Being shy, Chanika Jones was not at all sure about being in front of the camera – but modelling appears to have made a huge difference to her life.

Ms Jones, the CellularOne Assistant Store and Service Centre Manager for Hamilton, has just been named the winner of Showoff Magazine's L'Oreal Amazing Faces Contest.

The 31-year-old only started modelling on a casual basis, last winter, despite being extremely shy.

"I have been shy since I was little," she said, "but modelling has really helped me to get over a lot of my shyness."

She got into modelling when a photographer friend asked her to help with a photoshoot. "I was approached and I was really sceptical about it, but I tried it," she said.

"I was more comfortable, though, because I knew the photographer, but it was awkward, at first. I haven't ever been in front of the camera. I had to learn how to pose at that sort of thing."

Ms Jones believes her shyness was holding her back in life. "Before this, I would not have seen myself as being a manager or assistant manager," she said. "With being a manager you can't be shy at all. You have to be assertive. The little adventures I have had have helped me to get it out of my system."

Now, not only does she model, but she also sings in church in front of her entire congregation.

"That is not something that a shy person would do," she said. "I wouldn't say I didn't like myself before, but I worried that people wouldn't accept me."

She first heard about the L'Oreal contest through an advertisement on the social networking site, Facebook.

"My photographer, Steve Darrell, told me I should enter, so I did," she said.

To enter the competition, Ms Jones had to submit headshots of herself wearing L'Oreal makeup. The only problem was, she didn't actually wear makeup.

"I went to one of the makeup demonstrations on my birthday and they gave me little pointers on how to apply makeup," she said.

She was excited when she was picked out of around 20 entries as the winner of the L'Oreal competition. Ms Jones received 37 percent of the more than 1,650 votes cast online through Showoff Magazine.

The prize was two nights stay at Newstead Belmont Hills Golf Resort and a massage and facial at Samadhi Spa at Newstead.

"The modelling is just a hobby," she said. Her real passion is interior design. She is currently studying for a Bachelors degree in Interior Decorating and Architectural Design online through the Academy of Art University.

"I hope to focus on commercial and hospitality spaces and child oriented spaces," she said. "Home decorating would be more of a hobby."

She is interested in child spaces because she has two young sons of her own, and also because she was an early childhood education teacher for two years.

"I taught at Kiddie Academy when I got out of school," she said. Her ideal kids' space would have a lot of colours and a lot of fun things.

"There is so much you could do," she said. "Bermudians are sometimes stuck in the box and scared to venture out into other things."

She said she would be interested in designing a gym or tumble space for toddlers.

"They don't have much here to do with toddlers," she said. "I would like to design great places for kids to go on the weekend.

"I am also interested in toddler barbershops and hair salons. They have those abroad.

"Even the adult spaces could have kids spaces incorporated within them. Instead of always telling them to be quiet and keep still, you could give kids something to do while they wait."

Ms Jones has been with CellularOne since January 2009.

"We're really proud of Chanika", said Director of Retail and Customer Care, Elizabeth Schaefer. "It takes a lot of guts to put yourself out in the public eye the way that she did. And it's that same strength and perseverance that makes her such a valued member of the CellularOne Team."