SARA ANSARI sits on the couch of her neat, well-decorated home in Glasgow's South Side, clutching a mug of tea.

By Nicola Paul

SARA ANSARI sits on the couch of her neat, well-decorated home in Glasgow's South Side, clutching a mug of tea.

Fresh-faced and casual in baggy jeans and flip-flops, she couldn't look further from the typical businesswoman stereotype as she urges her son Cameron, aged five, to go and play in his room so mummy can talk business.

Then the switch flips and in a matter of seconds Sara, 25, goes from doting mother to a potential Apprentice candidate.

She is the founder of new company Rouge PR and Modelling Agency, Scotland's first Asian model agency.

Sara saw a market for Asian models, who often find it difficult to break into the industry while based in Scotland, due in part to a smaller Asian community.

Having been a model herself, she knows the difficulties Asian people face in trying to start a modelling career.

The Asian culture makes doing certain modelling jobs difficult or even impossible, and most portfolios require a bikini shoot or the models to wear revealing clothes - something that many Asian traditions will not permit.

Sara is keen that the Asian community understand the benefits of a modelling career.

She said: "I wanted to show people, especially the older generations of Asians, that modelling isn't just walking around half-naked."

The traditional, strict parenting of the older generations who are anxious to respect their culture is a hurdle that she has come up against frequently, and she is keen to accommodate both parents and her clients to allay any fears.

She said: "The parents are more than welcome on a photo shoot, or they are more than welcome to come and meet me."

However, she hopes that having an agency based in Scotland will put parents more at ease, as they do not have to lose their children to London as they go off in search of modelling fame.

Family pressures were the reason for Sara's own modelling career coming to an end.

While she enjoyed the business and got plenty of promotional and advertising work, the long hours and the need to travel to London regularly caused problems when she had her son.

Now she hopes Rouge PR can give young women opportunities she never had in Scotland, with an Asian modelling agency on their doorstep.

Sara sees them in the position she was once in and knows she can help.

Being brought up in Stirling, a town with virtually no Asian community, gave Sara the convictions to step out of the family folds and work for herself in an industry she has a passion for.

Her family have been a driving force in her success.

Her mother, especially, has been hugely supportive and the constant backing and encouragement from her, alongside the rest of the family, has willed Sara to even more success.

Her family's experiences with her own modelling career mean they are confident Sara knows what she is doing.

Her hard work appears to be finally paying off, and she proudly reports a positive response to her fledgling business, confirming her belief there is a market for Scottish Asian models.

She already has several models on her books, with more keen to join her company, dreaming of being the next Iman or hoping to walk the catwalks alongside Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell.

Sara has also been scouting for potential new talent and has enlisted some friends to help.

But she is determined to do as much as she can on her own to market herself as the head of the company, saying: "I've been going out of my way to speak to as many models as I can so they know I'm the face."

Her own modelling experiences mean that many are even more keen to get on board, knowing they will be in safe hands.

Rogue PR was recently hired by the Glasgow Mela Festival, and Sara hopes that prestigious clients like this will soon bring more business her way, as well as the extra advertising gained by working at the event.

Next on her busy agenda is a launch party for the company as she strives to build up her model and client list, and she is hoping Rouge PR will eventually be well-known throughout the UK.

Sponsorships are also high on her priority list to pull in a prestigious clientele and keep the company afloat financially.

However, she has no plans to move her office from her quiet Croftfoot home at the moment - it fits in too well with caring for her son.

Like any five-year-old, Cameron needs a lot of attention, and business work often needs to be left until late evenings when he is tucked up in bed.

And so with CBeebies on one screen and an endless list of e-mails on the other, Sara goes back to juggling her roles of career woman and yummy mummy. And she seems to be doing a pretty good job of it.

CASE STUDY

Sara with Nadia Siddique NADIA SIDDIQUE, 23, from Stepps, was one of the first to sign up with Sara's agency at the beginning of the year, and she has already had promotion jobs and worked at the Glasgow Mela. Nadia found that before Sara and her company came along, modelling was a hard industry to crack. She struggled to sign to most agencies who expected her to do bikini shoots and wear revealing clothes - something that is against her Pakistani culture. She said: "They just wanted girls who would show a bit of flesh." For Nadia, working with Sara is very different. She now has many modelling opportunities which allow her to stay in her comfort zone, and Sara is very understanding about what Nadia is happy to do in their work - she is not forced to wear things she feels uncomfortable in or do photo-shoots she doesn't like. As a result, Nadia's family are happy about her career choice, as they don't have to worry about seeing her compromise her culture. Nadia said: "Sara definitely knows what she's doing - and she's a good friend and a good boss."