So @missy wanted us to all share how SG changed our lives. I have to say that this has been something I have wanted to do for a really long time. Ever since I got my first piercing (a typical 16 year old belly ring fad) to the time I sat for my very first tattoo (my dragon) I wanted to be a part of this culture of modified bodies. I have always been a artist and expressed my thoughts and feelings with art or at least creatively. When I discovered the phenomena of extensive body mods I had to be a part of it somehow. What really opened my eyes to extensive body mods was taking a class in college that was dedicated to learning all about the history and practices of people all over the world. From traditional tattoos and piercings to suspensions and stretched ears etc. Because of this class I researched body mods in excess and came across my first SG. It was @kemper in her Jessica Rabbit outfit. And thanks to her I was opened up to this whole new world of alt models.

By the time I was 21, I knew that some how I had to become an SG. I was always too short for "real modeling" (like Victoria Secret stuff) and I thought that was the only modeling people looked at. I hadn't experienced the whole other side of modeling, with girls like me who are short and curvy and covered in tattoos and piercings. I finally got to do my first photo shoot this past December of 2013. I decided that enough waiting and let me just jump in. Setting up my Instagram and then getting onto the site after submitting my set was exactly what my life needed. Reassurance for my own mind that I am pretty and it doesn't matter that I've got a little extra around the edges. People saw my art that I am proud of. Saw my assets that I saw as flaws for so many years. Finally getting that acknowledgement that it is OK to want to be a nude model covered in tattoos and it isn't a bad thing.

I have always struggled with depression in my life, I was teased for my whole life about my looks. Being called ugly for so long you actually start believing it. And I admit that my first couple of piercings and my dragon tattoo was for me but also for everyone else to get attention. I always felt when I was younger I had to prove myself. Prove to men I was pretty by showing them my body, prove to girls that I could be like them by going along with everything they said. I never really had my own identity. It took me 23 years to get to the point I am now, and honestly it was all because my past sucked and I had to become tough. Strong. My own person. SG made me realize that I can be whoever I want to be. And I like showing everyone who I really am. Tattooed and pierced. Quirky and slightly awkward. Pretty and curvy. A little nerdy and totally in love with myself. It took me so long to be able to say I love myself. I love who I am and I love how my life is turning out. I look forward to all the opportunities life may be offering me in the future. SG has created this incredibly strong minded woman who knows for the first time what real happiness is. And who is totally body positive! I AM WHO I AM AND THAT IS OK WITH ME!