We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Beth Hitchcock. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Beth below.

Hi Beth, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I have had to take many risks in my life to keep growing in my career. Trusting my intuition has helped to make those risks feel less scary. Now based in LA, this is the fourth city I have moved to alone as a self-employed person. When I graduated college from the University of Cincinnati with a Bachelors in Fashion Design, I moved to NYC without a job. For 9 months I lived on an air mattress in the hallway of a friends apartment. I was able to get an unpaid internship with a coveted magazine at Conde Nast, while personal assisting an interior designer 3 days a week to pay for my aforementioned air mattress space. After a few months I was hired on full-time at the magazine. The job was fun, I learned a lot but I realized after a couple of years that I preferred to be on photoshoots more than any other part of the job.

So that led to my next big risk, quitting my full-time job to go freelance. I started out by assisting, I quickly got busy assisting some really amazing stylists. On the side I would do a lot of unpaid collaborative shoots to build up a portfolio of my own. After a few years of assisting, I took the next big risk–and that was saying no to assisting so that I could make myself available to my own styling clients. As you can imagine that is scary to turn down money as a self-employed person, it was hard at times but it worked out and I started really making a name for myself.

A few years later a huge life shift came for me, I got thrown into the modeling world by one of my clients and was on billboards, store signs and commercials for Lane Bryant. So I began my journey into modeling at the age of 32. At this point I had moved to Austin, a city where I knew one person and didn’t have any styling clients. I trusted that intuition and it led me there. It was the best decision I have made, Austin is where I found myself and led me to my purpose. If I hadn’t taken the risk and opened myself up to the uncomfortable I don’t think I would have ever lived out my true purpose.

After the pandemic, I found myself needing more work opportunity, so I made the very hard decision to move to LA. While in Austin I shifted into modeling/ content creation almost full-time with some styling here and there. Now in LA I do all of that plus consulting for the plus size market. My brand and business continues to grow and shift every year–and I let it. I go with the flow and take every risk I can. As they say, with big risk comes big reward.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My life’s work is to empower women. and I am dedicated to encouraging women to love and accept themselves fully. After getting my start at Lucky Magazine, I blossomed out of the publishing industry and became a full-time self-employed stylist in New York City. I have traveled all over the world to work with some of the largest fashion brands in the industry. I am steadfast about my belief that no style or trend is exclusive, and that women should wear what makes them feel confident and strong. I believe that It is this perspective that turned the camera on me, as I truly practiced what I preached.

I am now a model, fashion stylist, influencer and Body Diversity Brand Consultant. My goal is to shift the fashion industry from the inside out. With my extensive knowledge and experience of the fashion industry, I have a unique set of skills thats able to work well with all facets within a fashion brand.

As a consultant, I help brands to speak to the plus size community. Everything from design, to fit, to marketing and most importantly building a trusted relationship with their customer. I am working to transform the industry to make fashion and beauty approachable to all women.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I am in a pivot as we speak. I recently decided to step back from modeling, while I am still working as a model, its no longer my main priority. After having a few bad experiences with modeling agencies, I realized I needed to use my years of experience to help shift the fashion industry. I no longer wanted to just be a “blonde size 16” with no voice. Now my focus is in consulting and positive content creation. The rest will come, as I continue to influence the industry. I am no longer concerned wth trying to fit into the age and body standard that the modeling agencies have created. The time for change is now.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Diversity! My focus is on body diversity within the fashion industry. While we have made huge strides with size diversity, there is still a long way to go. What I see happening now is that the industry has developed a new body standard. Bigger women are acceptable, only if they have the right curves and the right height. What drives me in my journey is getting the fashion industry to a place of true representation, which will then shift societies views on women’s bodies and hopefully create true self-love.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bethhitchcock.com
• Instagram: @bethhitchcock

Image Credits
Lydia Hudgens, Bonnie Nichoalds, Lane Bryant