Let’s talk about the unspoken aspects of modeling. I’m talking about the internal battle so many fight in silence. This is a beautiful, expressive, creative, empowering pursuit, but like anything worth doing, it can take a toll on your mental health if you’re not proactive and aware of all of the parts of you that are at play at every show and every shoot.

The mental challenge that comes with modeling stems from the fact that you are bravely opening yourself up to criticism by putting yourself out there publicly. Further, you face the specific challenges that come with modeling. When your appearance, your face, and your body are the tools of your trade, it’s hard not to take feedback personally and allow it to seep into your self-worth and negatively affect your mental health. I struggled with this for DECADES.

BUT we live in the most beautiful era. In 2025, we benefit from a pendulum that is hovering closer to the middle than ever before. After years of living in a “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” era, we now find ourselves in a new era. On the heels of the body acceptance and health at every size movements, we have the opportunity to foster healthier and more diverse body images. We can create new, healthier standards. With social media, we all have a platform, and local shoots have massive reach. The timing has never been better, and the resources have never been more abundant.

I challenge you to do the work internally to love and value yourself enough to care for your bodies properly. Once your body is cared for, you’ll be empowered to relate to your body in a healthy way. I suggest that, instead of reciting affirmations and forcing yourself to love your body 100% of the time, allow yourself to think about your bodies a little less. I’m right here on this journey with you.

I struggled for decades with body image issues and disordered eating. I substituted the standards and advice of others, along with a very critical internal voice, for the voice of my own body, and I paid the price with major chronic health issues. I implore you to learn from mistakes and avoid these pitfalls.

Through years of battling myself and finally learning to accept my body at different sizes, I’ve learned that my size really matters a lot less than I thought. While modeling is heavy on appearances and aesthetics, I learned that my body’s size is far less important to modeling when I’m in the right places and working with the right people. The way I feel about my body and it’s ability to live up to arbitrary standards rarely impacts my ability to help a local boutique sell its clothes. 

I chatted with TONS of local brand owners and photographers to get their perspective, and my hunch was confirmed. When I asked them what they look for in models, their answers focused on attitude, confidence, that inside-out glow, creativity, but not so much on waistline, visible abs, or a thigh gap. 

This is easier said than done, but I implore you to stop wasting time worrying about your body and to shift your focus to respecting yourself and your body enough to properly care for it. When you listen to its cues, move it regularly and rest it regularly, you’ll enter your next show or shoot or social media post from a grounded place. Receiving constructive or not so constructive feedback from a grounded place empowers you to take it at face value and move on. Maybe that job or that brand isn’t for you.

At the end of the day, most modeling jobs or collaborations are about selling something, and there isn’t just one body type or one look that can do that. In fact, brands sell more when their models represent realistic bodies and real people. 

I remember being on shoots where I felt very little confidence and extremely conscious of my body, but when I shifted the focus to the beautiful, carefully curated clothing and the entrepreneur who poured her full self into this brand, I realized that I was here to hype her and not to take perfect pictures. This sounds like an oversimplification, but my body and I are a pretty small part of most things in life.

xoxo Your Favorite Late Bloomer