It’s not an experience many of us can say we’ve had.
Moving to New York City on a credit card at the fresh age of 18.
But for Skylar Bumgardner, it was an opportunity to pursue an industry planted in her heart from a young age — modeling.
It wasn’t a career she thought about until her preteen years, after going through school a bit tomboyish and what she described as not the perfect weight.
“I never had confidence to be pretty, and so it was just never really on my mind,” Skylar said.
That changed in the 7th grade, and the people around her noticed she had changed, too.
“I remember going to different towns, and I would have people say, ‘You should consider getting into [modeling].’”
Skylar submitted to an agency in Chicago at 14-years-old, and while she didn’t get signed, she would later land an opportunity in St. Louis.
But as with any young girl, the struggles and insecurities she endured at a young age still impacted her, even through high school.
“I didn’t have direction in life, and I wasn’t the best version of myself,” Skylar added.
Skylar’s mom didn’t want her daughter’s dream to fade, so on a whim, she submitted her photo to an agency in NYC when she was 18-years-old.
That’s how she found herself in the Big Apple, something she describes as an “only God” opportunity.
Skylar couch-hopped before landing in a studio with a roommate, working several side jobs to make ends meet.
“It’s not glamorous, especially if you’re starting from scratch.”
She worked as a model for years, but that didn’t mean the trauma and insecurities from her childhood faded.
“When you’re young and in your 20s, you’re really vulnerable. I was also just healing from a lot of different things in life.”
It led to her decision to take a pause from the industry to work on her psychology degree.
But out of nowhere, her agency called with an opportunity to work for Victoria’s Secret’s PINK.
Skylar says she still struggled with self-confidence despite the big wins and highlights in her career.
“I don’t think [modeling] is necessarily a bad industry,” She added. “But I wouldn’t recommend it for someone unless they feel like they have the strength and maturity to have their own autonomy and set boundaries.”
She acknowledged she had to take a lot of breaks to develop herself in different ways, including by allowing God into her life.
Skylar was baptized at 19-years-old and started looking at her worth and her life through a heavenly lens.
It was around the pandemic when she felt the Lord tell her to take a step back, especially because she didn’t want to cross the previous boundaries she had set for herself in the modeling world.
“It can get so hard so fast. I want to honor God in this, I just didn’t know how.”
Throughout a period of high highs and deep valleys, what didn’t change was Skylar’s attention to what God was telling her to do.
That included packing up her things and moving to Nashville in 2023.
“I think I needed a year to just live off the grid and totally heal,” Skylar said. “I think God granted a deeper inner healing, and He appointed a time. 2023 was that.”
She took a step back from modeling and pursued other jobs, and says the Lord’s presence was evident through it all.
“God just unwound my heart. He just started speaking to me like, ‘You’re worthy right now; you’re loved right now.’”
After years of developing her sense of self and her relationship with the Lord, Skylar was ready to dip her toes back into the industry.
She modeled for boutiques and landed several opportunities before a Chicago agency called her in 2025, asking to sign her.
Skylar says while modeling is a promise over her life, it doesn’t hold her heart the way it did when she was younger.
“God is always going to make sure that it doesn’t have your heart,” Skylar said. “I always have to grow in this, but my worth isn’t in it.”
She reached that point by spending time with God and surrounding herself with people who love Him as well.
“I can have all the money in the world, but if I don’t have healthy relationships or if I’m not taking care of myself — those are the things that make you really happy, and your dreams are kind of bonuses to life.”
Skylar will return to New York City for modeling this year.
Things will be different this time around.
“I’m standing for Christ in modeling,” Skylar added. “Being a light in the modeling industry because it can be a beautiful thing, but it can also be dark.”
The prophecies called over life have only amplified that dream.
“God is about to open the doors of what you’re trained in. He saw there was a line, and you didn’t cross that line, and He’s about to honor that.”