00:03When I was young, the first time I realized that weight was a problem, I was in third grade.
00:08And I will never forget this girl's name, Clarissa, told me in the computer lab that I was chubby.
00:14That was the first hateful word regarding my weight that I ever heard.
00:18And I've heard it a lot more as I've grown older, but still any insecurity that comes with that word
00:24comes back to that moment.
00:26I became a model completely by accident.
00:28My friend, who is also a plus-size woman, she was like, have you ever thought about being a plus
00:32-size model?
00:33And honestly, my reaction to that was, yeah, I thought about it, but I thought I could only be a
00:38model if I was skinny.
00:39When I was a kid, I heard from my parents I needed to lose weight.
00:43I heard from boys they thought I needed to lose weight.
00:47And, I mean, obviously that's not all in my mind.
00:51People are thinking these things and telling me these things, but what if that was different?
00:55You know, what if my parents told me as a teenager that I was beautiful at any size?
01:01I know they thought it, and I know they wanted what's best for me, but what if I had actually
01:05verbally heard those words?
01:08Most of the time, I am comfortable in my own skin.
01:11But I can't deny that I still get insecure.
01:14Again, yes, I wish that I could stand on a soapbox, like, as a plus-size model and say, love
01:20yourself.
01:21It's all about confidence.
01:22And I think that, yes, it is.
01:25Like, it is about loving yourself, but I think it's also a process.
01:28I want to encourage having open conversations with the people in your lives that love you the most,
01:35that have maybe hurt you the most concerning your weight.
01:38I mean, and just knowing that I was doing this video, I had the most amazing conversation with my mom
01:43and dad and my grandma,
01:44where we were all crying.
01:45They had no idea what they had been saying my whole life, how it had been affecting me.
01:50And now we're in a place where it's changing and I'm feeling accepted by them.
01:54I never thought I would be there.
01:55All it took was just fighting the bullet and saying, look, I don't feel like my weight is a problem.
02:02I don't believe that I need to change.
02:04And I just need to hear from you why you've been telling me differently my whole life.
02:10And you'll be surprised what people will say.
02:14So, be brave and be you.
