hen she was a young girl, Shaholly Ayers didn’t feel different from other kids in her Oregon neighborhood, but as she entered school, she began to feel out of place. Shaholly is a congenital amputee, born almost completely without her right forearm, and her biggest challenge has always been gaining acceptance for her appearance from those she encounters every day.
From late elementary school through early junior high, she was bullied by her peers, even as she moved from state to state. “Name calling was every day,” she recalls. One boy beat her up for being different, likely trying to prove that she was defenseless without her other arm.
Shaholly covered up her arm, wearing long-sleeved shirts and miserably hot sweaters, even during summertime. “I was hiding it because I didn’t want to offend anyone. I didn’t want to gross anyone out. I wanted to avoid that conflict. It was my way of escaping all of that... I was comfortable with myself, but I was afraid of other people reacting to it.”
“Girls were really mean, and they’d always pick on me and say I was ugly... And when I came back to Oregon, the girls would pick on me again, and they’d say, ‘You’re a snob for not showing us your arm.’” This constant back-and-forth about her body frustrated her throughout her teenage years, until she finally decided enough was enough: “To hell with it, I’m just gonna be myself.”
After high school, Shaholly uprooted herself once again, moving as far away as possible from the negativity she wanted to leave behind. In Hawaii, she decided to pursue modeling. People she knew discouraged her from trying, but she remembered all the times as a kid when she was told she couldn’t play sports or that her disability would hold her back. She had proved those people wrong before, and she was determined to do it again.
The first modeling agency she applied to turned her down. They told her, point blank, that she would never be a model because of her arm. It was a painful blow, but Shaholly picked herself up and pursued modeling from a grassroots angle. “I was determined to change the way people saw me and thought about me, and hopefully change the way they thought about other people’s disabilities.”
She produced her own portfolio shoots, networking with photographers and boutiques to model clothing locally. Eventually, Shaholly not only built her portfolio, but she also landed on the covers of many magazines. As she became more visible, people began reaching out to her, especially as they realized their own need to embrace diversity in abilities.
That’s when Shaholly joined the team at Global Disability Inclusion. As the view of disability shifts towards the idea that people are capable of doing the same things in different ways, many Fortune 500 companies seek support and consultation in creating jobs for everyone. Global Disability Inclusion brings together experienced disability inclusion experts to provide companies with one resource to address all their inclusion needs. Shaholly is their brand ambassador, proving that being different is good. “I like to think that being different is beautiful.”
“These days, I accept myself pretty fully. The big thing was putting myself in uncomfortable situations. Now, if I ever feel like [...] people are looking at me, I stick my arm out, and anyone who sees it, it’s education time. The more I’m out here, the more I can condition people to get used to it. If we keep hiding, like I used to do, it doesn’t change anyone’s mind. Instead of getting mad about it, I just say, ‘There’s more teaching I need to do.’”
To see more of Shaholly and her journey, please follow her @Shahol1
