Puerto Rican born model, Olga Schwartz has been traveling the world since she was just 9 years old. Originally from San Juan, she later moved to California where she attended the prestigious FIDM School of fashion design. Soon after graduating, Schwarz became a fashion designer in Los Angeles. She later moved to New York where she worked as the design director for a national brand, which soon had her traveling to places such as England, Spain, France, Italy, Japan, Korea, and China to discover the latest global fashion trends and bring them back to the United States.
When Schwartz was 18 she began modeling after being scouted and signed by a major talent agency after she decided to enter a local beauty contest in Atlanta, Georgia.
As the years passed, Schwartz finally decided to start a family at age 40. Like many women who get pregnant in their forties, she gained nearly 75 pounds and encountered some serious complications that damaged one of her main arteries and resulted in her developing May Thurner's Syndrome. After a C-Section, and three vein surgeries that attempted to correct the problem, she realized how fragile and precious life can be. The entire experience changed her life and set her on a path of health and wellness.
After recovering from her serious ordeal, Schwartz decided to take life by the horns and return to the modeling and fashion world, understanding that the industry has changed and become more open and accessible to women in her age group. With recent social pressures to change stereotypes about women's ages and body types in the fashion industry, she has rediscovered that life begins all over again in your forties and fifties, and all things are possible.
Now at 45, Schwartz not only models and is signed to a major New York talent agency, but she also started acting... landing her first role as a lead actress in a feature film. She also was selected for a beauty campaign for Andalou Naturals, a global health and wellness cosmetics brand, further proving that women can achieve anything at any age.
Schwartz has truly been inspired by the new inclusivity movements in fashion that celebrate the beauty of women of all races, shapes, and ages. Her desire is to use all of the platforms at her disposal to help inspire all women regardless of age or generation to be represented in the industry. "Becoming mothers in our late thirties and forties while working on our careers is becoming the norm." she says. "Women like me are pioneers in how progress in technology and wellness is allowing us to reshape our future, family life, employment, and goals. Sometimes all you need to do is take a little time to reinvent yourself." We couldn't agree with her more!
OLGA SCHWARTZ
AM
You can follow Olga Schwartz on Instagram at: @babymatribe