Ásdís, aka Icequeen, not only takes care of three children but also models, hosts television shows, runs her own modelling agency and manages the Miss Hawaiian Tropics in Sweden, Norway and Iceland. Any woman who can manage all of that and still find time to post regular blogs and video blogs persuading Savvy readers that she deserves a spot in the Sydney finals next year has our respect!

What’s her secret for multi-tasking?

“Well, I wish the day had ten more hours in it! I never have enough time, but I try not to take it so seriously, and I give myself time in between to do what I like to do. My husband is takes a full share in it with me so that makes it very nice – sometimes he behaves just like the mother in the household,” she says.

It helps to focus when you have a head for business. Asked to describe herself, she used words like “ambitious, a leader, fun and loving, focused, relaxed, happy… I love romantic and unexpected surprises, but I’m also practical sometimes. I’m not much for sentimental behavior. I’m the strong type who doesn’t cry so easily.”

When she was younger, she considered becoming a plastic surgeon or veterinarian. She definitely wanted to own her own business and become famous.

It’s no secret that she’s a big celebrity in her home country and relied heavily on her fans to come vote for her. In the process, people who had probably never heard of Savvy learned there was a lot to enjoy here, language barrier or none. Her victory shows that the Search for the Million Dollar Woman isn’t just an affair for the English-speaking North America-based models who’ve traditionally won up to this point -- it truly lives up to its billing now as an international competition.

Long-time Savvy readers have also learned a lot about Iceland from her – primarily that it isn’t as uninviting as the name suggests. In a move sure to boost tourism, Ásdís showed us photos of lush green pastures and beautiful waterways. Instead of people shivering, we now imagine gorgeous blue-eyed women filling the streets of Reykjavik.

“I have travelled all around and even Los Angeles doesn’t have the beauties like we do here in Iceland,” she taunts.

It should come as no surprise that Icelandic fans are web-savvy because the country is the most developed society in the world, ranked first on the United Nations’ Human Development Index. Iceland was recently ranked the fourth happiest country in the world despite four-fifths of its landmass being uninhabitable. Literacy, longevity, income, and social cohesion are first-rate by world standards. Figures show that 86.3 percent of the country’s residents are Internet users.

“We can’t complain because we have all the best of comforts, the newest technology, pure water and the best foods,” she says. “We have strong people who don’t complain easily, so we just make the best of the cold, the darkness and the snow and put a smile on our face. Have a drink and be happy. We are Vikings, you know.”

Ásdís isn’t just a local celebrity. She’s a star in her part of the world, wife to a soccer player, and manages some amazing models through her company, Ice Model Management.

“I had done almost everything because the model market was so small in Iceland. At that point people started to call me and ask if I could find some girls for this and for that. So the friends that I was working for when I was around 19 gave me the opportunity to start a modeling website with them. Before long I bought it and started to do my own things. I can’t say that it was easy! I didn’t have any money for many years! I was usually in the red but I didn’t want to give up. Now I am doing just fine. The agency is not that big, but I love the job because it gives me the opportunity to travel around the world and make dreams come true for my models. I just love being able to do that. I’m counting on working for Savvy next year as a spokes model and taking a year off,” she says.

If she wins the million, she has promised to buy her mother something nice, buy a house in Italy or Greece, to study to be a photographer, and contribute to charity.

“If I win, I will be supporting the breast cancer foundation in Iceland. Strange enough, my mother got it one month after I said I would support them. I’m also supporting the Special Children Travel Fund and a lot of other things,” she says.

She would also like to invest in her business ideas. Also in the cards are a good agent, and expansion of her already impressive modeling portfolio.

“I want to do everything I possibly can do before it is too late. If I win, it will be all that much easier to make that come true,” she says. “My goal in life is to be happy and try as many things as I can before it is over. I always set myself big goals. I have done a pretty good job reaching them. I like to take one at a time. In five years, I want to be relaxing in the sun with a good white wine in a beautiful place and making millions while I’m lying there.””

Note: A portion of Ásdís' quotes was taken from an article on The Black Rabbit (brspecial.com).