Today we’d like to introduce you to Annalee Smith

Annalee, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?

From 2018 to 2020, I participated in a couple of Model Gigs and was signed to an agency in 2018. My success didn’t progress until 2020 when I met my model coach, Mrs. Jeannie Ferguson Goodlow, who introduced me to a modeling competition called Kurvacious Boutique. This competition is run by CEO, Tiffany Scott. Within that year, I competed against experienced ladies whereas I was the only one who was Visually Impaired. I became the runner-up for that year in particular. After the competition, I took one-on-one classes with Jeannie to perfect my signature walk. In 2021, I decided to enter the contest again and competed against 13 ladies, in that case, I was the only one who was Visually Impaired. In August of 2021, I won the competition and I became the Face of Kurvacious of 2021. Within that year, I was also titled the cover girl of Smooches Woman Magazine. After this, I was also featured in Queen Size Magazine, Model Magazine, La Model Magazine, Woman’s Empowerment Magazine, and many more. After winning the Face of Kurvacious Competition, my duty was to create a platform for myself and to give back to something I am passionate about. Being the fact that I am passionate about fashion and the visually impaired community, I decided to create a fashion show for the visually impaired and blind community in 2022. The first fashion show was a great success and we over-exceeded the amount that was attending. The name of the Fashion Show is Not My Eyes Fashion Showcase where we use fashion as a vehicle to bring awareness to make a difference in society when it comes to the visually impaired and blind community. It was also an empowering and uplifting movement for the ladies who participated in this showcase. By operating the fashion show and the success that it brought forth, I was offered the opportunity to become the Director for Kapable Kurves under the Kurvacious Competition. Kapable Kurves is a competition for women who are visually impaired and blind. Being a visually impaired plus model, founder and CEO of an organization, and the Director of the competition, it was a lot for me to maneuver in my schedule not to mention being a mom and wife. I also was featured in a short film called The Way We Were and a music video by Zello. Also, I was honored to model for New York Fashion Week of 2023. As I continued to get more exposure in modeling, my organization also expanded and became bigger and better. Super proud to say we are going in four years for the Not My Eyes Fashion Showcase and connecting with bigger names.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

No, because when it comes to something you put together in life, nothing is ever smooth. Some of the struggles I had to deal with were dealing with the different personalities of the individuals we dealt with and their stories. Another factor is receiving funds to put on the fashion showcase.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Not My Eyes Inc.?

As the Founder of Not My Eyes Organization, I am so proud to say that we became a 501C3 in 2023 for our 2nd Annual Fashion Showcase. For the first year, my husband and I operated and funded everything by ourselves. We are also proud to say we have a team for our production and services. What makes us different from any organization is that we create an atmosphere for men and women who are visually impaired and blind to regain their confidence and self-esteem. We utilize the runway to showcase to the world that we don’t need sight, but only vision. In other words, we take our devastions and turn them into determination. We give back to several visually impaired and blind organizations and communities in the Caribbean. Our services include etiquette, counseling, empowerment, independence, and accessibility.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?

What I like best about our city is the accessibility, but I don’t feel like a lot of people are not educated about disabled individuals as a whole.

Pricing:

• No pricing, but we are looking for donations and sponsorships.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://notmyeyes.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notmyeyesfoundation/?locale=us&hl=am-et
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Not-My-Eyes-Foundation-100092497729995/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@notmyeyesinc

Image Credits

The ones with the “PD” watermark are by Philip Drew
The ones without the watermark are by Jaycen Moody