Kanya Sesser is not letting the fact that she was born without legs stop her from pursuing a modeling career.
Originally born in Thailand and abandoned as a baby, Sesser was adopted and moved to Portland, Ore., where she began modeling at age 16 as a side job. The now 23-year-old Los Angeles resident first worked with local sports brands and has since posed for Nike, Billabong and various lingerie brands.
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Modeling wasn't something she had originally planned on doing until she realized she could use her disability to help others with similar conditions.
@catersnewsagency A photo posted by Kanya Sesser (@kanyasesser) on Sep 22, 2015 at 11:36pm PDT
"I want to motivate other women that are different -- different disability, different look -- whatever it is, to be more confident in their own skin," Sesser tells Mashable. "I model to change society's perspective of people."
As with most news coverage, she experienced unwarranted negativity.
"I have so many people looking at my lingerie shoot and they are like 'any girl can be in lingerie and get noticed,'" she explains. "Any girl can be dressing up in lingerie but not many girls have the confidence to show off their real body and self."
Sesser hopes that people can focus on her message instead of rumors of how much money she makes that have made waves through stories about the model.
@yaptastic A photo posted by Kanya Sesser (@kanyasesser) on Aug 11, 2015 at 9:27pm PDT
Sesser is also an athlete, often using the hashtag “NoLegsNoLimit” -- she skateboards, surfs and is currently training for the U.S. Paralympics 2018 monoskiing team.
More recently she started acting, filming a scene for CBS's new series Code Black, and is currently writing a book.
So fun doing an interview today! Can't wait for Saturday. #nolegsnolimits A photo posted by Kanya Sesser (@kanyasesser) on Jul 22, 2015 at 6:10pm PDT
Sesser joins the ranks of other models with disabilities challenging the standards of beauty. Madeline Stuart, an 18-year-old model with Down syndrome, along with Rebekah Marine, a model born without a right forearm, recently walked in New York Fashion Week for FTL Moda.