By Jessica Ensley
A small-town girl with high modeling hopes might seem like a cliché, but for Beth Williams, an Ohio University alumna and Playboy Magazine’s Miss August 2012, that story has become a reality.
Williams, a 25-year-old health services and long-term care administration graduate, is a native to Athens and has been modeling since she was in college. Yet when she first started modeling, she simply saw it as a side gig rather than a full career.
“I didn’t really know what was all involved,” she said. “I just got signed with an agency.”
Her first modeling job was for a kitchen supply store.
“I had to act like I was eating a chicken salad and laughing at a fake co-worker,” she said. “I was definitely really, really nervous ’cause you know, I had no idea what I was doing. But now I really don’t get nervous anymore.”
After several years of modeling, Williams decided to send some photos to Playboy, a magazine she said she’s always liked.
“I’ve always been interested in Playboy,” she said. “Marilyn Monroe was the first ‘playmate,’ and watching The Girls Next Door … I got to do the same thing Marilyn Monroe did. I thought that was really cool. She’s incredible.”
Despite her desire to become a part of the magazine, she was nervous to pose nude and expose herself. Williams said she first had to build confidence to send in her photos to Playboy.
“I was the one that was shy in a bathing suit,” she said.
Too embarrassed to pose for a photographer, Williams decided to take matters into her own hands. She set up a camera herself, set the timer, and ran against a wall to pose quickly before the camera went off. She emailed the photos in and was shocked when she got a phone call.
And even though she was still nervous to pose nude, she said the staff she worked with made her feel more than comfortable.
“The staff is really, really nice. They make you feel comfortable,” she explained. “It kind of felt like you weren’t even nude, if that makes sense.”
And three years later, she’s still signed with the magazine. And when it comes to Hugh Hefner, she described him as being “very nice, a real gentleman.”
While she enjoys the traveling her career allows her to do, she said she still loves the Athens area and wants it to be her permanent residence. Williams still lives in the area with her Yorkie, Kiki, and a supportive husband.
Williams also said she still looks back fondly on her time at OU, citing her favorite part about her years there as living on Court Street, especially during Homecoming and Halloween.
And although Playboy continues to be a great experience for its models, Williams said she will not be posing nude for any other brand — except maybe Vogue. She hopes to dive more into acting, as well as her job as a representative for the supplement brand YOR Health. She is hoping to land some big campaigns and model as long as she can.
“It’s awesome (working for Playboy). I know it should have sunk in by now, but it really hasn’t,” she said. “It’s really cool … Summer’s my favorite time of the year too, so it’s great.”
More than anything, Williams is grateful to now be a part of the Playboy legacy. In addition to Monroe, she also listed playmates Jenny McCarthy, Pam Anderson and Anna Nicole Smith as some of her idols.
“It’s just cool to be part of the company,” she said.
je726810@ohiou.edu
