It's not unusual for a Chamber of Commerce president to dress for success, but few could claim Star Harris' credentials as a model.
      Harris, who is starting her second year as president of the Claxton-Evans County Chamber of Commerce, actually makes her living primarily at NeSmith Chevrolet Buick GMC. She has worked with the company 12 1/2 years and now serves as business development manager for both the Claxton and Jesup locations. She also serves as secretary to founder Martin NeSmith and system administrator for the company's computers.
      Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce presidency is an unpaid annual appointment that puts her in the middle of planning community events in "The Fruitcake Capital of the World" and the home of the Rattlesnake Roundup.
      But Harris' face and form also show up in places that have nothing to do with Claxton events or the local GM dealership. That's her in a still photo that spins into focus during a TV commercial for a Richmond Hill photography studio. On a more cosmopolitan note, she appeared in the 2009 video of the song "Enfants du désert" (Children of the Desert) by French rap artist Diam's. Harris is one of several individuals who chase Diam's as she jogs through scenery that looks a lot like Savannah but must seem exotic to a French speaking music public.
      Harris' role in a video trailer for the romance novel "Promises on a Ring of Stone," by J.R. Campbell is more prominent, casting her as a sultry Caribbean love interest. Produced in May 2010, the book trailer is not the only image of her to take advantage of a certain "Caribbean" something about Harris' look.
      She stands almost 5-foot-10 in flats, or, by her own description, about 6-foot-2 in those heels she wore to the interview. Add to that her mocha complexion. But as close as she hails to the islands is Claxton, where she was born and raised.
      "My mother was black; my father is white," Harris said candidly. "He's Irish and there's no Caribbean anything in there. ... I got features from both of them, so combining them gives me a more exotic look.
      "But I get that all the time," she adds. "People wonder if I'm from the Caribbean. So that doesn't hurt, because when you're doing modeling, they like to have people who can pass as different things to appeal to many different audiences."
      There's something else about Harris that gives her a special niche in modeling. She bills herself on her website as a "full-figured" model because, as she says, she's "not, like, a size 2."
      She's at the slimmer end of a size 10-18 range that is considered "plus" size in the modeling industry, although those are average size women in the real world.
      "It makes it more difficult because a lot of fashion shows don't use full-figured models for anything. They like to use the thinner models," she said. "But I will say the industry is changing a lot, just because more and more people are designing clothes that are specifically for full-figured women."
      Harris also did a photo shoot on the beach with the Atlanta photographer who bills himself as Kelvinbushan. It was his first shoot with a full-figured model, and her most fun so far, she said.
      She also appeared in a TV commercial for Buckhead Building Products, although she's never seen that one or the one for Richmond Hill-based Rowe Photographers. She explains that she doesn't really watch television, being too busy with other things.
      She has done promotional modeling for specific products, in addition to the TV and video stuff. But appearing in fashion shows is her favorite kind of modeling.
      "My passion, is fashion shows. I love the catwalk," she said.
      All of this has been in an obviously part-time modeling career that Harris launched in 2008 at age 31, although she had dreamed of modeling all her life. She does like some high-end designers -- her favorites include Marc Jacobs, Zac Posen, BCBG and Michael Kors -- but didn't really get into modeling for the clothes.
      "As a child, our hallway was my catwalk, and I would walk up and down the hallway practicing my walk," Harris said.
       The little girl originally named Staretha Griffin appeared in pageants until about the fourth grade, but never really caught the pageant bug, she says. Then, at 18, the 1995 graduate of Claxton High School tried modeling with a little Savannah agency. That didn't last long.
      "When I was young, I was extremely skinny and extremely tall. The problem I always ran into, even though I did a little bit of stuff when I was a teenager, was not being able to fit into some of the clothes," she explained.
      She found that her proportions caught up with her in adulthood. In 2008 a friend, whose interest was in acting, suggested they take classes offered by a small or "boutique" modeling agency in Savannah. This led to a few Savannah fashion shows. Then she discovered the busier Jacksonville, Fla., fashion scene, getting booked for her first show there through a contact on Twitter.
      In 2010, Harris appeared in half a dozen fashion shows in Jacksonville and also flew to Dallas, Texas, for a show benefiting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Since this was a charity show, models were not paid a fee, but did receive gifts, and all her expenses were paid.
      Harris earns fees for other events and commercial modeling work, making her a professional in that sense although far from full-time.
      "It probably would be classified as a hobby. It's a hobby that I make money at, though," she said.
      Her husband, Andre Harris, is supportive of her modeling as of her other endeavors, she said. They don't have children, so that hasn't become part of her balancing act.
      "He's known me for years and years and he knows that this is something that I love, and being able to do something that's always been a dream. ... A lot of people don't get to do that," she said.
      Harris' boss at her full-time job, Martin NeSmith, has also been supportive and encourages all employees to be involved in the community.
      "He did ask me if I was going to quit NeSmith's to become a famous model, and I assured him I was not," she said. "I have to keep the day job unless someone came and offered me a million bucks to do modeling work."
     Self-managed and not signed with an agency, Harris tries to book modeling in seasons when there aren't Chamber of Commerce events coming up, so that she doesn't need too much time away.
      Harris added that she couldn't have managed in 2010 without the hard work of Claxton-Evans County Chamber of Commerce executive director Tammi Hall and secretary Mary Lou Carlton. Recently confirmed by fellow Evans County business leaders as Chamber president for another year, Harris voiced some hopes for 2011 that have nothing to do with modeling.
      "As consumers begin shopping again, hopefully area business will reap the benefits. ...," she said. "I hope more residents will spend money at home."