Women need to be empowered to shape their own livelihoods and become CEOs of their own lives. They must be allowed to take control of important life decisions that are so often decided by others.
Women of all ethnicities, complexions, and sizes want to be able to wear makeup and nice clothes. No one wants to go out and feel like they're substandard or that there's only one mold that they don't fit.
If you call me 'fat,' it doesn't bother me because I just don't care.
I think that we need to allow words to be words. If my self-esteem and my self-worth linger on words that are used to describe me, then you have a problem in itself.
I hope to show people everywhere that you can be unapologetically you and still succeed. I also hope that by using more diverse models, brands can see that there is power in diversity, and not shy away from doing something new for fear of failure. The effects are bigger than just the fashion industry.
Before I went to boarding school, I had never read a fashion magazine. I grew up on a council estate in London, and fashion magazines were a luxury item that weren't even on my mind. The closest I got to a fashion magazine was my cousin's 'Top of the Pops' magazines, where we would learn the lyrics to every song and put posters on our walls.
When you model, you don't really have control over your image. It can be a good thing, it can be a bad thing. It can be a good thing in the sense that, actually, you have to get reintroduced to yourself. You don't always get that opportunity in your normal life. You can kind of hide from yourself.
Fat is fat. This goes back to the word 'plus.' We describe things. We are humans, and we need to describe things.
I love technology. I love the Internet.
I've been lucky enough to do a few editorials in the U.K., but I've never even been on a casting for mainstream commercial work. When I try to understand it, I think people are scared to try something new.
Celebrate the things that make you individual and unique, and realize that there's no one in this world that looks like you.
In Ghana, most of the women I know do not identify as sexy, and the reason may be cultural. With imported beauty standards from the West, it seems that many African women feel they need to be fair and slim to be beautiful.
The #SwimSexy campaign is redefining standards of beauty, and I'm proud to be a part of it. My hope is that this campaign connects with women and girls of all ages, body-types, races, and backgrounds.
I think the real problem is all the negative connotations people have with that term. They think, 'Oh my God! I don't want to be 'plus-size!'' But people attach too much significance to terms. We can't let these terms define us or our beauty.
We are all beautiful.
Sometimes you never realise how much of an effect you're having on people until you're told, and the fan mail I receive has made me very aware of the positive effects I have on other people.
As a woman of color and curve model, I never imagined when I started modeling that I would be featured in the pages of 'Sports Illustrated.'
If a brand wants a specific girl, they want a specific girl, wherever you are.
By being present and being true, I believe that, in my own way, I am promoting diversity.
The brands that choose to use me, my agency and social media have given me a face and a voice.
