My friends in the Ichthyosis community were sharing this video of a young woman singing. I was impressed with her sound, and the reach of her videos.

She also has Ichthyosis and she has skyrocketed to YouTube fame with her songs. And she’s breathtakingly beautiful.

Meet Shawna Lynne Grady.

“When first asked why I sing, I must admit that I was a little taken back. Singing was never an option for me… it was like breathing. It was something that I just had to do. That being said, singing isn’t something that I ever thought I could do on a professional level. The music industry is severely image based and let’s face it… I don’t fit the stereotypical image. My mindset began to change, however; when I posted a video to Facebook and decided to make it public. At the time, I had absolutely no idea how such a small act was going to change my life in such a profound way. Within a few days my cover of Sam Smith’s, “Stay With Me” had over 100,000 shares and 300,000 “likes”.

Even more surprising was the outpouring of love and support. I began receiving thousands of messages from people all over the world sharing their stories of struggle. It made me realize that insecurity is universal and the thing that I had viewed as a flaw my entire life, was the very thing that people were able to relate to.

While my journey is far from over, I can truly say that is has been one of the most incredibly eye opening experiences of my life. People have said that I have inspired them, but in actuality they are the one’s who have inspired me.”

Follow Shawna on Twitter and Facebook. View more of her videos on YouTube.

Read more posts from others affected by Ichthyosis here.