Indigenous Labrador model featured as part of Tim Hortons' newest ad campaign

Despite being part of Tim Hortons' newest ad campaign, Kerri Holwell Figueira says she never imagined that she would become a model growing up in Labrador.

This was especially true during her childhood in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, when other children would make fun of her dark skin. 

"I came home and I was crying and wanted to be bathed to wash my skin colour. I remember [my mom] saying … 'people pay thousands of dollars to have skin like yours,' and something from that time clicked," said Holwell Figueira. 

She said that conversation helped her learn to accept who she was — and that she is still accepting it today.

When she thinks about other Indigenous girls who may feel the way she did when she was younger, or getting teased like she once was, Holwell Figueira said she hopes "she knows deep inside and that she is told that she is beautiful."

"We're so unique," she said. "I think what the pandemic, in my experience, has uncovered is a natural beauty... Our dark skin and our features are very distinct and those are things that should be embraced and loved and we shouldn't be afraid or ashamed of."

One of Holwell Figueira's most recent bookings was for the Tim Hortons Double Double clothing collection, which despite only being available to purchase for 20 minutes, sold out.