Loving You as YOU ARE!

 I wanted to share a wonderful video of fellow curvy model Fluvia in collaboration with Plus Model Magazine. Fluvia wears a size 18 and she exudes sexiness and style. For all of us that second guess the image we see in the mirror, this should boost your confidence!

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In the Spotlight

I have a new favorite online magazine! Liberating Style is hosted on this cool site, issuu.com, which allows anyone to publish a magazine to share with the world. The Editor-in-Chief, Angela Clay, strives to bring the deserving and often undercover talents into the spotlight. This publication primarily focuses on adult fashions - spotting new trends and helping to expose new designers, artists, models and photographers. They have their fingers on the pulse of fashion. So imagine my surprise to have my kid's boutique, Gumdrop Swap, featured in their "What We Love" section!

There is something pretty major as far as my modeling career is concerned that took place in early June but I don't want to blog about it until its public. (Hint: I did some work for a well known plus retailer.) But today I saw Madison Plus' newest Fresh Face, Kamari (someone I know in virtual reality) and remembered that I was interviewed by them a while ago. So I searched back in June and found my spotlight.

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Big & Bold!

If you want a product to be seen by millions of people walking or driving where would you put it? Let's limit it to America. Did you think Times Square in New York City? Well, it's one of the world's highest trafficked areas and is an overload for the senses. I wonder with all those flashing lights and video screens, how much information is really being absorbed? Our brain naturally filters a great deal of the information we get bombarded with every day. If it didn't, our brains would probably explode trying to digest it all. So, I wonder what the response will be to this billboard in Times Square? It features some women from IPM Model Management in Carmen Marc Valvo swimsuits. Six curvaceous women, the antithesis of what most media outlets portray as beautiful. Full, fleshy arms, thighs, and hips. Confident and tastefully displayed. Let's see if anyone's idea of "beauty" is reconsidered. I sure hope so.


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A Model Citizen

It's weird writing about this. I've tried to keep my "personal life" sort of separate from my business stuff. But as my secret life is becoming more public, I am getting recognized and it's harder to keep under wraps. It's not like I'm ashamed of being a plus-sized model, it's just that I think of these facets of my life as unrelated. On the contrary, I am proud of my contribution to changing the American ideal of beauty. It's so cliché but I must reiterate that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. As a mother of a young girl, I worry about the media's influence on her self-esteem. I don't want her to strive to some unrealistic idea that she has to be rail thin to be considered beautiful. Especially because its not in her genes to look that way.

Lots of people ask how do I find time to do all these things. The truth is, I don't have time. I often say there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done. I just try my best to be a good wife, mom, business owner and whatever else. So, a few years ago when I didn't have all these other titles, I pursued a modeling career. Larger framed models were few and the industry was very resistant. With the persistence of curvy actresses and pioneer models (Emme, Queen Latifah to name a two) more and more companies recognize that the average woman in the US is a size 14 and began to market to them. So, in the past few years, clothing for larger women has become more fashionable (less muumuu-like) and I hope this trend will continue. Just when I began getting gigs I got pregnant so I took a hiatus. I let my agent know I wanted to work again in 2009 after getting laid off from my corporate job. But with the recession, marketing budgets were cut and there wasn't much work to be had.

I booked my only modeling gig for 2009 with the weight loss supplement called Alli. They are using my images along with a few other models for their website and web ads. I traveled to a studio in Brooklyn on Dec. 5 to be shot by a talented photographer, Grace Huang. The website was updated by the end of the year. You can see me at http://www.myalli.com but I saved you the trouble of hunting me down.

So far I've had 2 acquaintances ask me "Is that you on Alli website?" so that has been cool. I'm curious, especially if you have daughters, how do counteract society's standard of beauty in your home? Does is matter to you what size models represent the brands you buy? Does that even matter to you?

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