Per Wikipedia:
"... Vergara was born to a Roman Catholic family[5] in Barranquilla.[6] Her mother, Margarita Vergara de Vergara, was a homemaker, and her father, Julio Enrique Vergara Robayo, was a cattle rancher for the meat industry.[7][8][9] She was nicknamed "Toti" by her five siblings and many cousins.[10] Vergara initially studied three years of dentistry at a university in Colombia, but left two semesters away from her degree to pursue opportunities in modeling and show business.[7][11] She subsequently moved to Miami, Florida, leaving behind unrest in Colombia, where her older brother Rafael was murdered in 1998 during an attempt to kidnap him.[6][7][10][12] Her cousin and adopted sister, Sandra, is also a television actress in the United States ..."
"... Vergara was discovered by a photographer while walking on a Colombian beach and was quickly presented with offers of modeling and television work.[15] Vergara was "apprehensive about doing her first television commercial—until her Catholic schoolteachers gave her their personal permission to take the assignment."[16] Vergara made her first appearance, aged 17, in a Pepsi commercial which was aired in Latin America. She then began studies at the Creative Workshops School of Acting, where Gloria Estefan also trained ..."
"... Vergara was married at the age of 18 to her high-school sweetheart, Joe Gonzalez.[6] They have a son named Manolo born September 1992.[33] They divorced in 1993 (21 y/o) ..."
"... In 2015, Forbes estimated Vergara's annual income at $28.5 million.[49] As of September 2016, Forbes reported that Vergara was the highest paid actress in television, bringing in $43 million in the past year ..."
en.wikipedia.org