00:06I had my first challenge when I tried out for the cheerleading squad and they told me I was
00:11too big. Even though I have now signed with an agency that's considered one of New York's top
00:1810 modeling agencies, my parents still think I'm too fat. My body shape is curvy. It's so hard to
00:27compare yourself to someone six foot tall and a size two. We look at the magazines, we look at TV,
00:34and it's just a whole bunch of non-reality. It's ingrained in our heads that if we lose weight,
00:41then we're beautiful. Believing I am going to be happy when I'm skinny is a complete bullshit myth.
00:49If somebody tells you something, screw it. Just let it go and be yourself. I like to be called
00:57curvy. I associate myself with the size that I am now. This is how I get work. This is,
01:02this is how I make a living. I think most models wish that you could just drop the plus. I
01:09know
01:09that's actually trending on Instagram, drop the plus. Sometimes I'm embarrassed to add the plus
01:14in front of model, like I'm second class to skinny models. Or like, do I put plus on my Tinder,
01:21plus
01:21model on my Tinder account? It's really strange. There are some people who get really mad. And
01:26they're like, you're not a plus size model, you're a model. But what they don't see personally for me
01:30is that I love being called a plus size model. I think the term plus model, I don't want to
01:35take
01:35it away. I think that it's empowering. It's what I am. I'm happy knowing that when I was growing up,
01:41I couldn't find clothes in my size. And now because myself and other friends who are my size are working,
01:46there are more options for us now. It's not about being a certain size, but it's just about loving
01:52your body no matter what it is and where you are. Straight models are demanded to not eat or
02:01sleep knowing that if they gain a pound, they won't have that next opportunity. It's okay to be who you
02:08are. It's okay to have that extra skin. You can kind of eat like a normal person. For me and
02:14my body
02:15type skinny, it's like a size eight. But I'm happy the size that I am now. And I've never been
02:20like
02:20that. Once you start dreaming and stop trying to be something you're not, and you start living,
02:27that's when life truly begins. I think that you look amazing. I think that I look great. I think
02:34that people should cut us a break because there's nothing wrong with you and there's nothing wrong with
02:39me. And there's nothing wrong with girls who have felt the same way that I felt. I personally did
02:47not become successful until I embraced my curves. And it's not easy. But when you do, you'll feel so
02:54much better. Little by little, you have to learn how to love yourself because we're never going to be
02:59perfect. Or are we already perfect?
