We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brittney Newton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brittney, looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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?

So, where do I begin? In 2019 when I lost my job at Chrysler or in 2020 when my father passed away from Covid? Either way, both of these major life events led to me taking the biggest risk of my life. In the middle of my MBA program in April of 2019, I was fired from my job at Chrysler. Now let me tell you, I was devasted, you could even say heartbroken. This was my first big girl job out of college, and I was making a great living. At that time, I thought that 9 to 5 was my bread and butter. I believe this is when my journey with depression began. After losing my job, I did go on to obtain my MBA, but I was unemployed for 6 months after. Although I was supposed to feel extreme joy from the experience of being the first person in my family to earn a master’s degree, I was immensely depressed. After walking across the stage on Saturday afternoon, I didn’t have a job to go to the following Monday morning. I felt like a failure, worthless and began having suicidal thoughts. Fast forward to 2020, I’m working a job that I really didn’t like, and I’ve moved out of my home to live with my grandfather (Daddy) who was very ill. Then, Covid hit. March 2020 my daddy went into the hospital with Covid and never returned home. He passed away in July, two weeks before my 27th birthday. At this point, this is when those suicidal thoughts became more of a reality. Prior to my father’s death, I was diagnosed with clinical depression in June. Let’s just say, things got really…really bad. But thank God for therapy. My therapist encouraged me to do something positive and productive with my time. And that’s how #YourFavPlusSizeModel was born! Modeling was more than a hobby; it was saving my life. After losing my father, I felt extremely alone, and if I hadn’t tried to find something that gave me purpose, I ran the risk of mentally deteriorating to the point of extinction. Mentally and emotionally, I could not take another failure, another death of something I loved. So, the risk was not a matter of this or that, it was a matter of life or death, for me. If modeling didn’t work, it could’ve ended me. Thank God it did.

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 #YourFavPlusSizeModel! I’m a plus size model from the best city in the world, Detroit, Michigan. Aside from modeling, I am a creative director, creative marking specialist, brand ambassador and mental health advocate. I specialize in making my clients brands POP! I am the ultimate working model. Apart from working in the corporate world of marketing from 9 to 5 every day, I run #YourFavPlusSizeModel as the CEO, sit on the executive board of the non-profit organization, Golden Girls Group as the Creative Marketing and Membership Coordinator, model for Swank A Posh, Michigan’s biggest boutique, being a brand ambassador for Torrid, a worldwide plus-size fashion retailer, and collaborate with some of the hottest brands in the city. I am most proud of my work as a creative director. My most prized possession is my This is Personal project. This is Personal is a beautiful visual depiction of my journey with depression from the darkest hour to the light at the end of the tunnel. The main takeaway I would want some to take away from my brand is to love every part of yourself, even the part that is dark and scary. As you love yourself, you can begin to heal from those experiences that led to the dark and scary behavior. As you heal, you create the best version of yourself and at that point, you’re unstable! I hope to spread this message to all women, which is why I am so proud to be a part of the Golden Girls Group. The Golden Girls Group is a nonprofit organization developed by a special group of women who are dedicated to developing safe spaces for black women to always shine. Our vision is to develop a network of women of color (and our allies) who are able to express, experience, and learn from one another unconditionally without fault. As the Creative Marketing and Membership Coordinator, I create content and manage our platforms to convey our mission and purpose in the best possible way.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

It would have to be being able to tell my stories in a beautiful way that relates to other people. In the black community, we are often taught to keep our experiences to ourselves and to not really share what you’re feeling or going through. Being able to share my own experiences the way that I want to is very healing and makes me feel like I’m performing as my best self.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

My ultimate goal in my creative journey is to one model full time and open a plus size modeling agency in Detroit. I am determined to continue putting women who look and feel like me on the map.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.yourfavplussizemodel.com
• Instagram: yourfavplussizemodel
• Facebook: Your Favorite Plus Size Model
• Twitter: YFPSM
• Youtube: YourFavPlusSizeModel
• Other: TikTok: yfpsm

Image Credits
Dre Dotty Swank A Posh Arleen Bailey C. Alex Campbell X-Clusive Shoots Tiera LaVin