Bullied For My Appearance - But Now I'm A Model | SHAKE MY BEAUTY

A TEENAGER who was bullied through school because of his cleft nose has become a signed fashion model. Justin Stewart, 19, from New Jersey, was born without a fully formed nose due to a form of cleft, known as frontonasal dysplasia, a rare condition with around 100 estimated cases reported. But due to his unique difference, Justin was recently signed by New York-based agency 'We Speak Model Management' that represents models of all sizes, ages, and backgrounds. Justin told Truly: “I never thought in my wildest dreams that I'll be a signed model. The thing I love the most about modelling is that you can express yourself in so many ways and you can just be so open and so free and so comfortable with who you are.” Justin was approached by the agency this year when the facial differences advocate started posting pictures of himself on Instagram to raise awareness of cleft and frontonasal dysplasia. The teenager admitted that modelling has empowered him and said: “I'm just happy to be a pioneer, happy to break some barriers and happy to be a role model for some of the younger people that maybe want to model or maybe want to be a social media influencer or maybe just want to be themselves, I'm happy I could be a shining light for them. I do feel like being a model, I've been able to challenge the beauty standards of the industry.”