Fifteen years.
One body.
A whole life.

Every story has a before. Before the magazine covers, before New York, before the agency contracts and the runway lights — there was a girl from Birmingham, Alabama who didn't yet know what she was capable of. What she had was curiosity, a striking presence she hadn't quite learned to own yet, and the good fortune of being seen by the right person at exactly the right moment.

It started, the way so many things do now, online. A college email address, a brand new Facebook account, and a few senior portraits shared without any particular intention. She wasn't performing for anyone. She was simply existing in a digital space — and someone took notice.

That someone was Ken Laurence — a fashion designer who would later go on to compete on the hit television show Project Runway. He reached out with a simple ask: would she be open to taking photos for his latest collection? She said yes.

Her mother and her aunt rode with her down to Montgomery, Alabama for the shoot — with now internationally acclaimed fashion photographer Michael Carson. She was a complete novice. A fish out of water. And it was the most alive she'd ever felt.

"To this day, Mike always says his first thought when he saw me was — this is a model."

After that first shoot, she and Mike kept working together. Test shoots. More editorial work. He wasn't just a photographer — he was a teacher. He showed her how light works, how a background sets a scene, how to understand what the person behind the camera is looking for.

And then one afternoon in Atlanta, on what she thought was just another day assisting on a shoot, Mike told the team they were breaking for lunch — and drove her somewhere she didn't expect.

He was checking his watch. Speeding through the city toward Auburn Ave. She asked where they were going — he said nothing. Just parked the car, told her to put on the heels she'd brought in the backseat, and walked fast.

"The door said everything. Click Models. I turned and looked at Mike — and he looked back without saying a word but saying everything. Yes, we are doing this. Yes, you are here. Yes, walk in."

The receptionist greeted them warmly. Mike asked if they were too late for the open call. She smiled and said no. And then, as they waited, they overheard her go around the corner and tell someone: "You have to come see this girl."

A group of women came from around the corner. They asked her to stand. They asked her to walk the hallway. They took a few digitals. And then — on the spot — they offered her a contract.

What followed was fifteen years of consistent, intentional, deeply earned presence in an industry that wasn't always ready to make room for her. Magazine covers. Editorial spreads. Runway shows with some of fashion's most celebrated designers. Film sets in productions that reached audiences in the millions.

She walked for Christian Siriano — a Pink Runway event at Gus Mayer, closing the show. She walked for Rebecca Minkoff. She traveled to New York for Nicci Hou during Fashion Week. She was a part of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in 2013. She appeared on VH1's Single Ladies. She walked through the Capital Party scene in The Hunger Games, wearing Alexander McQueen.

She appeared on B-Metro Magazine covers — the Glam Punk issue, the Fall Fashion cover. She appeared in Birmingham Magazine, Occasions Magazine, Upgrade Magazine. She worked commercial campaigns for Southern Living, Saks Fifth Avenue, Cahaba River Society, and Susan G. Komen.

She was a hair model for Nick Arrojo for over three years — and for Soft Sheen Carson, one of the most iconic names in Black hair culture.

She was a finalist in Cynthia Bailey's model search. She was a finalist in America's Next Top Model casting — and turned it down because the contract wasn't right. She trusted herself enough to walk away.

She came back to Birmingham on purpose. Not because she had to, but because she wanted to see what was possible here — more local magazines supporting models of color, more brands embracing a diverse audience, more young women from Alabama who could see themselves in the rooms that mattered.

She has been quieter on social media than she once was. Living deliberately. Preparing for a runway return that means something different now than it would have at 22.

On May 14th, 2026, she walks a runway for Maranathan Academy — alongside the models of the Greater Than Me collaboration, with fifteen years of experience and a story she is finally ready to tell in full.

She is not starting over. She is continuing — on her own terms, in her own voice, in the city that made her.

"Alabama was ready for a change. I moved back home to make sure I was part of it."— Infinity Jasele, AL.com, 2019