Plus Size Diva Spotlight Jacqueline
Jacqueline
www.plusteenusa.com and www.plusmodelsusa.com
Being a plus size teen and adult, Jacqueline is all too familiar with the struggles associated with having low self-esteem and with not “fitting in” with the look that society deems “acceptable”. Even though she was a heavy teenager, Jacqueline had always been very actively involved in gymnastics, drill team, track, softball, choir, and drama. She even won the award in her junior high school amongst all female students for “Most Physically Fit”.
Therefore, because few could compete with her athletically, she had never been teased by her peers for being overweight. However, because her peers were constantly drawing attention to her larger frame- her height, ring, wrist, and shoe size- she constantly put herself down and became her own bully.
Growing up as a plus size teen, the only full-figured models she saw were three African American women on the package of her mom’s “Big Mama” pantyhose. Although she always loved watching Miss America and Miss Universe pageants on television, she never once saw a plus size woman competing. This added to her feelings of being ostracized.
A slender friend of mine in junior high school participated in modeling and pageantry and would come to school and teach me the moves she learned. I thought, “I could do that!” Inasmuch as I dreamed of participating in modeling and pageantry, my size inhibited me from doing so, and I felt unworthy and unaccepted. These feelings of unworthiness and disapproval perpetuated my bad habits of poor nutrition and overeating, and as a result, I became larger and larger as time progressed.
Years later, in the early eighties, Jacqueline’s mother encouraged her to audition to become a plus size model for a designer, Nayda’s of San Francisco. From that audition, both her self-esteem and her plus size modeling career flourished. Since then, she has appeared in numerous runway and informal fashion shows, catalogues and magazines.
Because she wanted to see if she really had what it took, she later attended Barbizon of San Francisco, was selected to become their demo model, won the award for “Best Runway”, and was hired as an Instructor for their teen and plus size divisions prior to even completing her classes and graduating. At the beginning of the new millennium, Jacqueline began participating in plus size pageantry and won and/or placed in several pageants for plus size women.
A hardworking entrepreneur on a mission to increase self esteem in plus size women and teens and to positively impact the world of plus size modeling and pageantry, Jacqueline founded Plus Teen USA, America’s exclusive pageant and conference for plus size teens, which was birthed from her low self esteem as a teen, her desire to model and compete in a pageant as a plus size teen, and her dream of empowering and fulfilling the dreams of plus size teens in today’s vain society where thin is in, and “fat” is out.
A plus size modeling agency recruiter for Sunshine Productions Modeling Agency, modeling and pageantry trainer, and veteran plus model extraordinaire with over 25 years of runway, catalog, and editorial modeling experience, Jacqueline recently launched Plus Models USA and provides individual consultations, goal planning assistance, industry referrals, modeling training, resume development assistance, and plus signature model showcasing to help women and teens begin their journey toward successful plus size modeling careers.
For more information, visit www.plusteenusa.com and www.plusmodelsusa.com
Jacqueline Lawrence can be contacted by phone at 817-317-1992, and by email at plusteenusa@yahoo.com.
