I was in the fashion world, but I wanted to be a model.
I had no idea how to get started.
My mom didn’t know how to teach me how to do makeup, I had zero understanding of fashion, and I didn’t want to wear anything.
So I had to learn how to be myself, learn how not to wear makeup, and learn how much more comfortable I was with myself when I was out there.
That’s when I started my career.
My first big break came in 2009, when I went to L’Oreal Paris to work on a runway shoot.
It was the first time I was ever on a major magazine’s runway, and it was amazing.
I didn, like, wear makeup.
And then in 2010, I made the cover of Glamour, and that was when I really learned to embrace myself.
It’s amazing, but then I had another big break in 2014, when my sister, who was a model, called me up.
She was on Instagram and had some amazing stories about how she had been rejected and had to start modeling again, and she was like, “I need you to do something with me.”
I knew then I was ready to start my career as a model and to have a career, and so I did.
When you get to that point where you’re working for a company that is in the beauty industry and you’re going to be doing the most incredible things, it can be really, really stressful.
It can feel like the world’s over, like you’ve been rejected.
And I think you have to be able to go through that process of, “OK, I’m here, I’ve got the right things, and now I’m going to work for them.”
So I really felt like I was at a point where I was finally ready to step into that world.
I was very lucky that I had a great mentor, which is a woman named Jen Kirkman.
Jen has a very different approach to working with young models, but she’s incredibly supportive and open to all of the different experiences that come along.
Jen is a model herself, and we worked together for five years.
We’re still friends now.
She has this amazing understanding of what it takes to be successful, but when I first got into modelling, I didn.
I wasn’t a really good athlete, I was a little bit of a loner.
I think I was the only one who had an interest in modeling, and because of that, I really struggled.
I still struggle with that now, because I’ve learned so much and learned so many different things.
I feel like that’s a great lesson.
Jen gave me the confidence to go to work and do what I love, which was modeling.
And that was the best feeling ever.