Motherhood has brought me many joys and insights, but the new perspective it granted me on the role I had inadvertently played in young women's lives for the 2 decades I spent in the modeling industry was downright sobering.

I'm proud that today, at 43 years old, I've come to value the aging process and focus on inner rather than outer beauty.

I am a daughter, a sister, a wife and a mother. I am a friend of women and I am their advocate.

I've learned to surround myself with women who lift me up and leave me feeling nurtured rather than drained.

I had dropped out of school and was a runaway, so I didn't have family to fall back on if I didn't work. I didn't have a lot of other options of making money other than modeling.

My own path towards wellness has been a long and dynamic one. It's taught me that healing from the inside out takes time and there can be great value in various sources of guidance.

There is nothing more attractive that a woman who is sure of herself.