We were lucky to catch up with Jennifer Hilliard recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Probably my modeling. I started later in life, about 3 years ago now this month. I was 44 years old then; I had always had issues with self-esteem growing up because I was heavyset. It took me until I was about 38 years old to really start loving myself. I had lost a bunch of weight, I was feeling good, strong, healthy, and self-assured, so I began my modeling journey. I set out with the goal of only wanting to be published. In 2023, I was selected to be a model at Shutterfest in St. Louis. This year, I was selected as a model to be a Morbid Goddess for Morbid Awakening LLC, I finally achieved my goal to be published, and I have been selected to walk the runway for Rx Republic at LA Fashion Week in a few weeks, as well as the Geek Gala Fashion Show in Kansas City, Missouri in November. All of these things are meaningful to me because everything I do is with the goal to promote positivity, acceptance, self-love, and disability awareness. Not only am I a later in life model, but I”m also disabled due to a back injury and the fact that my doctor cut my spinal cord during a routine back surgery. I’m extremely honored and proud to be representing plus size, disabled, alternative models.

Jennifer , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Well, I’m 47 years old. I live in Missouri. I’m married and have been with my husband for 25 years. We have 2 dogs, 2 cats, and a snake. I work at a gym for senior citizens. When I’m not at work, I love traveling, live music, movies, etc. I’m disabled due to a doctor cutting my spinal cord during a “routine” back surgery. What most people don’t know is that I’m a model, fire performer, burlesque, and belly dancer. Those are the things I’m most proud of. Despite what happened to me, I didn’t let it stop me or slow me down. I fought against it. At one point I was bedridden for 9 months, I came back, and I’m determined to make the most of my time and ability to move while I can. Every month March through October I do at least 2 free fire performances (one in KCMO and one in St. Joseph, MO) for my communities. In everything I do, I strive to bring positivity, joy, acceptance, and inclusion. If you want to do what I do, I will do my best to help you make it happen. I have done this for several people in the modeling and fire performance circles I’m in.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

When someone comes up to me after an event or show and tells me how I inspire them. It makes me feel good, like I’m in the right place, doing the right thing. I ALWAYS ask if they’re interested in doing the activity for themselves. If they are, I’ll offer them resources via myself or friends to get started. If not, I’m still encouraging. Everyone is at different stages and comfort levels, it’s all about letting someone know you see them and you hear them, and their experience and comments have been listened to and are appreciated. I truly value anyone coming up to tell me how they feel about how a performance or photo set of mine has affected them.

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

Really there are so many more sources now than when I was growing up. It took me until I was 38 to love myself because I didn’t have positive plus size role models like people do nowadays. I found Tess Holliday and she changed my life. Then I got to meet her and do a photoshoot with model coaching from her and that was it for me. She gave me so much confidence. My recommendation now is to just not be afraid to reach out to those creators you look up to, no matter what your interest is. There are people out there that are willing to mentor you and foster you. We all had to start somewhere. I remember I started off going to the fire shows here in my town as a fan in the crowd, now I’m one of the members and people look forward to seeing me perform!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/misfitt_babygirl/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/misfitt.babygirl/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/misfitt_baby

Image Credits

For the 1 picture I’ve sent so far it’s Anna Dame – Morbid Awakening LLC. I can send the extra photos later, but I’m at work and don’t have access to all of my photos right now. I do apologize. The fire photo credit belongs to John Bachman of St. Joseph, Missouri.