Bella Vista resident Cindee Johnson, perhaps best known locally as a senior consultant with Concordia, is also involved with the Bella Vista Business Association, as well as her lifelong passion: fashion and modeling.
Johnson was born in Wisconsin in 1961, the youngest of seven children, she explained.
Her mother was a model and she became fascinated, she explained.
"I have amazing pictures of her ... she was a beautiful woman," Johnson said.
Her older sister followed in her footsteps and that only fed Johnson's interest in the career, she said.
When her older sister, Collette, graduated from high school, she went to New York to start her career in the fashion industry, Johnson said.
She started following in her elder relatives' footsteps, doing her first fashion show at the age of six.
"Walking down the runway was quite exciting to me," she said.
She attended the Rosemary Bischoff fashion school in Milwaukee from a young age and even spent some time learning from the fashion legend Bischoff herself, she explained, noting she was already working as a model for department stores before she graduated high school -- which required she make arrangements to leave class early and get to her job.
"It was a very exciting life," she said.
She graduated at 17 and moved to Dallas, where she worked for the Kim Dawson Agency. She was in numerous Dallas runway shows and modeled for Neiman Marcus, among others, she said.
Johnson said she's continued to work as a model where possible even after moving here in 2004, meaning her career has lasted roughly 45 years.
She moved to the area to spend time with her father, with whom she'd never had a chance to develop much of a relationship while working for so much of her life, she said.
She worked in the area and helped take care of him with some help from other family members, she said.
"Best years of my life with my father," Johnson said.
While she came here for a reason, she ended up loving the area.
"I fell in love with Northwest Arkansas and Bella Vista in particular," she said.
She's gotten involved with the Bella Vista Business Association, sitting on the board of directors in an effort to help grow business opportunities in the city, she explained.
Further, she said, she's also working on starting a business of her own providing life coaching services as well as counseling on health and nutrition.
"I know what it takes to look good and feel good, but I also know what it takes to continue looking good," she said. "I've gained insight, knowledge and expertise in the world of beauty."
She expects to work with women of any age and believes she can help women age gracefully and timelessly, she said.
Johnson said she is currently working on finding a space to work from, but anyone who is interested in her services can email her at [email protected].
In the meantime, Johnson said she's loving life here in Bella Vista and she's extremely optimistic for the community's future.
"We're going to explode when more businesses begin to open," she said. "It's exciting."