Chapter One: How to be an Heiress A lot of people seem to have the wrong idea about me. In fact, pretty much everything I read about myself is totally ridiculous. Newspapers and magazines write that I'm spoiled and privileged, and that all I do is dance on tabletops and party with my friends. They think I instantly became famous because I was born into a rich, well-known family, and everything has come so easily to me. They like to thinkeverythingthey read about me in the tabloids is true. Well, you can't always believe what you read, right? So I've finally decided to give you a sneak peek into my very hyped life -- so you can know the real me.I haven't bothered to correct what's been written about me so far because, well, gossips believe whatever they want anyway. The people I care about know the real me.

If I'm happy with who I am, what difference does it make?And that's the bottom line for me. While the stuff printed about me over the last few years is amusing and makes me laugh, I've finally decided to let the world know:Okay, I get it.Everyone can have fun with my image becauseIlike to have fun with it too. My friends know that while I like my lifestyle, I don't take it -- or my media image -- allthatseriously. I do take my family seriously. I take my dog, Tinkerbell, seriously. I take my work seriously. But I don't take myself all that seriously.

Now, I have to confess to you: Despite what you've read, being a famous heiress isnotthat easy. It is, of course, fun and exciting, and it comes in handy for air travel. But look around you, and in the gossip columns: Not every heiress is famous. Or fun. There are a lot of boring heiresses out there. What a waste, I say! These are people who are so afraid of what other people might think or write about them, they don't take advantage of all the possibilities that being an heiress hands you on a silver platter. They think there's a prescribed way of "being an heiress" that you're supposed to conform to. It involves wearing white gloves, big hats, and pearls, having some dowdy debut or a coming-out party, and going to fancy, snobby all-girl colleges -- boring, old-fashioned stuff like that.

I totally disagree. There is no sin worse in life than being boring -- and nothing worse than letting other people tell you what to do. I was one of the few heiresses to walk the runway as a model. A lot of people thought that was shocking. Why did I do it? Was it a desperate cry for attention, like the papers said? Hardly. It's not like I need any more attention. Did I do it for money? Of course not. Modeling doesn't pay that well, anyway, unless you're Gisele or Cindy Crawford, or, like Patti Hansen, you get to marry a rock star.

I did it because it was fun.Well, suddenly, everyone got all freaked out. It seems modeling wasn't on the list of socially acceptable activities for heiresses. Then, a year later, every other socialite started walking the runway. Now you can't keep themoffthe runway. Now there are model agents in New York and L.A. who specialize in getting socialites jobs as models.

And if I hadn't pursued it, it might never have happened. I mean, if I didn't do it, who would have? By being brave -- and channeling my "inner heiress" -- I created a new opportunity for young heiresses.That is what being an heiress means to me: being in charge. After all, if you have money and certain advantages, no one should be in charge of your life but you. Especially after the age of twenty-one. I'm twenty-three now, but in a lot of ways, I always took matters into my own hands. I knew I wanted to be a model, actress, and singer from a pretty young age, so I told my parents, and they could tell I was serious. In so many ways, being an heiress is really all in your head.

If you follow your own plans and dreams and you don't let anyone talk you out of them, then you'll start to get the hang of being an heiress.