Tyra Banks recently sat down for an interview with AOL Black Voices to talk about her model days and her success as a talk show host.

The fashion business may be fickle -- and New York fashion week maybe over, but life really does go on.

Ask Tyra Banks -- who is doing the damn thing.

For someone who has gone into semi-retirement from the fashion industry, the super "duper" model (as I like to call her) has morphed into her very own cottage industry.

And it was all by

"Yeah, I might be walking in my underwear in this Victoria's Secret commercial, but this is not my end, this is just a means to an end," the Los Angeles native says in the latest issue of 'Black Enterprise' magazine.

As the host of her own Emmy Award winning talk show ('The Tyra Banks Show,' which debuted its second season on Sept. 11) and the brains behind the wildly popular 'America's Next Top Model' (which starts off its sixth cycle Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. on The CW network), Banks and her Bankable Productions company are proving to be a viable commodity beyond the runway.

The former Cover Girl spokeswoman graces the cover of the black business magazine alongside legendary fashion pioneer Iman.

They're the centerpiece for an ambitious spread titled "Models, Inc." which pays homage to former fashionistas who have become successful business owners.

Restaurateur and lifestyle guru B. Smith, widely referred to as "the black Martha Stewart," is also profiled in the issue. The 57-year-old former cover girl made history in 1976 as the first African American women to grace the cover of 'Mademoiselle' magazine.

Thirty years later, the brown beauty, who authored two best-selling books and helmed her own magazine, owns three eponymous restaurants, hosts her own television show on the TV One network, has her own housewares line with Bed, Bath & Beyond and is the face of Palmolive products. "It's taken me longer, but I've done it my way," the multimedia diva said.

Audrey Smaltz, the legendary commentator of the renowned Ebony Fashion Fair, is also profiled in the issue. At 69, she is still going strong with her flourishing enterprise Ground Crew, which specializes in the behind-the-scene essentials of the fashion industry. "I created something that wasn't even there," Smaltz boasted about her in-demand New York City firm which provides dressers, pressers, tailors, stylists and movers for fashion events.

"I wanted to have more of a say-so," Iman revealed about the formulation of her self titled international cosmetics line, which is available at mass market retailers such as Walgreen's, Wal-Mart and Target. Two years ago, the 51 year old Somali-born fashion plate --married to European rock god David Bowie-- partnered with cosmetics giant Proctor & Gamble to expand the brand. According to 'BE,' she owns 51% of the company.

"So many girls think modeling is a party," Banks, who reportedly has the #1 new show amongst the key demographic of women aged 18 to 34, says. "It's not. If you think it's a party, you're going to have a career for one or two years and then they're looking for the next new thing."

Celebrated caterer Norma Jean Darden, and Baby Phat faceplate Kimora Lee Simmons are also profiled in the magazine -- surely to do well at newsstands this season.

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but fierce business acumen is in the eye of these broads.

"Few models ever make it big, and the majority of new businesses fail," offered the magazine's Copy Editor Alisa Gumbs, who wrote the piece. "But these women have managed to conquer two very difficult arenas—despite their double minority status and the perception that they are nothing more than pretty faces."

{Black Voices}