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Photo's courtesy of Esther
Hwang & Esther.com Back
to nt2099.com
Excellence is one word to describe Esther Hwang. She has an impressive resume
which includes Miss Asian America, Miss Greater San Francisco USA and Miss Korean
San Francisco just to name a few. She also reached the finals of the 1998 Miss
California Pageant.
She is a successful model doing shows for Gucci, Bebe and Georgiou. She
has done runway, bikini and lingerie modeling.
Esther has starred in roles on television and commercial productions. These include
music videos for Jane’s Addiction and Porno for Pyros.
Unfortunately, some women involved in the business have been labeled as "airheads".
Esther is far from that stereotype.
She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley on an alumni scholarship
with a double major in Asian-American studies and English .literature.
She balanced her studies while at the same time was involved in the community.
She played an active role in the UC Berkeley Associated Student Body and cheerleading.
In 1998, Esther was hired as the personal scheduling secretary for San Francisco
mayor, Willie Brown. Many people in the city wanted to know who the
beautiful woman with the mayor was. That year, a popular SF newspaper exposed
Esther to the general public.
The article was about the mayor’s personal secretary who had sexy photos of herself
on her personal web site, Esther.com. The exposure
has helped Esther become a successful business woman.
Since that article, Esther.com has received over 1.9 million hits and memberships
to her site continue to increase.
In January, Esther made a move from secretary to a much more lucrative job at
the Department of Public Works.
To add to her list of recent accomplishments, Esther has a limited edition calendar
out and a part in the upcoming movie "Secret Agent Man".
I recently had the opportunity to interview Esther. AC
(Dennis): Now that your name is
becoming well known among the Asian community, tell us the truth. Are you getting
phone calls from your ex-boyfriends? ESTHER:
Every single dork that I can imagine having
a relationship or a date with comes back to tell me, "Don’t you remember
me?" But yes, people would call me out of the woodwork. The real meaningful
guys, they don’t call back because they’re scared.
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AC (Dennis):
Do you feel there is currently a glass
ceiling in the modeling industry for Asian models? ESTHER:
Yes. How many Asians do you know are supermodels?
I don’t see any Asian models on the cover of Glamour, Vogue or any of the mainstream
stuff. The only place where you see Asian models are in Playboy and that’s not
mainstream. AC (Dennis):
Do you see things opening up for Asian
models? | ESTHER:
It’s the same as before. The question is
what does the majority of the public want? The public wants to see Caucasian girls.
Here is an example that I see very often. A client coming in and saying
I want 10 girls who are over 5’8" and I want 8 who are white, 1 Asian and
1 African-American. Out of the 50 Asian girls in an agency, they will pick only
that one. That one will be the only person who can pay her rent each month if
she’s a full time model. I’ve been fortunate at certain points in my life that
I was that one. AC
(Dennis): What
kind of modeling do you enjoy doing? Do you like the bikini, lingerie or chick
type shoots? ESTHER: I
like the wedding gown shoots because they’re not enough of them and you feel like
Cinderella for a few hours. It’s an unbelievable feeling. AC
(Dennis): On
Esther.com, I read that you want to make a statement for Asian women. Can you
elaborate on this? ESTHER: One
of the main reasons I did Miss California USA is because I wanted to make a statement.
I was the first Asian representative to become Miss San Francisco USA and I made
a statement by placing among 100 girls in the top 10 and then the top 4. It was
a really good experience but there is a huge glass ceiling. AC
(Dennis): On
the final day as personal secretary for Mayor Brown, what did you do to celebrate?
ESTHER: Oh
my god! I took a vacation! I ran off to Hawaii. When I was a personal secretary
my personal life went down the drain and I’m still trying to recuperate from it.
I had no boyfriend. AC
(Dennis): Would
you describe yourself as a workaholic? ESTHER:
I think I’m ambitious and determined.
AC (Dennis):
When you have free time, what do you like
to do? ESTHER: When
I have free time, I go all out. It’s like when I want to eat, I eat good. I take
one extreme to the other. If I work, I’ll work hard. If I play, I’ll play hard.
AC (Dennis):
When you did the summer bikini issue for
AsianWeek, you had letters from people supporting you and people against you because
they don’t think role models and bikini or lingerie mix. Do those type of letters
bother you? ESTHER: In
the beginning it did. I tell them not to emulate their life like mine. I’m
not God. I’m human. No matter how hard you try, you’re not going to please everyone.
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AC (Dennis):
Would you ever pose nude
or do any nude scenes in a movie? ESTHER:
It depends. How hard core your talking
about? AC
(Dennis): Basic
nudity. ESTHER:
I’m not saying no and I’m not saying yes.
It depends what it’s going to be for and if it’s worth it. You have to remember,
once I take it all off, the mystery is all gone. |
AC (Dennis):
I have never heard your
response about those who write letters about how you aren’t a good representative
of Asians. What would you like to say to them? ESTHER:
I’m living my life passionately. I’m trying
to make a difference. If that upsets people along the way, so be it.
AC (Dennis):
I’m curious. Did Mayor
Brown look or treat you differently after he seen your lingerie and bikini photos?
ESTHER: He
knew and he loves it. AC
(Dennis): Hmmm...Is
he a pervert? ESTHER: No.
He’s a total gentleman. I always make the following point to people. If he is
a pervert or a jerk, of the women he has been with, not one has ever slandered
him. Not even one because he treats them like ladies. He’s a very good man.
AC (Dennis):
Let’s talk more
about Esther.com. Can you quit your job and live off of your web site?
ESTHER: The
membership pays for the web site alone and it takes care of my staff. I make sure
that whatever Esther.com makes, I put it back
into the business and that helps us fund our own projects like the calendar.
AC (Dennis):
Do you remember your first
fan mail from Esther.com? ESTHER:
It felt so good. It came from a little
boy. AC (Dennis):
A little boy? Eh?
ESTHER: He
said he was ditching school and smoking a lot of pot and he said that he read
my story. He said he would go back to school and change his life because he figured
if I did it he could too, and I am just a girl. Isn’t that cute? That really touched
me. AC
(Dennis): You
had a very positive childhood didn’t you? ESTHER:
Yes.
AC (Dennis): You
mentioned you have a brother. I bet it was hard for him being Esther Hwang’s brother.
I’m sure he has a lot of friends telling him things about his sister.
ESTHER: Oh,
I know! I feel for him so much. He’s like the typical big brother type. He’s really
protective. AC
(Dennis): Tell
me something. What is the weirdest fan letter you got from Esther.com.
ESTHER: Oh,
one guy wanted me to fly out to Australia. I was like yeah whatever and I e-mailed
him back and said thank you but I’m all tied up. He wrote me back and said he
would take care of me. AC
(Dennis): Oh
jeez. For all you know this guy could be a serial killer.
ESTHER: Exactly.
And then guess what? Within that week I received plane tickets Fed-Ex’ed to me
first class. AC
(Dennis): What
did you do? ESTHER:
Oh, I felt he may be obsessive and my manager
took care of it.
| AC (Dennis):
What future plans do you
have for Esther.com? ESTHER: The
business aspect of Esther.com is definitely going to grow. AC
(Dennis): Let’s
talk about your swimsuit calendar. How long have you worked on it and what all
is involved in creating it? ESTHER:
I have been working on it for quite awhile.
Although it’s 12 images it takes forever. The layout, the makeup artists, the
locations, the photographers, the bathing suits, the angles. This project took
me about half a year. AC
(Dennis): Do
you have a boyfriend? |  |
ESTHER: No.
I have been single for awhile. In fact, I’m writing a whole story that I’ll be
selling on my website. I did that because I read
"Chicken Soup for the Single’s Soul". I was so sad about being single
and after I read the whole book, it changed me. AC
(Dennis): What
you have done with your life is amazing. It’s like almost impossible to know of
anyone who has gotten straight A’s in college, involved with the community and
the student body, winning beauty pageants, modeling, in music videos, TV and movies.
It’s like… "No way! This can’t be possible!" ESTHER:
Yes, I get that all the time.
AC (Dennis):
How
did you make it possible? ESTHER:
I’m the kind of person if I have a 1 through
10 scale, I had to get
a 12. I set high expectations for myself. AC
(Dennis): Let’s
talk about this movie "Secret Agent Man" that you’re in. Can you tell
us more about it? ESTHER:
It stars Lucy Liu (Ally McBeal). I play
the little sister of the main character. I’m supposed to be this sexy seductive
girl that goes out and seduces these guys in order to kill them.
AC (Dennis):
If you had one word to
describe yourself what would that word be? ESTHER:
I want to say determined but that’s not
fair to me. I want to say "beat" because there is so much more I think
to me than meets the eye and that’s how I feel. AC
(Dennis): What
words of advice do you have for people who want to pursue a career in acting or
modeling? ESTHER:
Stick to it and don’t get discouraged by
getting rejected. It’s all part of the industry. AC
(Dennis): What
final words do you have for your fans. ESTHER:
Thank you. I wouldn’t be here without you.
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