Jahzara’s Story: Triad Goodwill Helps Modeling Dream Come True for Inspiring Alamance County Teen
For aspiring model Jahzara Thomson, 14, the journey to her runway dreams was anything but ordinary.
Thompson was sidelined early in life by sickle cell anemia, an illness which caused her to be hospitalized and miss a full year of school before she was cured in 2017.
Having triumphed over this serious challenge, Thompson has emerged with her modeling dreams intact. Even better, she was selected as one of four student models from Alamance County as part of Triad Goodwill’s YOUnique 2019 Student Model Search for the retailer’s back to school ad campaign.
“When we selected Jahzara as part of our Back to School modeling team, we really just appreciated her unique sense of style,” says Teresa Smith, Marketing Director for Triad Goodwill. “We had no idea about the adversity she had faced so early in life, and hearing about her story was inspiring.”
In July, Thompson was among 20 children and teenagers who participated in a professional model shoot for Triad Goodwill. Since then, she has appeared in back to school advertisements for the thrift store that have run in newspapers, social media, posters and more.
Thompson’s family helped get her ready for her big break. Her older sister did her makeup and her cousin styled her hair.
Thompson’s mother, Denise Faulk, says that when her daughter was selected to be one of Triad’s YOUnique student models, she was excited.
“She was really excited because that’s her dream, to be a model ,” Faulk says. “She told me that she would like to pack up and move to California for her modeling career, so we’re going to try and make that happen for her, but she was excited.”
Thompson will continue to appear in promotional materials for Triad Goodwill throughout the 2019-2020 school year.
