Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Yonkers, New York. It's a
suburb of NYC, although it's very much a
city of its own.
Did your childhood
influence your career
path? If so, how?
Yes! I do feel my childhood had a huge
impact on my career path. I had anything
but a stable or ideal upbringing. My
childhood was full of poverty, struggle,
hardships, drugs, violence and pain.
Despite what most people would see as a
disadvantaged childhood... I see it as what
inspired me to push myself harder in life
and never settle for the bare minimum.
I have always believed in the American
Dream and I fought hard against my
circumstances to achieve my goals. Had
it not been for my childhood, I may never
have turned out as driven and focused as I
am today.
How did you start in the
plus size business ?
In the early 2000's I decided to give
modeling a try. I had very little knowledge
of the industry and back then, there
weren't as many resources as there are
now to learn about it. At the time there
was a publication out called MODE
Magazine. It was the only magazine I
had ever seen that featured models and
fashions for women size 10 & up. I was
immediately intrigued by the images and
the women in its pages that looked like
me! This was the first time I ever saw plus
size models and I knew I wanted to find
out if I could be one too. The magazine
happened to be having a model search
here in NYC with Wilhelmina Models. I
entered the search and went to the open
call. While I did not win, the interest was
sparked and I knew it was something I had
to pursue. After that, I found a website
called plusmodels.com where aspiring
models, agents, and photographers
gathered on their message boards to
discuss the growing plus fashion industry.
I posted some snapshots of myself and
the rest is history. A model reached out
to me and recommended I meet with an
agent that was starting the first exclusive
plus only agency. I set up a meeting and
was signed to the agency immediately.
My modeling career began that day and
eventually led me to all of the work I have
done in the industry over the past 13
years.
What made you get into
photography?
For a long time, I believed modeling
is what really did. I completely forgot
that it was always in me. It wasn't until
recently when I looked back at my high
school yearbooks that I remembered I was
a staff photographer. I took a lot of the
images in those yearbooks and completely
forgot that passion was always there. I
have always been an artistic child. I have
passions for singing, drawing, writing and