Bravo’s Make Me A Supermodel winner, Holly Kiser tells you why you should never give up on your dreams.
While to some it may sound like such a cliche’, dreams do come true. For most of us, we give up on our dream before we see it come to pass. But, if truth be told, it took Thomas Edison 10,000 times of trying before he saw light. That means when we are tempted to give up after 1, 2, 10 or even 100 times, we still must keep moving forward or we will never see the victory that lies before us.
That’s what model Holly Kiser had to do before she auditioned for Bravo’s Make Me A Supermodel. Throughout her entire life she had always felt that she was born to be a model. Not in a superficial fake kind of way, but in a very genuine ‘I know I was created to do this’ kind of way.
“I was obsessed with becoming a model. I studied it, I had a library of modeling books, and I would be on the phone all day long trying to get an agent. I would take polaroids of myself and send them to agents, over and over again-I did this for years!”
But modeling did not come easy for Kiser, and during her final year of High School tragedy struck. “It was my senior year in High School, two weeks before graduation. I decided to go to my dermatologist because I was convinced I had acne (I had like 2 zits).
For some reason, my dermatologist decided to do an acid peel, microdermabrasion, and bluelight therapy all in the same session. My face look like someone took a blowtorch to it. I was diagnosed with third-degree burns. I couldn’t even open my mouth, and my skin was literally peeling off. My dermatologist told me it would never, ever heal. That I would forever have scars. But even though he said this, there was a huge voice inside me that knew he was wrong.”
The next six months were some of the toughest Holly would ever face. She notes, “I didn’t look in the mirror for months because I didn’t want to be convinced of anything else other than that I was going to be healed.”
Then the day came, and after months of wearing a hat to hide her face, she looked in the mirror and saw her entire face scar free!
“I was literally healed-it was a total miracle!”
After all that had happened, things seemed to finally be on the upswing for Holly. She even landed an agent in Miami, only to be let go- a few months before the show’s casting. Her agents told her she would never make it as a model, and that she didn’t have what it takes.
At the time, Holly felt devasted, yet today she recognizes that if she was never dropped from the agency, she would’ve never tried out for Make Me A Supermodel.
As for her experience on the show, she feels it made her more independent. For a girl who treasures her relationship with her parents so much, it was really tough.
“We were cut off from everything, no internet or phone. I learned to rely more on myself and my own decisions, whereas I used to always have my mom make my decisions for me. Doing this show helped me to mature. I definitely came out a different person, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
As for some of her favorite experiences on the show Holly recalls.
“It would have to be the catwalk-that’s my love. I am counting down the days until I can walk a real designer runway. I cannot wait!”
Holly feels super thankful for the experience and truly believes that everything happens for a reason.
“You’ve got to have faith, because things will truly turn around if you keep believing and move ahead. The key to success is persistence–never, ever give up.”
So what’s next for this faith-filled model?
“One day I’d like to be the face of Estee Lauder or some big beauty company. I’d also love to walk (the runway) for all of those famous designers in Paris, Milan, and here in NY.”
For now, Holly plans on spending her time both in NY and Paris modeling. And while we all got to witness her dream become a reality right across our televisions, Holly says she will never forget all of the times when people said it would never happen. That, she says, is what her story is all about.
“If people can know my struggle, yet get to witness my life as an example of how by faith anything is possible, then in the end it was all worth it.”
We are sure this is only the beginning of what’s on the horizon for Holly. And we must admit, she made believers out of us.