My name is Ylondra Marrero, I am the President and founder of JEM Fab Fashions. I was born in New York City where I lived until I was 11. At the age of 11 my parents and I moved to Florida leaving many of my friends and life-long securities behind. It was tough being a preteen going from the hustle and bustle of New York City to the sparsely populated Cape Coral, Florida and this struggle was compounded by the loss of my 2-year-old baby sister. As one can imagine this led to a fracture of the family causing me to be forced to fight my own battles and how to stand up for myself. Throughout my life, I’ve faced many challenges and learned to get through them on my own. At the age of 14, I found peace and solitude behind the lens of a camera. From that moment I realized that each photo I took had a meaning that only I was able to control. I learned to express myself through the photos I took. Over time this progressed to spending countless hours viewing pages upon pages of magazines with photos of a woman who became my inspiration, Cindy Crawford. Her appearance was so fresh, vibrant, and beautiful. It was at that time that I realized that I too could stand in front of the camera and I focused all of my efforts on becoming a model.

Soon after, I attended an open cast for Barbizon School of Modeling and met lots of talented people which solidified my desire to pursue the field of modeling. Throughout my life, I was faced with many challenges. I experienced scenarios that no child should ever have to experience. Modeling was an escape from the world where I felt free and happy. As time continued, I participated in many fashion shows, photoshoots and graduated from high school. I was wedded at a young age and was blessed with three beautiful girls. In 2006, I decided to set aside my dreams and focus on being the best mother and wife that I could be for my family. During this time I continued to educate myself in the business field, in Early Childhood Education, Developmental Psychology, and Child Abuse Education and majored in the medical field. During this time away from the industry I became a re-born Christian.

The love I feel for my savior goes beyond words. He is my stronghold and my rock. With his strength, I dedicated myself to my three beautiful girls Jazzmine, Elena, and Mia. As unexpected as life can be I had the unfortunate experience of going through a divorce. I realized that during my marriage I lost my identity and sight of my God-given talent. Faced with the prospects of being the sole provider for my three children; I learned to let go of the wheel and allow God to take control. Understanding that my girls are the most precious gift that God has blessed me with; they were my motivation to re-dedicate myself to the fashion industry. I needed to follow the advice that I had so often given to my daughters that no dream should ever be discarded.

In 2013 I was fortunate enough to collaborate with many different designers. Through this collaboration, I met designers who allowed me to experience the path of their inspirations and through this experience, I learned how to view fashion from a variety of perspectives. Understanding their passion for the design process; allowed me to be a better model when wearing their clothes. Over the last several years I participated in photo shoots, runway shows, promotional events, spokesmodel campaigns, and have been featured in several magazines. And if being a single mother, working as a model, collaborating with designers from all over the world was not enough I still felt the need to give back to those less fortunate and volunteered with such charitable organizations as the Ronald McDonald House, American Cancer Society-Relay for Life in addition to several others.

I always knew that life had something better in store for me. As a single mother, it was tough balancing the desire to achieve and start something great and be the mother I wanted to be. Needless to say, this delayed my progress but nonetheless did not dampen my desire. It has forced me to be patient and to plan my path much more carefully knowing that the future of my children stood in the balance. It is for that reason that I sit in front of you today, finally proud and ready to take my vision that has been for so long a mere thought into reality. I present to you my company JEM Fab Fashions (Jazzmine, Elena, Mia) which I hope will serve to provide an avenue for everyone to realize how special they are exactly the way they are.

My next goal is to open a foundation for girls and boys who have been in a possessive relationship and who have been neglected verbally, physically, emotionally, physiologically, and sexually. I would like to foster an environment where they can realize that life is not over. I would like the opportunity to show them that there is a higher power and no matter how many times life knocks them down to just know that there will always be a solution. Don’t ever give up on your dreams! Always follow what God created you to be. Always fight and don’t allow anyone to dictate what kind of life you will lead. I would like to be a mentor and a role model for these young girls and boys. I will not give up until I pursue what I’ve been striving for since the day I first held that camera in my hand.