Celebrated fashion designer Linda Rowe Thomas wears her confidence on her sleeve. As a burn survivor, Thomas has suffered major challenges, which helped her develop exceptional strength, diligence and a desire to help children with traumatic burns. In November, Thomas will host the Third Annual Designing Hope Fashion Show with partnering organizations Arkansas Children’s Hospital and The Arkansas Firefighters Association.

When she was 2 years old, Thomas and her 6-year-old sister were standing next to a heater that exploded. Her sister, sadly, did not survive, and the explosion left Thomas with extensive burns to her face and hands. Since then, she has had numerous reconstructive surgeries. She credits her mother and father for helping her build the confidence needed to deal with the physical and emotional scars. Thomas’ mother would not allow Thomas to use her burns as a crutch. “Can’t is not an option and pity is a tool we will never use,” Thomas recalls her mother saying.

“I was fortunate. She told me I could do anything. We grew up on a farm in Texas and whatever my six brothers and sisters had to do, I had to do,” she says. Her tenacity was on display as a star track athlete at the University of Central Arkansas, where she met her husband, Kim. Together they work to instill that same perseverance in their two children, 19-year-old Amari and 11-year-old Zechariah. “Believing in yourself, and having that passion, that fire… to overcome whatever the obstacle may be, it’s so important,” Thomas says.

It’s a lesson she spreads outside of the home as well. Each summer, Thomas spends a week as a counselor at Arkansas Children’s Hospital’s Camp Sunshine, a camp designed to promote physical and emotional healing, growth and development of burned children. She believes so strongly in the mission that proceeds raised at the Designing Hope Fashion Show benefit the camp. Arkansas firefighters model during the show, and burn survivors have begun participating as models, too. The show’s success is now spreading regionally: Thomas and her team of assistants will present the inaugural Designing Hope Dallas Fashion Show later this year to benefit Parkland Hospital and its burn unit. “That’s why I chose the name. I’m designing more than just fashions. I’m designing hope.”

(Little Rock Family Presents The 2015 Pioneering Parents)