Born in Miami, FL to exiled Cuban parents, I come from a family of artists where the spotlight feels like home. However, name-calling during my early school years led to paralyzing self-consciousness. It wasn’t until I began modeling at age 14 that I began to come out of my shell. I was soon working with the top designers such as Chanel, Ferragamo, Escada, Oscar de la Renta, and others. I worked as a runway and magazine model, commercial and film actress, and singer. After appearing in Cosmopolitan and Maxim magazines, and working on various films, I felt well on my way to making a name for myself.
Growing up Catholic, I thought I had experienced true religion. That is, until my brother became born again at a pizza shop in Miami Beach where he and I would frequent. I witnessed how God completely changed his life and provided all of his needs. I remember laying across from him on the sofa as he would listen to worship music and I would fight the tears. The lyrics would say, in Spanish, “Renew my heart, Jesus I pray. I no longer want to be the same. Renew my heart, Jesus I pray. Will you replace my heart with yours? Because everything I have inside my heart is in need for you to change me, oh Lord. Because everything I have inside my heart is in need of more of you.“ I struggled with not wanting to give up my life that I had found so pleasurable, but I wanted God SO badly. Like so many who have been wrongly taught, I believed that I had to earn my way to God. I don’t have “that day“ that so many speak of, but God certainly knows the moment that I received him.
I tried to pursue my career after having been born again, but found it to be quite a challenge. I constantly felt pressured into compromising my beliefs. This revealed the need to strengthen my relationship with God. Therefore, I decided to walk away from my dreams. Nearly 10 years after moving, starting a family, and a new business, I heard a voice one day that said “Follow your dreams.“ Soon after, I heard a commercial for the first time that said the words “modeling and acting for Christ”, something that made me ponder. However, it wasn’t until I took my car to get serviced (located on Fortune way) that God made it crystal clear by my now good friend Cleveland’s utterance. He saw a book that I was reading and proceeded to describe a book that he was reading about praying over your dreams. He asked me about my dreams, but I didn’t say anything about the dreams that I had left on the proverbial altar. What came next during that conversation sprung up tears as I knew that his words came straight from heaven. “When I see you, I see lights.“ he said. That same day, I told my friends that God was calling me back to the industry because I was certain of that. However, I did not have a promoting to do anything about it so I didn’t.
It now came as no surprise when a friend of mine tagged me on a post about a feature film, Open my Eyes, which was being filmed locally. The audition was located on Fortune Way (same street as the auto shop), and the film is about a man who lost his eyesight due to an accident. Well, my uncle had just lost his eyesight due to an accident. I knew this was God. I landed the lead role and all I could do was cry grateful tears and fall on my knees in thanksgiving. Who knew that this opportunity would also give life to songs that I had merely written in a journal years prior, and would also be asked to write and perform the theme song? He resurrected my dreams and career, but now I do it for Him instead of me. I have since been on several films and series, and have even been asked to join crew as production designer for Undefiled.