Lily Beltran and her stepmother Katelyn Beltran like to admire all of Lily’s modeling photos on display throughout the house.

“She just popped this leg and looked all sassy,” Katelyn Beltran said.

Even when she’s not trying, Beltran says 16-year-old Lily has a natural talent for modeling. It all started when a photographer felt inspired during a family photo shoot.

“The photographer, it was the first we’d met her, and she was really taken aback by Lily’s potential versatility in photoshoots – just for being able to pull off a lot of different looks – and so she asked her to come and do another photo shoot afterward, and that’s kind of what kicked it off," Beltran said. "And then we were like ‘whoa, ok Lily, you got something there.’”

The greatest challenge has been finding dresses that fit because Lily has scoliosis.

“They make dresses very specifically," Beltran said. "If there weren’t like a keyhole that gave a little forgiveness in the zip-up, it wouldn’t fit her correctly.”

Lily says she wasn’t too bugged by the cosmetic issues. It was the chronic pain that eventually led her to surgery.

“A lot of the time in the middle of the night, my back would hurt, and so I would wake up, and then it was hard to go back to sleep because it wouldn’t go away," Lily said. "Or chores like dishes stuff where I’d have to lean over would hurt.”

“She was sleeping in such a broken way just to feel comfortable, and I know she wasn’t feeling comfortable, so she wasn’t getting good rest," Beltran said. "Therefore, she was exhausted at school – it was affecting her ability to perform well at school or to keep up with her friends.”

Back in December of 2019, Lily went through surgery to straighten out her back. Dr. Brian Shaw is her orthopedic surgeon at Children’s Hospital Colorado.

“She had two curves: one way up in her neck and then one longer one down in her thoracic and lumbar spine,” Dr. Shaw said.

He says scoliosis is a sideways curve or bend in the spine.

“It’s found in about three percent of all people.”

Dr.Shaw says scoliosis treatment has improved vastly even since his early years of training.

“For a whole year, they’d make a whole bed out of plaster that they’d keep people in," Dr. Shaw said. "And they would lose weight and get stiff and get bedsores, and today it’s come in, have surgery, go home two days later.”

The biggest risk with surgery is the possibility of infection. However, Dr. Shaw says most of the time, patients are completely fine. That was the case with Lily. Now in her modeling, her back is straight.

“That’s a super volatile industry and not always the best for self-esteem, and everybody knows that," Beltran said. "And we got really lucky to be working with photographers who were just so kind and so sweet about it. But I know that’s not always going to be the reality.”

Beltran says she believes Lily can now pursue modeling with less judgment. But she’s taught Lily to be comfortable in her skin – including the scar that runs down her back. In her future modeling endeavors, Lily says she hopes to continue finding photographers who celebrate what makes people unique.

“It’s more fun to go that route when they want to take pictures of my scar,” Lily said.

Katrina Tijerina is a TikTok and Instagram influencer. She loves fitness and plus-size fashion.

“I am a plus-size model and body-positivity activist," Tijerina said. "I love encouraging women to live their best and most authentic lives through everything that they do.”

She says her followers really grew after she posted fitness videos to TikTok.

“It’s about doing something that you enjoy, moving your body, celebrating all that it can do and I really love that when people come to my platform they see that and that they see a plus size body doing exercises that they typically don’t see.”

Body positivity has become a recent welcoming trend on social media that’s different from what we’ve seen in the past.

“The media and social media has told us that only one type of beauty is the right type of beauty so often times you see young girls and women who are constantly striving to achieve something that they just weren’t designed to be," Tijerina said. "And body positivity, body neutrality, body acceptance – whatever term you want to use for it – is encouraging women to find the beauty and uniqueness that they have themselves.”

Tijerina says there’s a big mental health aspect to it and she’s a big believer in therapy to help overcome the barriers we face to feel confident in our own skin.

Alice West-Goers is a licensed clinical social worker and therapist. She says she talks about body positivity with her clients.

“Showing up in the world and having people criticize you for your body is really challenging," West-Goers said. "It’s important to go out into society and feel valued.”

West-Goers says she teaches her clients to practice positive affirmations – reminding themselves about the great things their body can do. She says influencers like Tijerina are a big help by empowering people to view body image in a different light.

“When you are struggling with low self-esteem it can spiral into depression and anxiety and maybe possible other self-harming behavior, self-loathing, and so I think it’s important to be able to look at these social media platforms and see people who look like you,” West-Goers said.

Tijerina says society has come a long way in only a couple of decades. Growing up, she says she couldn’t wear brands she really liked because they didn’t offer her size.

“One of my followers she commented and said ‘so are you telling me all of my childhood trauma that I had from not being able to fit in this brand is now gone?’ And I was like ‘yeah, it kind of is,'” Tijerina said.

However, she says there’s still room for growth.

“One of the things in particular that I wish more brands did is that when they expand to plus size, I don’t want that to only be available online, I want that to be available in stores just like it is for somebody with a straight body.”

No matter your shape, size, or ability, Tijerina wants everyone to know your body is beautiful. And if you’re struggling with self-confidence, she suggests looking on the inside first.

“Maybe you think you’re a very smart person, or you think you’re kind or you love the types of relationships that you have," Tijerina said.

"Start small with things that are personal about you. And then pick things about your body in particular that you love. So maybe it’s ‘I love my smile, I think I have great energy and charisma’, and telling yourself that every single day helps just a little more and more to continue to get that confident vibe that you might be looking for yourself.”

The United States is home to a number of beautiful public green spaces (think: Longwood Gardens or the Chicago Botanic Gardens), but none of them compare to the Netherlands's Keukenhof.Located in Lisse, Keukenhof is home to seven million flowers each year. It's the second-largest flower garden in the world behind the Dubai Miracle Garden. According to its website, Keukenhof is specifically a "spring park." For eight weeks each year, it invites flower enthusiasts from all over the world to admire its seasonal blooms, which are all planted by local companies. This annual event gives each company a chance to display its living catalog to the public, but it also takes millions of dollars and year-round labor to prepare for.As Insider reports, gardeners must map out their design and select which particular flowers to feature in their display — which can take months to finalize. Next, they must order the bulbs and hand plant all of the seeds ahead of Keukenhof's opening, a feat that usually takes gardeners about three months. Before planting, they must also spend time ripping out the bulbs from the year prior. The majority of the flowers are, of course, tulips. For this year's show, 800 different types were hand-selected by quality and color. Because tulips have a life span of around a week and a half, gardeners use a special technique in which they stagger early- and late-blooming bulbs to make sure tulips continue to flower throughout Keukenhof's eight-week season. Last year, Keukenhof was closed for the first time since its opening in 1950 due to COVID-19. This year, Keukenhof decided to take a risk and gear up to re-open for its spring flower exhibition, but due to public health guidelines, the garden's opening has been postponed until further notice.That said, we simply can't let seven million beautiful flowers go unnoticed! Keukenhof has created a virtual tour of its gardens, so you can enjoy its beauty no matter where you are.The "Keukenhof Spring Series" is a six-part series that showcases the garden's diverse and colorful blooms. The best part: It's available to watch on Youtube free of charge. So sit back, enjoy the show, and start planning for next year's in-person visit.Part 1PGlmcmFtZSB3aWR0aD0iMTAwJSIgaGVpZ2h0PSI4MDBweCIgc3JjPSJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS9lbWJlZC9GdFNXYlVTbExjWSIgdGl0bGU9IllvdVR1YmUgdmlkZW8gcGxheWVyIiBmcmFtZWJvcmRlcj0iMCIgYWxsb3c9ImFjY2VsZXJvbWV0ZXI7IGF1dG9wbGF5OyBjbGlwYm9hcmQtd3JpdGU7IGVuY3J5cHRlZC1tZWRpYTsgZ3lyb3Njb3BlOyBwaWN0dXJlLWluLXBpY3R1cmUiIGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbj48L2lmcmFtZT4=Part 2PGlmcmFtZSB3aWR0aD0iMTAwJSIgaGVpZ2h0PSI4MDBweCIgc3JjPSJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS9lbWJlZC83RDdrczVtTUlNcyIgdGl0bGU9IllvdVR1YmUgdmlkZW8gcGxheWVyIiBmcmFtZWJvcmRlcj0iMCIgYWxsb3c9ImFjY2VsZXJvbWV0ZXI7IGF1dG9wbGF5OyBjbGlwYm9hcmQtd3JpdGU7IGVuY3J5cHRlZC1tZWRpYTsgZ3lyb3Njb3BlOyBwaWN0dXJlLWluLXBpY3R1cmUiIGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbj48L2lmcmFtZT4=Part 3PGlmcmFtZSB3aWR0aD0iMTAwJSIgaGVpZ2h0PSI4MDBweCIgc3JjPSJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS9lbWJlZC9VN2l0b1dZd25OOCIgdGl0bGU9IllvdVR1YmUgdmlkZW8gcGxheWVyIiBmcmFtZWJvcmRlcj0iMCIgYWxsb3c9ImFjY2VsZXJvbWV0ZXI7IGF1dG9wbGF5OyBjbGlwYm9hcmQtd3JpdGU7IGVuY3J5cHRlZC1tZWRpYTsgZ3lyb3Njb3BlOyBwaWN0dXJlLWluLXBpY3R1cmUiIGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbj48L2lmcmFtZT4=You can watch the remainder of "Keukenhof Spring Series" here.