"They [a model agency] said, 'You are very pretty, and we love your photos, but unfortunately we don't think the market is ready for models with disabilities,'" Alexandra Kutas said.
Kutas is Ukraine's first model in a wheelchair.
"I didn't think back then it could be my profession because there was no model in a wheelchair in the world when I started," she said.
Since then, she's worked with different brands, photographers and magazines. Despite that, modeling agencies won't sign her.
"I believe the world is ready. ... Any time I represent my photos anywhere, the behavior and reaction of society is very, very positive."
While she waits to gain worldwide recognition, she's working with her city's mayor to make her Ukraine town a more disability-friendly place.
"Right now, it's pretty inaccessible, so it's impossible for me to move around in the city by myself," Kutas said.
"In my city, we don't have any schools with an elevator or something which a kid in a wheelchair would be able to go every day," she said.
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