was younger. I was the girl in high school who no one liked. I never had guys fall in love with me; I wore blue plastic framed glasses with my hair in a ponytail. I was always the girl who people used to pick on. I was never stylish. I love my personality now. I give my all to my friends and I’m very kindhearted. It’s always about being thoughtful and in terms of that aspect of who I am – that’s me. I think about a lot of different things and how it can help someone else out.
B&B: What’s a fantasy that you’ve yet to make come true for someone dreaming about you?
LG: [Laughs] I don’t know who dreams about me, but if they do, I guess they can send me a message to let me know what’s going on in your head. I don’t know anyone’s fantasy about me. I don’t think my man even has fantasies about me, because I’ve fulfilled them all.
B&B: If you T.I., Chris Brown, Cassie and Ciara asked you to compete in a celebrity strip poker challenge for charity – would you do it?
LG: I’m not a big fan of gambling, but if it’d be for charity, then I’d do it...
B&B: …and if you won the pot of a million dollars… What charity would it go to?
LG: Anything having to do with children who are homeless. I love kids and anything that I can do to support that I would do it.
B&B: A song that a lot of girls like is “Dangerous” by Kardinal Offishal. What’s so dangerous about Letoya Graham?
LG: [Laughs] That’s a good question… What’s so dangerous about me? I’m not the average Joe, I’d say... That means that I’m smarter than a lot of people think I am. So mentally, I’m a lot more dangerous than people would let on. The guy that I dated before knew me as being different. I was really independent and he fell for that and loved that I didn’t need him for anything. I’m pretty sexual and I may not look it, but I do know what I’m doing behind closed doors… so I guess I’m dangerous in that regards, too. I’ll try anything once and if it’s good, I’ll go back and do it again.
Wanna tell Ms. Letoya Graham your fantasy? Feel free to hit her up on MySpace [click here].
Although we took a bye week, Beauty & Brains continues to make brains beautiful and Ms. Letoya Graham is no exception to the rule. The Florida-born Virgo with a deep cinnamon skin sits down with your favorite section to give better financial advice than Henry Paulson, talks tough about Obama and explains why she’s such a “dangerous” girl to come across.
Beauty & Brains: Just for the record… what’s your ethnic background?
Letoya Graham: My mom is born Jamaican and my dad is British.
B&B: When you attended NYU – how did that help and hurt your chances at modeling with all that time spent in academia?
LG: I was going to school for Pediatrics and about three years into studying I had realized that I lost the real drive and interest to pursue it. I work in the music industry now and I have a lot more respect for the game, as far as the networking and things that you can learn from being involved in it. School really didn’t influence me because that versus modeling are two different type of subjects.
B&B: You’ve had a lot more modeling experience than the last few girls – during this financial crisis – what would be your advice for those starving models out there?
LG: Wow… I always say have a back up plan in terms of never being a full-time model. If that ‘s what you want to do, props to you, but you should definitely have a back-up plan. I’m not downplaying jobs like working retail or whatever, but just have something that you can fall back on. If you’re in school, stay in school, it’ll help you out in life…
B&B: If you had your way what would you do to balance the nation’s budget?
LG: If I had my way, I’d let it be known that the government is taking money away from all of us, so I’d offer more jobs for people to have something to do. The unemployment is making us all depressed because we all can’t be taken care of by the government. They should provide more jobs. I know not everyone is educated, but you give out more jobs, you’ll have people fueling the economy. Personally, when the recession comes, I do not want to be here when it happens. I have dual citizenship and I’m thinking about getting my tail to Britain before the drama hits. I can’t live through [Barack] Obama. People are voting for him because he’s black and although it’s highly appreciative, no one is saying anything different than before Obama. I just think that there’s not going to be much of a change during his administration. We’re putting the country in his hands because he’s a black guy and will be the President for us, but it may not necessarily be that way because he may be a sell-out.
B&B: The Hip Hop game is suffering as well, but you were able to pull a Roc-A-Wear ad back when Jay and Dame got along. Did you ever think that Jay would be married?
LG: Yes. He’s a really nice guy. He’s very goal oriented and really does care about his fans and people. I was hoping that he got a good woman and I think he did, so kudos to him.
B&B: Your entrepreneurial spirit got you from Boca Raton, Florida to spots on New York’s Urban Fashion Week, BET’s Spring Bling and meeting up with Talib Kweli and Ne-Yo. What’s your favorite Kweli verse?
LG: I’m not much into his verses… I am more into his personality. He has a lot of insight and he’s very intelligent. His music does appeal to me, but not as much as other things that most people don’t know about [Talib] Kweli [click to read]. When it comes to music, I’m a Dinah Washington, Nat King Cole, kind of girl. The people who I work with own a lot of the other catalogues, like Natalie Cole and Willie Roundtree. So, I’m very into that type of music and love it...
B&B: Are you still in Florida?
LG: No, I’m in New York, now…
B&B: Who’s more attractive to you – an Usher type of guy or Plies?
LG: [Laughs] Funny… I know them both and I think that neither are my type. I do like Plies' [click to read] bad boy swag and his country-bama self is really sexy. But that was more so back in the day, not now. I’d like a guy with the swagger of Lil Wayne [click to read], but the body of a football player. [Wayne] has a lot of charisma and is very confident. He’s not the most attractive guy, but the way he walks is very confident and any guy who can pull that off and is not Shemar Moore looking-fine is a guy that I can appreciate.
B&B: How can you separate entertainment from reality with a loved one?
LG: I tend not to date guys who are outside of the industry. I have… but they cannot deal with the photo-shoots or the events. I tend and do prefer to date those who are in the industry because we both have something in common. But when I’m home with the person who I’m with and it’s just me and him, then you’d see that I’m an old-fashioned kind of girl who cooks, cleans and watches football with her man.
B&B: No camera for you and your man…?
LG: If I am dating someone who’s in the industry, then I do prefer him to have his own life and I would like to have my own. I’m not fully single, but I’m not fully in a relationship.
B&B: You have a very interesting quote where spit some fly-ness about your dreams. What is one dream that you’ve been blessed to make come true?
LG: Right now, in terms of my modeling, I never expected to be published or to see myself in an ad or have a billboard. That was a dream that came true and I am blessed. I was big nerd when I was younger. I was the girl in high school who no one liked. I never had guys fall in love with me; I wore blue plastic framed glasses with my hair in a ponytail. I was always the girl who people used to pick on. I was never stylish. I love my personality now. I give my all to my friends and I’m very kindhearted. It’s always about being thoughtful and in terms of that aspect of who I am – that’s me. I think about a lot of different things and how it can help someone else out.
B&B: What’s a fantasy that you’ve yet to make come true for someone dreaming about you?
LG: [Laughs] I don’t know who dreams about me, but if they do, I guess they can send me a message to let me know what’s going on in your head. I don’t know anyone’s fantasy about me. I don’t think my man even has fantasies about me, because I’ve fulfilled them all.
B&B: If you T.I., Chris Brown, Cassie and Ciara asked you to compete in a celebrity strip poker challenge for charity – would you do it?
LG: I’m not a big fan of gambling, but if it’d be for charity, then I’d do it...
B&B: …and if you won the pot of a million dollars… What charity would it go to?
LG: Anything having to do with children who are homeless. I love kids and anything that I can do to support that I would do it.
B&B: A song that a lot of girls like is “Dangerous” by Kardinal Offishal. What’s so dangerous about Letoya Graham?
LG: [Laughs] That’s a good question… What’s so dangerous about me? I’m not the average Joe, I’d say... That means that I’m smarter than a lot of people think I am. So mentally, I’m a lot more dangerous than people would let on. The guy that I dated before knew me as being different. I was really independent and he fell for that and loved that I didn’t need him for anything. I’m pretty sexual and I may not look it, but I do know what I’m doing behind closed doors… so I guess I’m dangerous in that regards, too. I’ll try anything once and if it’s good, I’ll go back and do it again.
Wanna tell Ms. Letoya Graham your fantasy? Feel free to hit her up on MySpace [click here].
one moment...
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