SUNRISE, Fla. – One has spent her whole life in South Florida. The other has only called South Florida home for a few years.
But both beauties have the distinction of being featured in the new Hooters calendar.
Briana Smith and Gianna Tulio, both 20, are making their first appearances in the international calendar, which has been a fixture of Hooters restaurants since its 1986 debut.
Smith, who works at the Sunrise location, is Miss January 2019. Tulio, who works at the Boca Raton location, is Miss June 2019.
More than 200 Hooters girls from six countries were chosen for the 15-month calendar, spanning from October 2018 to December 2019. But only a handful were selected as featured Hooters girls.
Smith and Tulio were photographed in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, respectively, for their initial swimsuit session and then got to travel to the Bahamas for another round of photo shoots.
It was on the sandy shore off Marsh Harbour where Tulio, wearing a blue two-piece, sprawled out in the shallow water and stared into the camera with her mystifying blue eyes for what would become the calendar's June photo spread.
"I loved my picture," Tulio said. "I was excited to be in the calendar, but I was super excited when (South Florida Hooters marketing director Victoria Ruiz, a former calendar girl) came to my location and surprised me that I was going to be Miss June."
Tulio, who grew up in Philadelphia, moved to South Florida for her senior year of high school, graduating from Boca Raton Community High School in 2017. Her mother and sister had already been living in Boca Raton, so Tulio had the foresight to make the move before college to claim in-state tuition.
"I always wanted to go to school in Florida," Tulio said.
Tulio didn't stray far, choosing to stay in Boca Raton and attend Florida Atlantic University. She can frequently be seen outside FAU Stadium before home football games, helping to promote Hooters and bolster enthusiasm for the Owls.
As her Hooters profile expands, so does her workload.
"I go to school during the day and then I work at night almost every day of the week," Tulio said.
But that hasn't stopped her from overachieving in the classroom. Tulio has made the dean's list every semester since she enrolled at FAU.
Unlike Tulio, Smith was born and raised in South Florida. She grew up in Sunrise and was born at Broward Health Coral Springs, about 7 miles from the Hooters where she works.
Smith got her start wearing the white tank tops, orange shorts and suntan pantyhose at the encouragement of her cousin, who used to work at Hooters. Smith got to know Tulio during their trip to the Bahamas, and their friendship blossomed amid the subsequent events that come with being a Hooters calendar girl.
Smith's calendar pose was actually photographed poolside in Miami, her plaid two-piece pairing like a fine wine against her luminescent skin and eye-catching hair.
The calendars serve a greater purpose than just adorning men's walls. For every calendar sold, $1 is donated to the Kelly Jo Dowd fund for breast cancer research.
Dowd graced the cover of the 1995 Hooters calendar and rose through the ranks of management before dying of breast cancer in 2007.
Being featured in the calendar has an even deeper meaning for Smith, whose mother is a breast cancer survivor.
Smith will be at the Sunrise location this weekend for several fundraisers to aid in the fight against breast cancer.
"We are actually doing a putt-putt tournament, as well as bake sale, this Saturday, as well as Sunday," she said.
Each calendar costs $14.95 and includes a collectable cup featuring South Florida Hooters girls.