A woman who is unable to smile due to a rare neurological disorder has defied her bullies by embarking on a "self-discovery and healing journey" that has led her to find self-confidence - as well as signing a modelling contract.
Tayla Clement was diagnosed with Moebius Syndrome when she was eight months old, meaning she cannot move her eyes from side to side, raise her eyebrows, or even smile due to the underdevelopment of her facial nerves.
And while she has been bullied her entire life for looking "different", Tayla told the Daily Star that she has since learned to accept her true beauty and is proving her critics wrong by finding success as an influencer, a Paralympian, and now a model.
Tayla, from New Zealand, said: "I definitely haven’t always been confident in myself. I was bullied all throughout my childhood and schooling years because of my syndrome, so I was made to feel like I couldn't or shouldn't be confident in myself.
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"It's been a huge work for me in my self-discovery and healing journey, but I think the main thing that has really helped me is really understanding that I am the only me there is.
"No one else can be me and I can't be anyone else and there is so much beauty in that, so I would say it makes being confident in yourself 10 times easier when you fully understand that concept.
"It used to really bother me, again because I was bullied in school and always told that I couldn't smile. I just went through life believing that."
The woman, who is known online as the "girl who can't smile", has even learned on her journey that she can smile, and has said that just because her smile isn't the same as other people's, that doesn't mean it isn't a smile.
She added: "Another thing I learnt through my self-discovery journey is that I can smile. My smile is mine, and just because it's not like the majority of the population's smile, doesn't mean that my smile isn’t a smile.
"So when people tell me to smile I just do. It's generally just accounts online that tell me to smile, no one in real life has ever come up to me and told me to smile."
Tayla has also learned to laugh off any criticism she receives online from vicious trolls, and has said that people who tell her to "turn her frown upside down" don't bother her "in the slightest".
She explained: "Honestly, [negativity] it makes me laugh. The negative comments I get online don’t bother me in the slightest! I love making reply videos on TikTok about them, like just doing a little stupid dance or whatever.
"A classic line that I've seen over and over again on my TikTok is 'turn that frown upside down' which truly makes me laugh because if they paid any attention, I can't actually frown, nor am I frowning in any of my videos. So it just makes no sense and just proves that some people really have nothing better to do than try and bring other people down to their negative level."
The inspiring woman has over 29,000 followers on Instagram and another 27,000 on TikTok, and has also recently signed a modelling contract with Zebedee that will see her "stamp her mark" on the industry.
"It's honestly such a dream come true being signed with such an incredible agency like Zebedee and being a part of such an incredibly inspiring and important movement and change within the industry!", she shared.
"I really want to stamp my mark within the modelling industry, I know I have so much to give and I know that I have this incredible gift and ability to inspire others. I really think the sky's the limit so I want to take this as far as I possibly can and I'm so ready for it as well.
"I truly feel like I am stepping into a new chapter that I've been working towards for a while now and I'm just super excited to see what I can achieve!"
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