Deanna Marie Spencer

Diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at the age of 15, Deanna Marie knows firsthand the challenges of living with a chronic illness. As a teenager, she often couldn’t eat what her friends were eating or join them in outings when flare-ups kept her home. One of her greatest challenges has been navigating motherhood with Crohn’s, but she also calls it her greatest miracle. After surgeries made doctors question if she would be able to conceive, Deanna held onto faith. Each time she was hospitalized, God placed nurses in her path who also lived with Crohn’s or knew mothers with the disease. Their presence reminded her that her dream of motherhood would one day come true, and it did.

Encouraged early on by her pediatric doctor to never let Crohn’s define her, Deanna found her confidence in fashion. What started as statement blazers, bold necklaces, and lip gloss in hospital rooms grew into a lifelong passion for style. Even during hospital stays, she would swap out gowns for her own clothes, add a pop of color, or accessorize with her signature leopard cane to feel like herself. For Deanna, fashion became more than an interest. It became her self-care and her way of reminding herself and others that she is “still that girl.”

Today, Deanna is a Huntsville, Alabama based fashion and lifestyle content creator, stylist, and creative director. She has walked the path of advocating for Crohn’s awareness through races, interviews, and sharing her story on social media, while also building a career at the intersection of fashion and empowerment. Her motto is simple but powerful: even when you don’t feel good on the inside, you can still show up for yourself on the outside and to always be iconic, period.