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Never in a million years would I have thought that this would be the profession I would choose for myself. From a young age, I drew dresses and dreamed of becoming a fashion designer. I would watch the Oscars to see what the stars would wear on the carpet. My mother is a very strong, independent woman. When my parents divorced, she worked very hard to support us. Because she is a flight attendant, she was often away from home for days at a time, so my grandfather would come to our house. And this is where my story really begins. He shaped the rest of my life without knowing it. My grandfather, Jerry, or Pop-Pop as I called him, was the funniest and most personable man imaginable. When he returned from World War II, he became addicted to gambling and the adrenaline rush. Unfortunately, his addiction was the reason my grandparents divorced. He knew he had to leave my grandmother so they would no longer have a joint bank account. Every penny he had or she earned, he gambled away. It was really sad because they loved each other until the day they both died. I asked them both to tell me something before they died. My grandfather said he wished he was a better husband to my grandmother and a better father to my mother and uncle. When my grandmother was in the hospital, she said, “I never loved a man the way I loved your grandfather. I really wish he had not been addicted to gambling so we could have been together.“ When I was 6 years old, my grandfather lived with us. He was supposed to dress me for school. But if I was a brat and refused to go, he did not make me, but took me to work. Pop-pop work consisted of hustling in billiards bars and taking his earnings to the racetrack. At age 6, I knew more about gambling than most adults. My mother came home from a field trip and asked, “What did you learn in school?” I replied, “To bet on the horse you least expect to win because it pays the most.” From Sports to Acting & Modeling Besides exposing me to sports and gambling, Pop-Pop was also the person that introduced me to my modeling career. He submitted my photos to a modeling agency when I was 13 and signed it “The Proud Grandfather.” When they called, I had to beg my mother to take me to NY to meet them. The agents offered me a contract on the spot. My mother said I could model only if I continued to get A’s and B’s on my report card. If my grades worsened, modeling would stop. Since I always kept good grades, I modeled throughout middle school, high school, and even college. When I graduated college, I was torn between using my degree and working for a fashion house as an assistant designer or finally dedicating myself to modeling full-time. Basically, I needed a little break from working as a seamstress in college, so I decided on the latter. I moved to the Big Apple to model full-time. At first, things in New York were slow. I was not getting many assignments, so my agency suggested I dye my hair black, cut bangs and lose weight. I can honestly say that I never tried to lose weight. I knew I was thin, and I did not care if clients fired me or called me a “fat model.” I kept eating and being myself until I met an agent at a film screening who told me I was perfect the way I was. He said I could have even more curves and bring back the blonde. They suggested I go to Swim Week in Miami and that was when my modeling career began.