Lyndsey McIntyre was only 14 years old when she began modelling. Today she is the head of Surazuri Casting and Consultancy Limited, a modelling and casting agency that she founded in 1987.
She wears several hats, pouring her efforts into professional photography, travel writing, interior design and events coordinating, in addition to her work at Surazuri. McIntyre, of Scottish origin but Kenyan by nationality, was born in Mombasa. Her parents moved to Kenya from Scotland in 1953 and her father worked at the Port of Mombasa and in Dar es Salaam. He passed on when she was five years old, and the family moved to Nairobi. McIntyre attended Loreto Convent Valley Road and later on, Loreto Convent Msongari. It was during her time in high school that she took the first steps towards building her career as a model, encouraged by a neighbour who coordinated fashion shows.
Her first modelling gigs were during lunch time fashion shows at Hotel Intercontinental, where she was paid Ksh700 per show. When she completed high school, her mother wanted to send her to London to model but McIntyre declined the offer as she had already met Robert, the man who would later become her husband. Instead, she attended Valley Secretarial College and continued modelling in Nairobi. At around the same time, she got her first job as personal assistant to the Egyptian Military Attaché. In 1987, she established Surazuri after receiving several enquiries for models.
It was widely known that she had the necessary contacts, having been in the industry for a while herself. She had also received considerable recognition following her involvement in placing supermodel Khadija Adam in the Miss Kenya pageant, which led to Adam’s international discovery. Since then, Surazuri has supplied models and cast for hundreds of films, television commercials and multimedia campaigns both locally and internationally. In 2002, McIntyre opened the first office in Africa for Elite Model Management, an international modelling agency. She served as managing director of the Nairobi office from 2002 to 2003.
As part of her duties she was tasked with scouting for models in Africa, since the modelling industry was undergoing a slump at the time and agencies were eager for a ‘fresh’ kind of beauty. She scouted for models in the streets of Nairobi, in places such as Eastleigh, to the most remote parts of the country, such as among the Orma community in North-Eastern Kenya. Her job proved to be more difficult than she expected, since many of the communities she visited were very conservative and did not even understand the concept of modelling – some of them were convinced it was equivalent to prostitution, and thus kept their daughters hidden. Nevertheless, she persisted as she believed there was great potential in the country. In 2003, she scouted Ajuma Nasenyana, who has since gone on to become one of the world’s greatest supermodels.
McIntyre has expressed worry over the state of the modelling industry in Kenya. Among her concerns is the low number of fashion shows held, as well as the dearth of magazines where models can have opportunities for exposure. She is also dissatisfied with the amount of money that models now earn, which is far less today than it was 10 years ago. However, she notes that there is no longer stigma attached to the industry and people are not afraid to show their bodies, which she thinks is a positive change. McIntyre currently juggles homemaking, her hobbies, Surazuri and her other businesses.
As a professional photographer, she has shot over 200 weddings and put together countless wedding portfolios. She believes in the power of positivity and asserts that this is all one needs to make one’s way in a country like Kenya, as it is a country of many opportunities.