“Beauty, Brains, and Business – She Does It All”

When you hear about some­one who’s been a mod­el, actress, stock­bro­ker, busi­ness own­er, pub­lic rela­tions con­sul­tant, attor­ney, and ani­mal rights advo­cate, it almost sounds like fic­tion. But that’s exact­ly the real-life jour­ney of Louann Fer­nald—a woman who refused to be boxed in by expec­ta­tions and instead chose to shape her own extra­or­di­nary sto­ry.

Born on Octo­ber 23, 1957, in San Anto­nio, Texas, Louann’s life has been any­thing but con­ven­tion­al. She embraced oppor­tu­ni­ty, over­came chal­lenges, and used every chap­ter of her life to grow into the next. So let’s walk through the life of this fear­less trailblazer—someone who reminds us that life is a series of new begin­nings.

Hum­ble Roots and Sky-High Ambi­tions

Louann grew up in Flori­da, where her child­hood was shaped by sun-soaked orange groves, a hard­work­ing fam­i­ly, and strong val­ues. Her father worked in both agri­cul­ture and mis­sile systems—an unusu­al com­bo that reflect­ed the family’s down-to-earth roots mixed with aspi­ra­tions beyond the norm.

Even in her ear­ly years, Louann wasn’t con­tent with stick­ing to the sta­tus quo. She attend­ed the Uni­ver­si­ty of Flori­da, where she began forg­ing her own path. And just like that, des­tiny inter­vened.

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The Moment Every­thing Changed

It was the late 1970s, and Pla*boy was hold­ing its leg­endary 25th Anniver­sary Great Pl*ymate Hunt. Louann entered—and won. She became Pl*ymate of the Month in June 1979, a role that instant­ly shot her into the nation­al spot­light

But here’s the twist—Louann didn’t just ride the wave of fame. She used it as a launch­pad for a life rich in growth, curios­i­ty, and rein­ven­tion.

Break­ing Bar­ri­ers in the Spot­light

Louann wasn’t just anoth­er pret­ty face. As one of the first His­pan­ic Pl*ymates of the 1970s, she broke bar­ri­ers and rep­re­sent­ed a new wave of diver­si­ty in the mod­el­ing world. Still, her iden­ti­ty was com­plex. She recalled how her moth­er immersed her in main­stream Amer­i­can cul­ture, and it wasn’t until lat­er that she ful­ly embraced her her­itage.

At 19, she rebelled against the rigid rules of her upbring­ing. Mod­el­ing didn’t just give her fame—it gave her free­dom. With Pl*yboy, she found her­self on planes, meet­ing new peo­ple, and explor­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties far beyond what her small-town life once promised.

Trad­ing Glam­our for Grit: Her Career Rein­ven­tion

Most peo­ple would’ve stopped at fame. Not Louann.

After mod­el­ing, she tack­led the finan­cial world as a stock­bro­ker, flex­ing her busi­ness skills. Then came roles in pub­lic rela­tions and entre­pre­neur­ship, all while jug­gling the full-time job of being a mom. Every move she made was root­ed in resilience and a refusal to set­tle

And then, at 39, she made anoth­er bold deci­sion—law school. In 1996, she returned to the class­room and emerged as a full-fledged attor­ney prac­tic­ing gen­er­al law in upstate New York. Her legal career focused on help­ing those who need­ed it most.

If suc­cess is mea­sured by help­ing peo­ple who can’t help them­selves, then yes, I was suc­cess­ful,” she once said. That’s not just a quote—it’s her mis­sion in action.

Fam­i­ly First: Sup­port­ing Her Sons’ Dreams

In 2012, Louann made anoth­er life-chang­ing move—this time to Los Ange­les. But it wasn’t for fame. It was for her twin sons, Zach and Wyatt, both foot­ball play­ers chas­ing their col­lege dreams.

Her sup­port paid off. Zach played for UCLA, while Wyatt earned his place on the USC foot­ball team. Watch­ing them work so hard rekin­dled some­thing in her—a long-lost pas­sion that had once seemed impos­si­ble.

Return­ing to Her First Love: Act­ing

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Back in the day, Louann had shelved her act­ing dreams. Hol­ly­wood in the ’70s didn’t offer the most wel­com­ing envi­ron­ment, espe­cial­ly for women try­ing to carve out seri­ous careers. But decades lat­er, she cir­cled back—this time with wis­dom, con­fi­dence, and zero fear

Now, act­ing has become a shared pas­sion between Louann and her sons, who are also dab­bling in mod­el­ing and enter­tain­ment. It’s a full-cir­cle moment, and she’s lov­ing every sec­ond of it.

I’ve been hav­ing so much fun study­ing act­ing and pur­su­ing it from a dif­fer­ent per­spec­tive,” she shared. That’s the mag­ic of reinvention—you come back stronger, smarter, and more ground­ed.

Hon­or­ing a Friend: Her Trib­ute to Dorothy Strat­ten

One of the most touch­ing chap­ters in Louann’s jour­ney is her con­nec­tion with Dorothy Strat­ten, the 1980 Pl*ymate of the Year who trag­i­cal­ly passed away far too soon.

Louann remem­bered Dorothy not for her fame, but for her gen­tle, sweet spir­it. “She was one of the most gen­uine­ly kind and unas­sum­ing peo­ple I have ever known,” Louann recalled in a heart­felt trib­ute pub­lished on DorothyStratten.com.

It’s clear that Dorothy’s mem­o­ry lives on through those who knew her best—and Louann’s words help pre­serve that lega­cy with grace

iving with Pur­pose: Advo­ca­cy, Ani­mals, and the Plan­et

These days, Louann’s pas­sion goes beyond the court­room or the cam­era. She’s a ded­i­cat­ed advo­cate for ani­mal rights, a con­ser­va­tion­ist, and a proud pro­mot­er of a veg­an lifestyle.

Her goals aren’t just personal—they’re gen­er­a­tional. She wants to leave the world bet­ter than she found it. And part of that mis­sion is inspir­ing women of every age to believe in fresh starts.

I want to inspire women of all ages to real­ize it’s nev­er too late to rein­vent your­self and pur­sue your dreams,” she said. And hon­est­ly? She’s doing just that.

Con­clu­sion: Rein­ven­tion, Resilience, and the Pow­er of Pur­pose

Louann Fernald’s life isn’t defined by any sin­gle title—it’s defined by her abil­i­ty to grow, evolve, and make an impact. From the pages of mag­a­zines to court­rooms, from being a sup­port­ive mom to a fierce advo­cate for ani­mals and the plan­et, Louann has lived with courage and inten­tion.