Shannon Lea is looking for a few good men.

Although she may look like a delicate flower, Shannon is one tough cookie who has used her life experience to carve out a place in the competitive world of entertainment.

Her claim to fame was an appearance in a nude pictorial for the "Women of Worldcom" in Playboy magazine, a followup to the magazine's successful "Women of Enron" pictorial. Long before she posed for cameras or worked for the telecommunications giant, Shannon grew up in a military family with aspirations of serving herself.

Born in Spokane, Wash., Shannon moved with her mom to Guam. In her mid-teen years, she migrated to North Carolina, finding it quite an adjustment to live with her father, who served in the Air Force.

"In Guam, I spent most of my younger days soaking up the sun and enjoying the island life. In North Carolina, they have four seasons and their grocery stores were named Piggly Wiggly!" she recalled.

It was an admittedly difficult childhood for Shannon, who was picked on because she was different and awkward.

"I used to be the girl who got picked on, couldn't get a date, didn't go to my proms and never made the cheerleading squad. All I have to say is, thank goodness for graduation! Hell had ended, finally!"

She recently had a chance to attend a high school reunion, presenting the ultimate opportunity to gloat.

"A friend of mine said I should go but what's the point? Actually, a guy I went to high school with ended up working at Worldcom with me. He told me I was beautiful. I said, 'Hey, now. You used to pick on me!' He said, 'No offense, Shannon, but you were homely back then.'"