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Northern woman is Maxim cover girl finalist

Terri Shields was a model in New York before she returned to her northern B.C. routes. Now she is coming back to the modelling world without having to leave her Burns Lake town or her three young boys.
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SHIELDS

Terri Shields was a model in New York before she returned to her northern B.C. routes.

Now she is coming back to the modelling world without having to leave her Burns Lake town or her three young boys. Shields is one of the finalists in Maxim Canada's Cover Girl competition.

"I had a friend who saw the competition and thought I should do it. She saw it as a second chance for me," said Shields.

In 2001 and '02 she was breaking into the fashion industry in New York City as an emerging model but when she was offered a full-time contract with an agency, she turned it down. The pull to move home, start her family, and live the northern life was too strong.

Born and raised in the Lakes District a short jaunt west of Prince George, she moved to P.G. where she went to school and is now an accredited hair stylist. She works at Curly Temple Hair Salon on Third Ave. in Burns Lake.

"Modelling in New York was definitely intense, it is a busy life, faced-paced, it's fun but you're always on the go," she said. "This is a chance for me to step back into that world but not have to sacrifice my small-town northern dreams, or be apart from my boys who mean the world to me."

The top prize in the Maxim competition is a cover photo but also $10,000 cash. Shields said that money would help stabilize their single-mom family and also make a contribution to the local food bank to help them stabilize families all over the community.

"I'm definitely passionate about single parents. It's often very difficult to raise children, to make ends meet, and I know the food bank is there to help our most vulnerable families," she said. "In my job, I get to make women feel good about themselves - moms, girls, all backgrounds - so I bring that into my career."

Shields has already prevailed through the preliminary rounds of online voting, where thousands started an now they are down to the semi-finals. Online voting will determine one winner out of 12 groups to advance to the finals.

"I feel so thankful, so blessed, to have received the support that got me here to the semi-finals, it has been incredible," she said. "I want to show women that it doesn't matter what age you are, or what town you're in, you can accomplish your goals. If you put your mind to it, and just take those first steps, you can do anything."

Voting takes place at the maximcovergirl.com website.

The new round runs to June 13. You can vote once per day for free, or buy blocks of votes with the money going to the Canadian Cancer Society.