The Key Advice Sharina Gutierrez Gives to People Applying to SI Swim Search

The model, entrepreneur and mom of three is set to make her rookie debut in May’s issue.

Sharina Gutierrez.Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

Entrepreneur and mom of three Sharina Gutierrez will make her SI Swimsuit debut this May as a 2024 rookie. Modeling since the age of 12, she has worked with major labels, including Ralph Lauren and Reebok. She officially applied to the Swim Search in ’23, but it was something she had been thinking about doing for several years.

The 33-year-old filmed her reactions to getting good news from the SI Swimsuit team each step of the way—from the initial open casting call, to top 12, to being a finalist, to co-winner—and each heartwarming video racked up tons of views.

The Los Angeles native says after she was announced as a rookie, she had tons of friends and followers send her messages about how she inspired them to apply to the brand’s next open casting call.

It’s about the journey, not the results

“I tell them through the journey to just understand that when you’re going through this process, it’s not just about submitting yourself and crossing your fingers,” she explains. “It’s about the community [and] understanding the purpose of why you’re coming into this. I feel like that’s [like] everything else in life. I want to help guide people to really love themselves enough [and to] believe in themselves.”

The Mama Mantra cofounder reveals that she has been through tough times in her past, where she didn’t feel her best and engaged in a lot of negative self-talk. But she overcame it, and her passion now is in helping other women do the same.

“I’ve suffered in silence for so long. And there’s so many people in the world that are suffering in silence. They’re telling themselves that they’re not enough. I just want to help them erase all of that self-inflicting trauma,” the sound guide adds. “[I want to] say, ‘Let’s just go for it, let’s take the leap.’ I write [back] to every single person [in] my DMs because those are the people [who] inspire me to continue to do the work, to be my best self, to show up and be the person that I want to see in the world.”

You have to be the change you wish to see in the world

Gutierrez truly believes her purpose is to be an uplifting and encouraging voice for followers who have ever felt less than by reminding them that they are more than enough.

“In order to make change and in order to inspire, you have to be the difference. You have to be the change you want to see in the world. So I had to really find that in myself and I had to walk [with] purpose. Everything I did, I did with intention,” she shares. “I still get upset when my kids start talking negatively because I’m like, words are really powerful. And that’s something that I really want my viewers to understand. It takes a lot less effort to be kind to yourself than to be unkind. And if you can be kind to yourself, then you can be kind to everyone else. It’s going to just happen.”

Read more about Sharina Gutierrez’s 2024 SI Swimsuit rookie photo shoot here.

Make sure to follow SI Swimsuit on YouTube!