Business

How Berite Labelle Is Translating Her International Modelling Career Into Acting Through Passion and Self-Care

Published

4 years ago

August 3, 2021

Moldovan-born beauty Berite Labelle has shed her chrysalis to emerge as an actor and writer.

For several years, Berite has deconstructed, redefined, and developed her modeling skills into techniques fit for an A-list actor.

The path from the catwalk to the film set is a walk of fame mastered by Hollywood legends including Grace Kelly, Nicole Kidman, and Noémie Lenoir. Naomi Campbell successfully transitioned to the small screen as an actor and performed brilliant comedy roles spoofing herself with perfect timing and delivery. Former model and Emmy Award winner Tyra Banks turned to acting and hosted her eponymous chat show. She also birthed an industry from her modeling career and today has a net worth of $90million.

Passion First

Berite’s passion for communication is at the core of her acting and writing ambitions. She aims for both movies and the stage.

Already established as a successful model in Europe, Berite’s vertical performance started in 2019 when she participated in the World Championship of Performing Arts competition in Long Beach, California. She entered the Spoken Model category and claimed first place. Propelled by her competitive success, she went on to study acting at the New York Film Academy on a partial scholarship. She also competed in dramatics and comic monologues performances in Los Angeles.

During her modeling career, she showcased luxury brands including La Perla and France’s Aubade lingerie house at The Four Seasons Hotel – Geneva, and luxury jeweler Faberge. She also walked the runway for Tiffany’s fashion week in Paris and represented hair giant Toni & Guy.

“At the same time as modeling, I joined a small theatrical company in Switzerland. I decided that it was my mission to become an actor. As well as working with the theatre company, I set about teaching myself English. Communication is key in acting, and the more languages you can communicate in, the better.”

Emotional Intelligence

Berite has acted in music videos and is working on a project where she serves two different roles of important historical women: the last Egyptian Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra and the Victorian English writer Mary Wollstonecraft. Berite is also writing scripts.

“I love communicating in different languages, as shown by competing in California. Today my overarching professional desire is about expression and interchange. I am inspired to communicate as an actor on a deep emotional level. To tell a story non-verbally,” says Berite.

“Acting demands a high level of emotional intelligence that is outward-facing and creative, but you also need to be able to run a business. As an entrepreneur, I am the founder and CEO of my entertainment company – Berite Labelle.”

It is hardly surprising that Berite pivoted toward acting. Adaptation and learning new cultures are hallmarks of her childhood. Born in the tiny former Soviet country of Moldova in Eastern Europe, Berite traveled the world with her Chadian father, who worked for the United Nations. Constant traveling meant new schools, cultures, and languages. Berite thrived until her father died when she was 14 years old. Her family decided to send the teenager to school in Paris, where she fell into bad company.

It took three years for the young woman to determine that she was the only person empowered to change her life. It was an epiphany that changed the course of her life, and she walked away from the shady side of teenage years. At 17 years old, Berite enrolled in a diploma course studying commerce to set a positive direction. As part of her education, she landed an internship with the exclusive Swiss watchmaker and jeweler -Bucherer est 1880. During this time, the young woman understood that her way forward was to become a model. She immersed herself in a sophisticated and creative life.

Dream Big

It was not the first time Berite considered modeling as a career. As a child, a colleague of her father predicted the little girl would become a model. The prophecy triggered Bertie’s lifelong love of fashion, and the little girl’s favorite entertainment was watching Fashion TV. She also took up ballet, which helped her modeling career bloom.

To this day, the entrepreneur continues to dance as both a way to express her creative energy, de-stress, and maintain her physical form. She has also performed in music videos.

Indeed, a successful modeling career requires strict discipline and self-care – two covenants are a must for a career as an actor.

“It is essential to stay in shape, so I still dance, and I also enjoy going hiking, and I practice yoga. Drinking plenty of water is great for your skin, and I have a routine for sleeping and looking after myself,” Berite explains.

“Selfcare is as much of a priority as self-love. When you develop your routine and perform it faithfully, you learn how to love yourself and properly care for yourself. Confidence is important in the world of entertainment. To take good care of others and to love them authentically, you must feel good about yourself. It helps if you never forget about your own needs and feelings,” she says.

Self Care

Berite is a great believer in reading for pleasure as self-care; “reading scripts, books and work-related material counts as self-care.”

Given that Berite is often exploring another person’s character, working on mastering accents, or running her business, she likes to check out of her dynamic workspace through meditation. She has also discovered a rich vein of joy by continuing her education with online acting courses with Acting Center in Los Angeles.

The final thread of Berite’s self-care regime is twice weekly hair and face masks, which she believes are well-earned breaks from a fully engaged life.

Business

Inside the $4.3B Quarter: What’s Fueling Black Banx’s Record Revenues

Published

5 days ago

January 16, 2026

Matthew Wiles

Every quarter brings fresh headlines in fintech, but few make the kind of impact achieved by Black Banx in Q2 2025. The Toronto-based global digital banking group, founded by Michael Gastauer, reported an extraordinary USD 4.3 billion in revenue and a record USD 1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, while improving its cost-to-income ratio to 63%.

These results not only highlight the company’s operational efficiency but also mark a pivotal moment in its journey from challenger to global leader. The big question is: what’s fueling such impressive financial performance?

Customer Growth as the Core Driver

One of the clearest engines of revenue growth is Black Banx’s expanding customer base. By Q2 2025, the platform had reached 84 million clients worldwide, up from 69 million at the end of 2024. This 15 million net gain in six months demonstrates both the attractiveness of its services and the scalability of its model.

Unlike traditional banks, which rely heavily on branch expansion, Black Banx leverages digital-first onboarding that allows customers to open accounts within minutes using just a smartphone. This approach is especially effective in regions underserved by legacy institutions, where access to affordable financial tools is in high demand.

More customers don’t just mean higher transaction volumes—they generate a compounding effect where network size, brand trust, and service adoption reinforce one another.

Real-Time Payments and Cross-Border Solutions

A major contributor to Q2 revenues is the platform’s real-time payments infrastructure. Black Banx enables instant cross-border transfers across its 28 supported fiat currencies and multiple cryptocurrencies, helping both individuals and businesses bypass the traditional bottlenecks of international banking.

For freelancers, SMEs, and multinational clients, this means faster liquidity, reduced foreign exchange costs, and simplified global operations. The demand for real-time financial services is growing rapidly—Juniper Research projects global real-time payments turnover to hit USD 58 trillion by 2028—and Black Banx is strategically positioned to capture a significant share of this market.

Crypto Integration as a Revenue Stream

Another key revenue driver is crypto integration. While many traditional institutions remain hesitant, Black Banx embraced digital assets early and has built infrastructure to support Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the Lightning Network. In Q2 2025, 20% of all transactions on the platform were crypto-based, reflecting strong customer appetite for hybrid banking services that bridge fiat and digital assets.

Revenue comes not only from transaction fees but also from value-added services like crypto-to-fiat conversion, staking yields (4–12% APY), and blockchain-enabled payments. For customers in markets with unstable currencies, these services act as a financial lifeline, further expanding the platform’s relevance.

AI-Powered Efficiency and Risk Management

Record revenues would be less impressive if costs ballooned at the same rate. But Black Banx has proven adept at balancing growth with efficiency. Its cost-to-income ratio improved to 63% in Q2, down from 69% a year earlier, thanks to heavy reliance on AI-powered automation.

AI now drives fraud detection, compliance, and customer onboarding—areas where traditional banks often struggle with cost inefficiencies. By automating these processes, Black Banx can process millions of transactions securely while maintaining profitability at scale. This level of efficiency is rare in fintech, where high growth often comes at the expense of margins.

Regional Expansion and Untapped Markets

Geography also plays a role in fueling revenues. Much of the Q2 growth came from Africa, South Asia, and Latin America—regions where demand for mobile-first banking continues to soar. In 2024 alone, Black Banx reported a 32% increase in SME clients from the Middle East and Africa, signaling the strength of its positioning in underserved markets.

By extending services to populations previously excluded from formal banking—migrant workers, rural communities, and small businesses—Black Banx taps into vast pools of latent demand. The strategy proves that financial inclusion and profitability are not mutually exclusive but mutually reinforcing.

Diversified Revenue Streams

Another factor behind Q2’s record revenues is Black Banx’s diversified business model. Income is not tied to a single service but spread across multiple streams, including:

Transaction fees from cross-border transfers and payments.
Crypto trading and exchange services.
Premium account features for high-net-worth clients.
Corporate services for SMEs and international businesses.

This diversification insulates the company against volatility in any single segment, creating stable revenue growth even in shifting market conditions.

Michael Gastauer’s Strategic Blueprint

Behind these results is Michael Gastauer’s long-term strategy: scale aggressively but with efficiency, innovation, and inclusion at the core. His vision has always been to create a borderless financial ecosystem, and Q2 2025’s performance is evidence that this vision is not only achievable but sustainable.

By balancing mass-market accessibility with premium features, and by blending fiat with digital assets, Gastauer has positioned Black Banx as a category-defining player in global finance.

The Road Ahead: Toward 100 Million Clients

Looking forward, the company’s goal of reaching 100 million customers by the end of 2025 will likely be the next catalyst for revenue growth. More customers mean more transactions, more data insights, and more opportunities to refine and expand its service offering.

If current momentum holds, the USD 4.3 billion quarterly revenue milestone could be just the beginning of an even larger growth story. The challenge will be ensuring systems scale securely while maintaining trust in an environment where privacy and compliance are paramount.

A Record That Signals More to Come

Black Banx’s Q2 2025 performance—USD 4.3 billion in revenue, USD 1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, 84 million clients worldwide, and a lean 63% cost-to-income ratio—is more than a financial milestone. It is a signal of how the future of banking is being rewritten by platforms that are borderless, crypto-inclusive, and data-driven.

What fueled this record-breaking quarter is not one innovation but a combination of strategies—scalable onboarding, real-time payments, crypto integration, AI efficiency, and expansion into underserved regions. Together, they form a model that doesn’t just challenge traditional banking but actively builds the foundation for global dominance.

For Black Banx, the road ahead is clear: the $4.3 billion quarter is not an endpoint but a launchpad for even greater scale and profitability.