At two years of age, Jearlean developed a rare form of cancer. Doctors feared she would not live to celebrate her third birthday. They performed a urostomy and colostomy on the toddler, and hoped for the best.

While she recovered physically, her emotional health suffered. Teased by her peers, Jearlean pushed the hurt deep inside and tried to hide her secret. “What five-year-old knows how to take care of a stoma bag?,” says Jearlean. “I had lots of accidents and the other kids teased me. All I wanted was to be normal. It was heartbreaking.”

While she grew into a beautiful woman on the outside, her inner self continued to suffer – a dilemma she calls the “pretty girl blues.” “I tried to cover my secret with my outer beauty,” Jearlean says. “In hiding this secret, I developed low self-esteem, depression and even thoughts of suicide.”
Jearlean’s answer came unexpectedly one day as she walked through a local shopping mall—when someone handed her a brochure about a modelling open house.

“I thought, ‘Modelling? Why not?’ So I signed up. And it changed my life.”

Jearlean began taking modelling classes, and as her skills advanced, so did her confidence. “In the beginning, I didn’t tell designers or photographers about my bags. If they wanted me to wear an outfit that wasn’t conducive to my body restrictions, I explained I was a cancer survivor and the surgical scars would prevent me from showing off the outfit properly. It wasn’t the whole truth, but it worked!”

Today, Jearlean is still awed by how far she’s come. “Sometimes I can’t believe that I’m a fashion model,” she says. “This industry is tough, with very high standards and expectations. By the grace of God, I made it. And now, it’s my mission to help others do the same.”