If you’ve been waiting for a sign that it’s your time to shine, consider it this.
At Passport to Discovery (PTD) in sunny Orlando, Florida, aspiring models, dancers and actors compete to connect with industry pros and talent scouts from around the country (aka*major* opportunities ahead). Proof that PTD can change everything? Meet 16-year-old Jaiden S., our 2026 Girls’ Life Passport to Discovery Top Model!
A high school varsity basketball player, Jaiden says she was ready to try something different when she found Barbizon and took a chance on her modeling dreams. Fast-forward to her first Passport to Discovery, where Jaiden found herself stepping into a completely new world.
“On the way to Orlando, I really didn’t know what to expect,” she shares. And even though her nerves were definitely there (especially when it came time for her first competition), once Jaiden stepped onto the runway, she knew it was her moment.
In the span of one busy week, Jaiden competed on the runway, attended industry seminars, walked in a fashion show for Aeropostale’s collab with Deja Clark and posed in front of the camera for a photo shoot with 26International.
It was that photo shoot Jaiden points to when she talks about the best parts of her experience. “The whole time I was posing, I was thinking, ‘I can see myself doing this in the future,’” Jaiden shares. “This is what I want to do.”
PTD also introduced Jaiden to possibilities she hadn’t really considered before. During her conversations with industry professionals, she says she started to think less about fitting herself into one specific modeling lane and more about discovering where her individual strengths could take her.
“It really opened my eyes,” Jaiden explains. “Don’t try to change yourself, but go somewhere that you are wanted.”
Whether her future includes acting, magazines, commercial modeling or the runway (or all of the above!), Jaiden’s ready to see where the opportunities lead. “I want to be somewhere where I’m going to thrive,” she says.
41 callbacks later…
Remember when we said one week could change everything?
By the end of her very first PTD, Jaiden earned a whopping 41 callbacks from industry professionals, was named the 2026 Girls’ Life PTD Top Model *and* landed an international fashion opportunity in Italy.
Yep, Italy.
Just three weeks after PTD, Jaiden was packing her bags for an international fashion experience featuring photo shoots, runway opportunities and 14 different designers.
Her best Passport to Discovery advice? “Actually try. Do things. Go to the seminars because they’re very helpful and try every competition,” Jaiden says. “You’re there to work, and yes, it’s so fun, but you need to take it more seriously than you think. You never know. You could go to Italy in three weeks.”
Point taken.
