When different worlds connect

I have never been defined by a single role.

Fashion, business, creativity and human connection have occupied different spaces in my life, but I have never experienced them as completely separate worlds. From a young age, I have been naturally curious and comfortable moving between different environments, learning from each of them and finding connections that are not always immediately obvious.

Today, I am an international catwalk model, a businesswoman and an operational risk professional. More recently, I stepped into runway production at New York Fashion Week AM. That experience did not suddenly connect those different sides of me—it confirmed how naturally they already coexist.

And I discovered something else: I genuinely enjoy helping make the show happen.

An early lesson in opportunity

When I was around 18 in Venezuela, an opportunity to attend a casting for a reality show unexpectedly became one of my earliest lessons in emotional intelligence.

Among many aspiring models, I was selected. I remember the excitement of reaching the stage where I was about to sign the paperwork. Then, unexpectedly, someone entered the room, took the contract away and explained that they were looking for completely new faces rather than someone with previous experience.

Of course, I was disappointed. For a few moments, I had believed the opportunity was mine. But I remained composed, thanked them and left.

A few hours later, they called me back.

They explained that my reaction to that disappointment had been part of the assessment and offered me the opportunity to represent Venezuela at an international modelling competition in China.

I would never suggest that every rejection hides another opportunity. What stayed with me was something different: how we respond when circumstances change can sometimes say more about us than what happens when everything goes according to plan.

I walked out believing one opportunity had ended. There was simply more to the story than I knew.

That lesson has followed me far beyond fashion.

Understanding what I can bring

Today, when I enter a casting room, I am not interested in comparing myself with the other models in it.

My attention goes somewhere else.

What is the designer trying to communicate? Can I interpret that vision? Is this the right project for me? And, importantly, what can I contribute?

I want my preparation, confidence and professionalism to speak before anything else does.

That confidence also means knowing when to say no. I have declined looks and concepts that did not represent me, fully aware that saying yes might have opened another door.

My career in risk management does not mean I analyse every personal decision as a business case. It has, however, strengthened something already present in my personality: the ability to consider consequences, make decisions and accept what those decisions may cost.

Sometimes protecting your values means accepting that you may not get the opportunity.

Relationships built on trust

The professional relationships that have lasted are those where that honesty can exist.

For six years, I have worked with Satisfashion, founded by Kasia Stefanow, participating in shows in Berlin, Milan, Paris and Rome. Through that community, I connected with Always Support Talents, which took me to Venice in 2025, and I will return again in October 2026.

Relationships like these are built beyond the final photographs. People discover how you respond to a difficult fitting, a last-minute change or a problem just before a show.

I remember once being given a beautiful dress that I genuinely wanted to wear, but it was too long. I told the designer that I would rather step aside than hold the dress up while walking and compromise how his creation would appear in photographs and video.

He looked at me and asked, “Do you want to wear it?”

I said yes.

Seconds later, he took a pair of scissors and cut it to my length.

It was a small moment, but one I remember. I had put his creation before my desire to walk, and he found a way for us to make it work together.

That is what meaningful professional relationships look like to me: respect, honesty and trust.

Both sides of the curtain

My relationship with New York Fashion Week AM began in 2024, when I participated as a model. In 2026, I returned in a very different capacity.

Accredited as Director for the event, I worked within the runway production team, helping with the preparation and execution of a show involving nine designers and more than 100 models.

I was new to that specific role, but not entirely unfamiliar with the world behind production. My father owned a media production company when I was growing up, I have worked extensively as a background actor, and years of participating in fashion shows had made me naturally curious about everything happening beyond my own role.

In New York, that curiosity became useful.

So did the organisation, communication, adaptability and decision-making skills I had developed throughout my business career.

From helping prepare the venue to coordinating models, running order, timing and runway entrances, I found myself applying skills from different areas of my life almost instinctively.

And then I crossed to the other side of the curtain again, walking the runway for international Venezuelan designer Lázaro Sánchez.

Being able to contribute to the production and then step onto the runway within the same event felt remarkably natural to me.

What affected me most, however, happened backstage.

I watched designers quietly looking through the curtain as their collections appeared on the runway. I could see the pride and emotion in their faces as something that had existed first as an idea was suddenly alive in front of an audience.

As a model, my responsibility is to interpret and present the look entrusted to me. Behind the curtain, I could see the entire picture—the designers, models, production, music, timing and countless individual contributions becoming one.

It felt like watching a symphony come to life.

Preparation creates possibilities

I have always believed in the meeting point between preparation and opportunity.

Not because preparation guarantees that an opportunity will arrive, but because when it does, you need to be capable of recognising it—and ready to contribute.

My life has never followed one straight professional line, and I would not want it to.

Fashion has given me creativity, international experiences, friendships and relationships that I deeply value. Business has developed other dimensions of me: structure, judgement, leadership and strategic thinking. Different environments have taught me how to communicate with people, adapt and remain curious.

At 43, I am proud to continue modelling internationally, but age is not the protagonist of my story.

Evolution is.

I want to continue walking the runway when the project feels right. I also want to explore production, events and opportunities that allow me to bring together people and different creative and professional worlds.

I don’t know exactly what title that will eventually carry—and I don’t feel the need to define it yet.

What I know is that I have never needed to choose only one version of myself.

Sometimes the greatest value of experience is discovering that everything you have learned has somewhere to go.

Connect with me HERE