Success mindset is everything.

I remember the moment my life changed forever. One week in hospital. One terrifying diagnosis. One simple truth: I couldn’t walk.

For someone whose world revolved around movement—rushing between TV studios, weddings, photoshoots, and red carpets as a makeup artist, model, and supporting actor—the thought of losing that freedom was unbearable. Lying in that hospital bed, staring at the ceiling, one thought kept running through my mind:

“What the hell am I going to do now?”

Because working wasn’t just about paying the bills. It was about pride, independence, and setting an example for my children. I had already fought so hard to rebuild my career once before—was I really about to lose everything again?

But even then, in the depths of uncertainty, an idea began to form. If I couldn't return to my old life, I would build a new one.

At the time, doctors couldn’t tell me if I’d ever regain the use of my legs. The fear was overwhelming, but I refused to let it paralyse me. Slowly, through rehabilitation, determination, and sheer stubbornness, I learned to walk again. But FND isn’t predictable. There are still days when my legs simply don’t work, and I need to use a wheelchair. My body doesn’t always play by the rules, but that doesn’t mean I stop showing up.

I had never been handed an easy route.

As a young mum, I walked away from a career in law, unable to afford childcare. I knew what it was like to count every penny, to put coins in the meter for gas and electricity, to take my children on newspaper voucher holidays to a caravan in Wales because that was all I could afford. But I also knew what it meant to fight.

As soon as my children were old enough to be in school, I started working again. I built a business from nothing—squeezing bookings between school runs, sacrificing sleep, pushing through exhaustion. Because earning my own money again wasn’t just about survival. It was about freedom.

So when my disability arrived out of nowhere, I refused to let it be the end of my story. If life was going to throw me another challenge, I was damn well going to rise to meet it.

Starting a business with a disability was like learning to walk all over again—painful, frustrating, and full of setbacks. I had no idea how to build a website, how to market myself, or how to turn a passion into something that could actually support my family. But I learned. I failed. I tried again.

I learned how to charge my worth without guilt. I learned how to speak up, take up space, and own my vision. Most of all, I learned that I didn’t have to do it alone.

DL Models wasn’t built overnight. It was built in stolen moments, in late-night ideas, in quiet determination when no one was watching. It was built from experience, passion, and an unshakable belief that the industry needed to change. And change it did.

Today, DL Models is a thriving business—one that challenges outdated beauty standards and makes space for every body. But more than that, it’s proof of what’s possible when you refuse to accept the limits the world tries to place on you.

People often ask how I turned things around. How I went from losing the use of my legs to building a business that now stands proudly on the runways of inclusive fashion shows across the UK. The answer is simple. I never let my circumstances decide my future.

Because the truth is, success doesn’t happen by accident. It’s not luck. It’s healing. It’s learning. It’s falling and getting up again. It’s refusing to accept "this is just how things are." And most of all, it’s deciding, right now, that you are capable of more.

Life will throw obstacles in your way. You can use them as excuses, or you can build something extraordinary. But you can't do both.

So, what will you choose?