Metro Roundup: Indian Springs Village sisters take on New York City

The Golden sisters, Jordan (23) and Juliana (16), will be modeling pageant wear, shoes and accessories for the designer at the Edison Convention Center in Times Square on Sept. 10. 

Jordan, who graduated from Oak Mountain High School in 2016, and Juliana, who is currently a Junior at Oak Mountain, have experience from years of pageants. 

“We've been competing for 10 or 11 years,” Jordan said. “We started out with smaller, local pageants, and in 2017, we started competing nationally and internationally. This past summer, we both placed in the top 10 International United Miss competition in New Jersey.

The girls said they got into modeling by being at the right place at the right time. 

Last fall, their mom Janet posted a photo of Juliana wearing a pair of Marc Defang shoes while she was competing in the USA National Miss pageant in Orlando. A few weeks later, Juliana was the newest spokesmodel for the brand.

“My mom posted me on his Facebook page wearing his shoes, and in about two weeks, he messaged her asking if I wanted to model for him,” Juliana said. “Every pageant girl knows him. I just bought his shoes, and it snowballed from there.”

Juliana was then booked for his show in Atlanta in March. There was a mishap with the clothing lines being made too small, so that’s when Jordan was able to step in and fill that gap. She modeled the formal wear while Juliana modeled athletic wear. 

The sisters traveled to Atlanta and Chicago over the summer while working for Defang. 

Jordan graduated from Jefferson State Community College and is currently studying business management at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She also juggles three jobs while attending school. In addition to the work she does for Defang, she also works at a bagel shop and handles social media for a dress store. She said she enjoys her busy schedule and doesn’t feel sane unless she’s busy. 

As for the future, Jordan said she would like to open up a bakery, “but if the fashion world is my calling, so be it. ... Definitely one day in the future, I’d like to have a bakery in the Indian Springs/ Oak Mountain community.

Jordan said she has always loved fashion, but at 5’3” never thought it was something in which she would be involved. Her mom also modeled in the 1980s.

“Modeling was always a dream of mine,'' she said. “We have home videos of me saying that I wish I could be a model like my mom, but I never thought that would happen.”

Jordan will walk in the formal wear show on Sept. 10, while Juliana, who is 5’9,” will walk in the high couture fashion show. They will also be attending another show Saturday. 

This is the girls’ first time visiting New York City, and they are looking forward to taking a photo in Times Square and exploring the city for a few days before heading home. 

Juliana said her friends at Oak Mountain High School, where she is a member of drama club and concert choir, are very supportive of her modeling career. 

“When I first got in with Marc, they were very excited for me and knew how hard I’d been working for this, and I’m very blessed to have that,” she said.

Juliana plans to become an environmental engineer and wants to work with businesses to help them reduce their pollution.

“I’ve always been very sensitive about things related to the environment and animals,” she said. 

She is excited to spend time with her sister but also excited to see hotspots like Chinatown and Broadway while in the Big Apple, she said. 

The girls will also compete in Auburn at Alabama Teen USA and Alabama USA in January 2022.