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

Hi Rose, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

As a plus-size, 5’11” black and white woman, who grew up in the 90s, with very little to no representation in main stream media. I want to be the representation I didn’t see growing up. I want young she’s/he’s/they/thems or none of the above, who may not fit into societal norms, to be able to look at my content and know that they can love themselves and celebrate that love, no matter what size, shape, color or gender they are!

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 background and context?

I’m a plus-size model and influencer. I broke into the business back in 2012, first behind the scenes as a stylist and photography assistant. I would style clients, come up with visual concepts, help models with poses, etc. and the more I helped in front of the camera, I realized I loved the feeling of being in front of the lens and how great it would be, to be, a role model and representation I didn’t see for girls like me growing up. I still love working behind the scenes, I wear many hats, and it only gives me more experience and qualifications. Not only am I showing young girls you can love yourself at any size, but you can also be a #girlboss!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Being an influencer, in of itself, is all about resilience, followers, engagement, collabs, brands wanting to work with you, all comes and goes and you have to have enough confidence in yourself and the content you’re creating to continue going every single day. The way I get through is making sure I’m creating content that I enjoy and makes me happy and proud. As long as I’m doing that, everything else will come in due time.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn was worrying about competition. There’s A LOT of competition in the influencer game, especially nowadays. Everybody can be and wants to be an influencer these days. And in a such a condensed market it’s hard to stand out from the crowd, but what I unlearned was caring about it. There are many other beautiful women doing exactly what I’m doing, but I’m the only one doing it like me, because there’s only 1 me. So my only competition is me. As long as I’m doing better then I was a minute, hour, day, week ago, that’s all that matters.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @roethabarbie
• Facebook: RoeThaBarbie
• Other: TikTok: @roethebarbie

Image Credits
First Image credit: Courtney Johnson IG: @purechicvisions