Two youngsters from Cape Coral appeared in Parenting Magazine this month for the “school years” and “early years” issue.
Jerilyn Harley said when her kids were younger, people would approach her at various places and comment on how cute they were. When she was at the beach with her children a woman approached her and told her she could make a lot of money in the modeling business and save up for college.
“I decided to give it a try,” she said.
Lailoni, 8, began doing photo shoots when she was 4 years old. Her son Freddy, 5, had his first photo shoot when he was turning 2 years old for a Gap Casting Call.
“As one of four baby boy finalists chosen out of 800,000 applicants, he had an all-expense-paid trip for a photo shoot in San Francisco,” she said. “He did awesome, they loved him.”
Harley believes this is a good time to get Freddy started in the business because he wants to be just like his sister, who is always smiling and imitating the television.
An editor from Parenting Magazine contacted Harley through her Facebook page after viewing pictures she had posted of her children. She explained that the editor asked her to submit photographs of both of her children to a casting for the magazine.
“I submitted them and they were both chosen,” Harley said.
She explained that there is a lot of down time during a photo shoot because her kids have to wait for their turn, along with changing into various outfits.
“The photographer was amazing,” Harley said.
Lailoni is in the “school years” March issue of Parenting Magazine and Freddy appeared in the “early years” issue.
Harley said it is a proud moment for her husband “knowing that all the other parents that read this magazine now get to see our kids.”
“Just the fact that their in a national magazine is an amazing feeling,” she said. “I love seeing the kids in stuff and I know they love it, too.”
Lailoni is currently participating in a contest through Yuli n’ Grace Couture Model Search, which ends on March 15. The contest is a nationwide model search for girls who are up to 12 years old. Individuals can vote for their favorite model by visiting www.facebook.com/pages/Yuli-n-Grace-Couture. The top three girls with the most votes advance to the final round.
“She’s in the lead now,” Harley said Monday afternoon.