This B.C. woman's face is broadcast on a giant screen every day in Times Square

It isn't easy to maintain a smile while applying mascara. 

But Jade Steckly did just that — and her poise earned her a feature ad in Times Square, New York City. Her face flashes across a 1,300 square metre screen four times an hour every day and will do so until Aug.4.

"It's fairly surreal to me actually," she told Daybreak North guest host Wil Fundal. "I'm having a hard time believing it, even though I've seen it."

Steckly, who hails from Dawson Creek, B.C., works for a cosmetics company called SeneGence, which gives its distributors the chance to submit 15-second videos to be used for advertising. 

According to a Senegence spokesperson, they switch out the video every two weeks to maximize the number of distributors showcased.

This is the third year they've run the program.

Steckly said she'd applied to be on the billboard before and didn't win, so the second time around, she hired a professional photographer and videographer to help her. 

"I really underestimated just how big this billboard would be and the resolution that you would need to have it show up properly," she said. 

The video shows Steckly putting on mascara from different angles for a few seconds, with text about the company and its cosmetics. SeneGence estimates 548 million people will see the ad.

Because of travel restrictions, Steckly won't be able to visit New York City to see the screen in person, but she has seen it periodically on a YouTube streaming of Times Square. Her two teenage daughters have even joined in on the fun, waiting to see their mom pop up on screen. 

"My girls really love watching it," she said. "They always jump up, 'mommy!'"

She does hope to get to New York City one day, so she can look up at that particular screen and get a feel for where her face was during the summer of 2020.

Watch for Steckly to appear here: