I picked up little bits of English during my castings, but I had some awkward moments. When I went to Paris for the first time, for example, I still spoke no English. So imagine trying to speak French! Eventually, I met with Riccardo Tisci from Givenchy. He asked me how old I was, and I answered, "I am fine." He then asked where I was from, and I said, "Portuguese.” Luckily, the language barrier didn't get too much in the way of my career — in fall 2012, I walked the shows in Milan, London, and Paris, and ended up being selected by Riccardo as an exclusive for Givenchy for two years.That was also the year I participated in my first casting for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. I returned to Brazil just after my audition to see my family. While there, I got the exciting news that I’d been called back for a second look. All I wanted was to be a part of the show, and I knew this would be my next big break. In the modeling world, booking Victoria's Secret means not only massive exposure in your career, but it's a milestone that quantifies all of your hard work leading up to that achievement. Becoming an Angel, in many ways, means you're set for life. But disaster struck (literally), and Hurricane Sandy hit New York. When that happened, I was grounded in South America and missed my callback, which was the last step before being booked. To say I was brokenhearted is an understatement.A year later, I was given another chance. After already being vetted the year before, I went straight to the callback round of castings, which gave me one last chance to impress the producers. When I arrived, I was so overwhelmed by the number of people on set that I froze. I could feel fear taking over — I couldn’t smile or talk with any energy or warmth, like I knew how to do in castings like this. I felt paralyzed. Later that day, my agent called me to break the news that the Victoria's Secret team thought I was too nervous. I was devastated. But there’s no success without rejection, so I decided to treat it as an opportunity. And actually, that news was all it took to push my nerves aside. I knew then that if I had the chance again, I would walk in and use my personality to take over the room, and I approached every casting going forward with tenacity and confidence. It's something I bring to everything I do in my life. Knowing what I had left in Brazil — the comfort of home, family, and my culture — I had to slay this.