MACON, Ga. — It hasn't been easy for one student at VIP Academy.
17-year-old and Macon native Nadia Thomas has dealt with a variety of mental health issues in the past few years.
During the pandemic she lost three close relatives in six weeks.
Thomas said her mental health struggled and soon, her mother, Geovada Walker, noticed marks on her arm.
"One day when I found her in the house I noticed the cut marks," Walker said. "...I didn't see any signs because Nadia's always a happy person."
Thomas took time to recover and, fueled by her experiences, she eventually created a business to inspire beauty, change and hope.
Nadia's Truth is a brand that puts positive messages on journals, shirts and hoodies. The company's mission is to spread mental health awareness among teens. Thomas' business led her to win the Youth Leader Award.
"I was happy, I felt good about it knowing how far I've came with my life,” Thomas said.
Thomas dealt with an extensive recovery time, which included therapy.
She questioned herself heavily during that time, wondering how she would get through.
"[There were] three things I was asking myself as I was healing and as I was going through my crisis," Thomas said. "Is there gonna be change, am I beautiful enough and is there gonna be hope for me?"
Her mother struggled during this time too. She said she faced ridicule from others during her daughters struggles.
"It was very very hard," Walker said. "It was even to the point where I was called an unfit parent and I know that for me, I'm far from that. That part was hard."
Now, Thomas said has taken that experience and channeled it into something different. She showed just how far she's come since the days of cutting herself.
She now has a butterfly themed tattoo covering her self-wound scars. What once reflected a time where Thomas was at her lowest, can now be a high point for the rising high school senior.
"Instead of looking at those scars I look at this butterfly right here, and I know that I am beautiful," Thomas said "There is change for me, and there is a lot of hope for me in this world."
However, what's next for the young business owner?
She has a dream of attending Albany State after graduation so she can pursue a career as a nurse practitioner for mental health.
Thomas also wants to turn Nadia's Truth into a non-profit organization, so she can give journals and other materials to those in need for free. Anyone can currently purchase a shirt, hoodie, notebook or other piece of merchandise from her website here.
For now though, she'll focus on a final year at VIP Academy and finding or even inspiring other potential teenage brand ambassadors to share their stories just like she did.
"I feel like everyone in this world is a butterfly in their own unique way,” Thomas said.