Ready to meet our next
Real Women model? So are we!

Introducing the winners
of the Duluth Real Women Model Contest

From New York to Oregon, we dug in and scoured the United States for hardworking women with callused hands, dirty fingernails and beauty that radiated from the inside out. We found 180 Real Women from 29 states, and from those entries, we narrowed it to 5.

They are a CSA farmer and unicyclist, an heirloom tomato farmer, a Nature Center Director and Master Gardener, a Dairy Farmer and a Horse Wrangler and Rancher. And they are all truly authentic Real Women.

We met each of them in their element – on the farm, the horse pasture, and in the garden. We cleaned them up (only a little!), took their photos, and we listened to their stories.

Each of these women is exceptionally accomplished and deciding on a First Place Winner was next to impossible. So, after much deliberation, we chose two.

And here they are, the Winners of the first ever
Duluth Real Women Model Contest!

First Place Winner

Irene

CSA Farmer

As a CSA Farmer in Minnesota, Irene is an advocate for knowing where food comes from. Her life revolves around growing, preserving and cooking with it. And when the garden is in full swing, her typical day is packed with picking and preparing fruits and vegetables, weeding and succession planting. In addition to farming, Irene's a yoga teacher and a nationally and internationally awarded unicyclist.

First Place Winner

Nora

Rancher

Rancher, horse packer, wilderness guide and backcountry wrangler, Nora, first catches then packs and hauls horses to trailheads and into the mountains for her clients. She also works on her family ranch in Oregon where she runs the lumber mill, trains horses, cares for animals, milks goats and even makes cheese. Nora has also spent months at a time camping and supporting scientists in the Trans Antarctic Mountains.

Second Place Winner

Lisa

Nature Center Director

Lisa has a real passion for many things, and her job as a Nature Center Director gives her a chance to share that passion while leading environmental education, recreation and cultural history programs for school children and adults. When she's not working, Lisa trains for and runs triathlons, practices for competition with her Morgan show horse and tends to her gardening. She's been a Minnesota Master Gardener, focusing on native plants and veggies, for 15 years.

Honorable Mention

Amanda

Dairy Farmer

There is no typical day in the life of Amanda. Her days depend on the season and what crops need to be harvested. There are always milking and chores. She has a soft spot for baby animals, and her favorite job is feeding the calves. Life beyond the farm in Wisconsin? After graduating from college, Amanda found a passion for volunteering; most recently, she assisted equine veterinarians on a reservation in South Dakota.