Model @palomija's 30th birthday (it was on April 12) marked an important turning point. She woke up at 7 a.m., meditated naked for 30 minutes and started “journaling my little 30-year-old heart out.” It had been a big year for her, and a hard one. She’d bought her first house, gone through a big breakup and was dating for the first time in years. “It felt like, I’m alone here, and I wasn’t going to die from it,” she says of the period. (She has a boyfriend now.) She’d also recently had an abortion. “I feel like we need to be more honest [about these experiences],” she says. “I want babies, I just didn’t want one then and with that person. Knowing how...afraid and alone I felt in that process, what must a person going through it completely alone with no finances and choices feel? It’s beyond horrifying.” ⁠ ⁠ The year had rocked her, but that birthday felt different. “I felt...I don’t need a boyfriend, I don’t need this job. I have everything I ever wanted,” she says. “It allowed me to...feel like enough for once. And I really felt that—for the first time ever.” ⁠ ⁠ It was during that birthday that Elsesser decided she’s going to “mogul the f— out” for two years. “We’re on vacation making decks for businesses,” she says of her and her friends. “We’re talking about what’s bigger and better.” Read our October cover story at the link in bio. (🖊️: @laneflorsheim, 📷️: @angelopennetta, styling: @sarrjamois, hair: @teddycharles35, makeup: @yad1m, manicurist: @rileymiranda.nails, set design: @spencervrooman, production: @ctdinc, casting: @piergiorgio)