When Playboy Club model Kyana isn’t cooking up a storm in the kitchen, she loves designing clothes for what is sure to be the next big fashion line. We sat down with her to chat about her Playboy journey, early childhood ambitions, and how she turned an illness into a superpower.

PLAYBOY: To start us off, where are you from?

Kyana: I was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, but I grew up in Ludlow. It’s a pretty small town, very quiet, and there’s not a lot to do. So nothing interesting about that, but I have a very big family. My whole childhood was very family oriented. All the holidays was like a big party so that was always fun.

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PLAYBOY: What about your school experience?

Kyana: I hated it most of the time. I remember when I was really little, my mom would always say that I loved school, but then it changed pretty quickly because I had a really hard time learning. Also, l got bullied a lot. When I was in seventh grade, midway through the school year, I started doing online schooling. I begged my mom for so long and she finally let me do it.

But it was only me doing it. My mom didn’t help me. I didn’t even really have real teachers. They were like online teachers who I could ask for help from and stuff. But it wasn’t a typical schooling program.

PLAYBOY: But I mean, do you feel like that fit you better?

Kyana: For Yeah, it definitely helped me a lot. It was definitely more like isolating because I didn’t really have the same social life that a lot of other kids had. But I still had ways to make friends and stuff and it was still better for me, I think.

PLAYBOY: What the first thing was that you dreamed of achieving?

Kyana: I’ve always wanted to be an artist or start a business of some kind. When I was super young, I used to try to make all kinds of art projects and then I got really into selling things. I would make hand sanitizers and soap and stuff like that. And I would bring it to school and try to sell it to kids on the bus or kids in my class and stuff.

PLAYBOY: You were training to be an indie crafter when you were a child.

Kyana: Very much so.

PLAYBOY: You mentioned art. Is there any type of medium that you’re very attracted to?

Kyana: Since I was in high school, I started designing clothes. I use that term kind of loosely because I’m not that great at sewing or anything. I’m learning, but I’m not the best. But I’ve always liked taking thrifted clothes and upcycling them. I really like painting clothes or just fixing them up, cutting them, doing whatever to make them look better.

PLAYBOY: Do you have a favorite travel destination?

Kyana: I haven’t really traveled outside of the country, so there’s not that much that I’ve seen. But I definitely want to go to Japan really bad. I’ve always wanted to stay in a capsule hotel and just [do] the weirdest niche things I could possibly do.

PLAYBOY: Do you have a book, movie, game or TV show that makes you really happy?

Kyana: I just saw the movie X and I think it’s my new favorite horror movie. I love it. And I also really love old movies. I really love Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock.

PLAYBOY: What are you passionate about?

Kyana: Definitely Playboy. I really love taking photos. That’s my favorite thing to do right now. Ever since I saw Girls Next Door, I got really passionate about it out of nowhere. I’ve always liked taking photos and always been interested in modeling, but I never really got a drive to do it until I started watching the show. And when I found out about The Playboy Club, I was super excited because I was like, “Wow, this is a way I can definitely put myself out there.”

But other than that, designing clothes is my favorite thing ever. So, I definitely want to make that into a bigger business as I get older.

PLAYBOY: That’s awesome. What would make you ghost somebody that you were interested in dating, if you would ghost them at all?

Kyana: I don’t know if I would really ghost anyone, but if I did, it would probably because they’re kind of doing the same to me. If somebody’s super standoffish or…I really don’t like when people are late to things. If somebody’s constantly late or constantly flaking on me, then I feel like that’s a little bit of a red flag.

PLAYBOY: What’s one setback women uniquely face in your opinion and how do you fight against that in your own life?

Kyana: That’s a good question. I’ve been seeing this a lot online recently, but there’s this weird thing where a girl will like something and be very passionate about it. And then guys will make them feel like they’re in the wrong for liking those things.

I’m a huge Suicide Boys fan. I really love their music and I’ve listened to them for a long time. And for some reason, a lot of men online have been commenting on girls posts listening to them and being like, “You’re a fake fan. I hate these new fans,” or whatever. And it has nothing to do with being a new fan. It’s just 100% about their gender, because men think that a woman can’t like something just because of her gender, I guess. I don’t know.

PLAYBOY: Describe your perfect day.

Kyana: It would probably with a really good meal. I love to start the day off with a good meal. That’s how to get me happy, how to get me going. And then I’ve been getting into playing guitar. So, I would say practicing guitar, then maybe working on my clothes and usually after that I’ll just start working. And I really like doing what I do for the Playboy Club right now.

PLAYBOY: What do you think is the best advice you’ve gotten in your life so far?

Kyana: Somebody told me once, “Whatever you do, do it all or nothing. never give less than 100% in whatever you’re doing. And if you want to give less than 100%, then it’s probably not for you.” I definitely resonate with that a lot.

PLAYBOY: Who is a woman that inspires you?

Kyana: I would definitely say both of my grandmothers actually, because they’re very, very strong women and they’re both immigrants. One of my grandmothers is from Argentina, and my other grandma is from Ukraine, so they both grew up a very rough life. Basically coming from nothing, living without things like heat, or a bed, or a proper septic system, things like that.

So them staying positive throughout their whole life and—I don’t know—they’ve just been amazing. The best role models I could hope for.

PLAYBOY: That’s so lovely. And that beautiful food that they make. It’s all so gorgeous, and looks like it was cooked with love.

Kyana: I’m glad you think so. I just remember growing up and my grandma would make things like borscht, which is a Ukrainian soup made with beets, so it’s bright red. I remember inviting my friends to eat some and they’d be like, “Ew, that looks like blood.” And it just made me insecure about “Wow, even things as simple as cultural foods can be seen as something so weird.

PLAYBOY: What is a talent that you wish you had?

Kyana: I would say producing. My partner is a rapper and a singer, and they have been learning how to produce their own music. And they’re getting really good at it. But I’m just so jealous, because it’s a hard thing to do. They say that they can produce for me and stuff like that.

But there’s nothing cooler to me than being able to make a song or make music and be in control of literally every single aspect of it. Knowing how to compose it and put it together. And you just make the whole thing yourself.

PLAYBOY: Okay, last question. What do you think your superpower is?

Kyana: Honestly, this sounds kind of corny, but I think that lupus is my superpower, because it has really taught me a lot about my life, and kind of put a lot of things in perspective for me. I really didn’t think I took anything for granted before I got really sick, and then I realized “Wow! There’s so many little things that you kind of just don’t think twice about until you’re not healthy anymore.” And so it could be something as little as I used to wonder why people drank decaf coffee. I was like, “What’s the point of decaf coffee?”

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But now that I get heart palpitations, I can’t have caffeine anymore. It’s funny thinking back about the times where you just don’t really think twice about something as simple as that. And yeah, I definitely think it changed my life and made me appreciate life more every single day.

Kyana is on The Playboy Club. Talk to her now.