Normally when it comes to models, my team and I find scattered pieces of information around the net and compile them for a post, then sprinkle it with some of our personal opinions. But in the case of the gorgeous Marina Victoria, her bio reads like a book. In respects to whoever wrote it, I couldn’t break it up, so you can take a read after her pictures below.
On April 26, 1987 at 10: 30 am, her first smile was seen as she entered the world in a small town called Evpatoria, Ukraine. “Marina!” her mother would call into the neighborhood playground from her kitchen window. They lived in a poor building where 5 – 7 different families would share the same bathroom and kitchen. Growing up was not easy especially with her dad abandoning them, leaving her mom Juliya with two children to raise and no job or any sort of income. Growing up, she was a tom boy. She used to always get into fights, climb fences and trees, and almost blew up the neighborhood when her and her friend decided to make a bond fire beside a gas tank. Of course she will never forget the beating she got from an old lady and her grandmother who caught them. Although Marina always tried to live her life to the fullest and stay positive, she knew that she was meant to be more.
At the age of 7, her mother Juliya and the daughters were on the line of being homeless. Juliya borrowed money for an airplane ticket to go to Canada to work and bring back money to survive, while leaving her two daughters with their ill grandmother. When Juliya arrived to Canada, she was standing at the airport with five dollars in her pocket, no English or relatives to turn to. As she started praying to god she heard “Excuse me, would you be kind enough to help me with my luggage?” an old lady asked . They got to talking, and Juliya ended up staying with the old lady while taking care of her grandkids and cleaning houses on the side.
After two and a half long years, Marina and her mom were finally reunited when she arrived to Canada at the age of 9. Juliya was still cleaning houses and going to college while Marina went to elementary school. It was not easy for Marina to get used to this lifestyle. She did not have any friends and did not speak English at all. After a few months of being in Canada, Marina gained a lot of weight due to different environment and food. She was always made fun of at school, which made it harder for her to accept and live her new life in Canada. The summer before high school, Marina went back to her hometown for the summer, where she swam everyday with her old family and friends and ate healthy like she used.
When she came back, she lost all the extra weight, her skin was silky tanned, and body toned. Her life changed dramatically. She went to a new school, met a lot of new friends. Her mom and her friends always told her she should get into modeling, but being a young teenager and previous self esteem issues, she never took it seriously. She decided to pursue her passion for dancing instead. She started to take dance lessons at the age of 14, and at the age of 17 she was in a famous dance group called School of Mayhem. Unfortunately hard times hit and she had to stop dancing, quit school, and took on three jobs to help out with bills at home and take care of her family financially in Ukraine.
Later, she decided to take her first modeling gig, and was a feature on a well known Canadian retail clothing website. She then took on more challenging offers that allowed her to display her background in dance with projects that gave her lead roles in music videos.
What was supposed to be just a hobby, has taken Marina to places she could not have imagined in her wildest dreams, from winning the number one spot in the SCN Bikini contest 2006, to fashion shows, to music videos and Magazine features, Marina is recognized by more people everyday for her unique Korean/Russian look and her outstanding personality. She is currently the spokes model for ProjectBounce Inc. which is one of the largest companies in Canada for urban media. MV’s journey has only just begun…
