FAIRMONT — As a child, Shana McGill often opened the glossy pages of JET Magazine to the Beauty of the Week feature.
Little did she know, she would be featured on the page years later, putting her tiny hometown of Fairmont on the map.
“Being from Fairmont, we would always say that Fairmont is a well-kept secret. Good people come out of Fairmont,” said McGill, whose photo was published on JET’s website on Sept. 9. “Being from a small town, JET Magazine provided a different worldview that allowed me to see that I, too, could one day be featured as a JET Beauty. I try to tell the young people back home always dream big and always shoot for the moon and, if you miss, at least you land among the stars.”
McGill is the only woman from North Carolina to be featured in the online magazine so far this year.
McGill said that, as a child, her aunt bought her JET Magazine. She loved seeing the beautiful and educated women featured in the magazine and said that, in part, past Beauties of the Week inspired her to get an education.
She attended North Carolina Central University in Durham and received her undergraduate and master’s degree in speech therapy.
As a little girl, McGill thought a lot about being a Beauty of the Week. She even modeled until she graduated high school, but stopped so that she could finish her education. Now, the 30-year-old is working with a travel agency in Houston while keeping her modeling dream alive. She recently submitted photos to a modeling agency there.
McGill isn’t the only model in her family. Her brother has been featured in several magazines, including Vibe, and has been a longtime supporter of her career.
“He was actually a big inspiration for modeling and he actually encouraged me to submit my pictures to JET,” she said.
McGill said that her mother, Anita McGill, who works with the Robeson County Department of Social Services, has also inspired her to become the woman that she is today.
“My biggest thing is that I hope one day, a little girl from Fairmont, North Carolina will see what I’ve done and it will be an inspiration to them,” she said. “If you do good things in life, you’ll be rewarded for that. That was my reward, I was chosen to be featured in JET.”
JET Magazine has featured women on the Beauty of the Week page since 1952 with the mission of promoting the beauty of black women around the world. The last print magazine was published in June 2014. The publication now operates entirely online.
To view Beauties of the Week, visit JetMag.com/category/jetbeauty.
