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

Mary, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My mission was/is to encourage our younger ladies to embrace themselves to the fullest. To not allow society and social media make them believe you have to be a certain size to be loved and worthy of beauty. I embraced myself later in life,40 to be exact. My only and main regret is not loving myself sooner. Realizing your worth earlier in life makes a huge difference and that’s what I want for these younger ladies coming up.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Mary Jackson ( formerly Rice). I grew up in the city of Chester in the Highland Gardens section and later 3rd street. I have 3 son’s that I am extremely proud of. I am the oldest sibling on both my mother and father side. Growing up I was never a popular girl. I was actually a tomboy or found it most interesting hanging out with the guys. That always had its ups and downs, especially being a “thicker” girl. I mainly wore the boys clothes to not show off or gain unwanted attention to my mature body at such a young age. I do not have a HS diploma. I obtained my GED in March of 1998 and would then attend PIT,Strayer University and Wilmington University to where I would gain different certifications and degree’s. In 2016, after ALWAYS loving graphic shirts,I had a conversation with my husband about starting my own brand. This conversation would then go to my group of friends to whom some instantly shot it down. I had a few shirts made,but with having a brand named Thick Girls Is Fly, I didn’t really carry the confidence fully to go with it. I stopped production, continued working my 9-5 and came in touch with a designer by the name of Rashad Calhoun who talked to me about doing a photoshoot. At this time,I’m also being a podcast personality on Chester’s own radio station,CMP.net,so since I’m already out my scope of life,why not do this shoot. This is now August/September of 2018,I just turned 40 in March,loss my Gmom is August and start school for criminal justice in that September. Life is everywhere. Rahsad announces to my sister and husband,prior to me,that he’s making me the face of his plus size brand. Now my self confidence of who I’m supposed to be is booming. I get back at doing my clothing brand,LLC it March of 2019 and since then have been doing Not My Eyes fashion show since April of 2022 for my brand. I have done 2 videos and numerous photoshoots as a model and I always say #lifeafter40isforme and #showthemwhyyou. I encourage everyone to never give up. I did,and it’s a huge regret but timing is also everything. Do not allow others to stop your dream. What’s for you will always be for you,so go get it!!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Honestly, wearing my brand daily always gets me the greatest conversations started. They inquire in the TGIF meaning,if it’s for all sexes,the sizes and then that leads to my social media handles. I always have ink pens or business cards on me as well. I like that my brand is fun and cool since I gear to the youth but my age and older actually find it fly as well.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think becoming a plus size model not to long after coming up with my brand concept helped a lot. It kind of went hand and hand. I have linked with other plus size women of confidence and again,ALWAYS wearing the brand helps, a lot. Who’s going to be your biggest cheerleader if not yourself? Networking is huge. Always being open and available to discuss business and collaborate with others is huge for marketing.

Contact Info:

• Website: Thickgirlsisfly.com
• Instagram: ThickGirlsIsFly
• Facebook: Thick Girls Is Fly
• Youtube: ThickGirlsIsFly2016
• Other: TikTok is ThickGirlsIsFly2016

Image Credits
Kev “Yes God” Thomas Isaiah “Zaya” McCommons Timothy “TBear” Hudson Derrick Dean