Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Big Cam. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Big, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

My career started during Shaq’s Big & Tall Model Search with JCPenney & Wilhelmina during the summer of 2019. From that audition I was scouted by a JCPenney executive and signed with Kim Dawson Agency in Dallas, Texas. I strongly believe that everything happens for a reason and everything happens in our lives how it’s supposed to happen. Therefore, I’m glad that I started my modeling career later in life because it gave me an opportunity to mature and truly understand the industry. I had a chance to figure out my purpose and what I really wanted to do in life. I’ve had so many major accomplishments and success stories that built and fed off of this one experience.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m an entrepreneur, creative director, the business owner of SDMapparel.com, and a proud member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated. Within the past year I’ve become a Tik Tok Viral Sensation and the 2021 DXL Big Model Search Winner. I go by BIG CAM as a professional Big & Tall Model currently signed to 5 agencies in Dallas, New York, LA, Atlanta, and Seattle. I have worked with major brands such as JCPenney, Champion, Caliber Collision, Cinemark, MVP Collections, Johnny Bigg USA, and Citi Trends to name a few. I’ve also been featured in XL Tribe Magazine, KRAVE Magazine, and Voyage Dallas. In my profession, I’ve been striving to break barriers and create more opportunities for plus size men within the fashion industry. As an atypical model, I am pushing for more collaboration and awareness for the Big & Tall community to express that size does matter. I am most proud of the impact and influence I have on others. At first, my ambition was centered around my individual success, but along the way I’ve realize my journey is more about helping others that look like me become more confident in who they are. So many people have reached out to me letting me know that I motivate them to follow their dreams and that has been the most rewarding part of it all. To know that I’m out here making a difference in every aspect of my life whether it’s through modeling or my clothing line really makes my entire experience worth wild.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the biggest lessons I had to unlearn as an adult and professional is that no matter how hard I work, everything will not go my way. Don’t get me wrong, you should always work hard towards your goals or any given situation, but I’ve come to realize that things hardly ever go as planned. As a creative and entrepreneur you have to learn how to pivot when things don’t go as expected. I had to factor in the worst case scenario vs. the best case scenario and learn how to have a PLAN B, C, D, etc.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is seeing my work come to life. To see your vision become a legit business, an advertisement, a major publication, or visualized by an inspired audience gives me a sense of fulfillment. Sometimes it can be hard to put what you see in your head into words, a photograph, a painting, etc. So making my imagination into a tangible product, especially the way I envisioned it, is one of the best feelings in the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: sdmapparel.com
• Instagram: @iambigcamofficial
• Other: @Shop_sizedoesmatter

Image Credits
Photography: Eric Wallace @polymathicwallace Designer: Robert Lee Percy @houseofarmadaus