PLUS MODEL MAGAZINE September 2015 Latin Issue | Page 94

What drew your attention to the plus size industry and returning to Colombia? Five years ago, I did a photo shoot and was told that in the world of fashion, I am a plus size model. Something just came over me and I felt totally at peace and felt so much freedom to be able to be proud of my body and embrace it. Through time, I realized that I could help other women and men feel happy with themselves. There is so much pressure to become perfect when the reality is that perfection doesn’t exist. My return to Colombia was a big dream of mine since the beginning of my career but I waited a few years to return so I could be prepared with enough information. Colombia is a country that sadly has a very aggressive beauty esthetic. They believe that if any person is NOT in a size 0 body, they are not good enough or not beautiful enough for the beauty standards in Colombian society. A large plusmodelmag.com 09.15 #plusmodelmag inspiration + style percentage of the population in Colombia are very obsessed with cosmetic surgery, including men, too. A sad example is that 15-year-old girls ask their parents for their quinceañeros to get nose jobs, breast implants or the famous liposuction. Going to Colombia with a message of Body Acceptance must have caused a stir! Thank God I’m blessed with powerful information and people around me to make this journey a total success! I was welcomed in by powerful organizations and I’m using my voice to send the right message to all generations and break all these stereotypes. I’ve been able to push body acceptance via all the most important media outlets TV, newspaper, magazines and radio. I feel happy that Colombians are more aware today about what really matters... so my next step is to have Colombian fashion designers create clothing for all women of different shapes and sizes because everyone has the right to look good and feel included.