KATE: My dad's a minister in the church, he
of course does not approve, but then again he also knows that he can't control my lifestyle.
COMM: She may look every inch the professional
cover girl, but just two years ago Kate Stoltz lived with her family in a strict Amish community
in rural America.
00:20 COMM: The 23-year-old turned her back on the
traditional way of life, to appear in TLC show Breaking Amish. But now she's turning
heads working full time as a model in New York.
KATE: If I were to even show my father face
to face a lingerie picture that I took he would probably burn it, and tell me that I'm
going to hell.
COMM: Growing up in a religious community
in rural Pennsylvania, Kate's life was a world away from bright city lights.
KATE: I would go out, feed the cows and everything
like that before I go to school, I'd go to school, when I'd come home I would take care
of the calves, make dinner for the family. I would spend maybe about six hours at a time
just out in the fields raking hay.
01:03 COMM: But after leaving her village to appear
in TV series Breaking Amish in 2012, Kate was snapped up by major model management.
KATE: When they told me that they were going
to sign me I honestly didn't even know if I wanted to believe it, it seemed so surreal.
COMM: However making the transition from horse
and cart to cab rides and casting calls hasn't been easy.
KATE: I actually found it really hard to get
used to New York at first because it's so loud, there's so many people, there's always
something going on.
COMM: And Kate had to deal with the disapproval
of the community she left behind.
KATE: The Amish think that modelling is one
of the worst things a woman can do, they see it as flaunting your body and being vain.
Going from not being allowed to have your picture taken to actually doing it for a career
and a lifestyle is a big life change.
KATE: Even though they don't approve of my
lifestyle, they're always telling me to come back home. I couldn't ask for better parents
or better brothers and sisters.
COMM: And thanks to a new group of friends,
Kate is learning to navigate the big city and follow her dreams.
CHRIS: When I first met her I wouldn't say
she didn't look Amish she just looked a little awkward, I think she's breaking a lot of boundaries
with what she can do and she has become more of a New York City girl I think.
COMM: With no desire to return to the Amish
way of life, Kate is making plans for the future, and appearing in a second TLC series,
return to Amish.
KATE: I would never go back to the Amish life.
I couldn't, it would be way too restricting. But now that I'm outside of that I realise
the world is so large, it doesn't matter what one person thinks, the only thing that matters
is like who you are and whether or not you're happy.