I want to be the girl that's real and show other girls that you don't have to have flawless skin or the 'perfect' body - because that's just not real.
— Iskra Lawrence
I felt like the sample size was right, and my body was wrong. I basically ended up going into battle with my body, and that's a daily battle every time you look in the mirror. Every time you see an image of a successful model or someone who you look up to who doesn't look like you, you think you're not good enough.
My long-term dream is to have self-education in schools for mental, physical, and emotional health because we need to learn how to speak to ourselves in a loving way and to each other.
I was called 'fat' 200 times on shoots and had serious trouble fitting in the clothes at fashion shows. All these things break you down to a point where you look in the mirror and don't like what you see.
Be you. Everyone else is already taken.
I love McDonald's now and again - not every day.
We need to see real women's bodies.
You can't compare yourself to anyone else. I try and use this advice daily. I didn't actually fully believe that until I was maybe 21 or 22.
The focus for me is always about health. That's why I talk about self-care rather than size or anything like that, because that's something we can all do that's relatable - this discussion of being healthy form the inside-out.
Obviously, breast cancer is very much out there but cervical cancer isn't talked about as much because there's a bit more of a stigma around it. Certainly that's something I want to make sure that young girls know.
There's nothing wrong with having a bad day. Let yourself feel those emotions because every emotion is validated.
We need to realize that we can do anything with our lives because of who we are.
You're always 'too' something.
I had a taste for this fashion industry that I loved and wanted to be a part of.
For so many years, I thought I wasn't good enough.
Any images that I've had retouched, I look at them, and I think, 'Oh I actually don't want that.' That's why I don't share them on Instagram.
I don't ever wanna blame my body for not being right.
I've been trying to be the model that I wanted to see when I was a teenager, looking through magazines and not seeing myself, looking at pictures that were so edited.
When I joined Instagram, I began sharing my raw photos along with my raw and honest thoughts and feelings.
As a model, I feel a great responsibility, and I understand how an image can make a young woman feel.
Every agency would mention my hips. I remember looking at the other models and thinking, 'I do not look like these girls.'
I never could have dreamt that I would be able to help girls feel better about themselves. But now I know I can. I want to do everything in my power to do more.
My thighs are great!
I remember I took an editorial, and I was so excited. I got the pictures back, and I looked in the magazine, and I was like, 'Oh my gosh!' My arms were half their size, and I had a thigh gap magically, and all these crazy things. My family went out and tried to find my pictures in the magazines, but no one could recognize me.
A brand is only going to want to be more inclusive if they feel like it's going to be good for business as well as making the consumer feel good - so we have to encourage people to do that. Consumers have to stand up and say, 'I have power: my pound or dollar is how I vote.'
Everyone has to realize that body-shaming can happen at any size.
Oh my goodness - Zac Efron has great abs.
After so many years of being rejected and having my body scrutinized... for Aerie to come along and basically say, 'We accept you. We don't care about your size.' To see those pictures on a Times Square billboard, and they were completely unretouched, I just was like, 'Wow. I finally feel good enough!'
Instead of waking up and worrying about your thigh gap, wake up and worry about what you're going to achieve today. What can you do, and how can you give back?
If you start talking to yourself in a loving way you're going to feel so much better, and your life is going to be so much happier.
I feel like I deserve to be loved because I've learned to love myself.
I didn't always have a lot of self confidence growing up.
I dreamt of being an Aerie model before I came to New York. That was one of the main reasons I came to New York and wanted to get signed.
People often ask me, 'Who is your role model?' and it sounds a bit cliche, but I've been trying to be my own model.
Change the conversation you're having in the mirror with yourself... if you hear someone who is saying something that is bringing them down, stop it. Don't be passive. Actually, take action and say, 'I wouldn't speak to my best friend like that.'
I remember Googling operations to make my calves slimmer, and I ate only ham for a week to try and become skinny.
I'm happy with myself. I respect myself. And I know that no man, no jeans, no scale, and no booker is in control of my future - I am.
When you're happy and at one with yourself and have come to peace with who you are, that radiates.
You don't always need to be this flawless female with amazing skin and done hair. Perfect doesn't exist.
No matter what age you are, your voice should be heard, and you can develop a passion for something and be an activist in your own right, in your own field, for something you feel strongly about.
Invest in brands that make you feel good and that you believe in.
I think everyone who shares a piece of themselves and is open and honest - I think that helps us all.
I remember doing a commercial one time where I stepped on a shard of glass, and I was hobbling around in swimwear. It was raining and in the commercial, when I saw it, I didn't look like I had a messed up foot.
Clothing for larger sizes doesn't have to look frumpy and old; it should seamlessly integrate fashion - like Universal Standard.
I started when I was 13 years old by entering 'Elle Girl''s search for the next supermodel in the U.K. I got to the finals and was signed by Storm.
I just spent five, six years sacrificing so much to try and fit into that one ideal, that one small standard, and I was never good enough. And it was just frustration that turned into motivation... That became my ammunition, all the people that told me I couldn't.
I tried the maple syrup diet. I tried the protein-only Atkins diet.
I think unretouched images are even more beautiful.
I had a turbulent relationship with my calves, but I love them now because I realize that they were never the problem.
