Recently, the plus size clothing company, Torrid, named Maria Gimena their brand ambassador for 2017. Ten-thousand women from across the country tried out for this position. Maria Gimena, a New Jersey native, rose to the top after Torrid narrowed the competition down to ten girls. After that, Torrid chose four of the 10 girls. Once the top four were announced, Torrid did something different, and allowed the general public to vote for the winner and Maria Gimena was chosen to be the next face for 2017!
Photo credit: Torrid
Maria Gimena moved to the United States from Uruguay when she was just a teenager.
“It made me grow up real quick,” Maria Gimena said. “I was always kind of an old soul, but I felt I had to be strong for my parents and with that came maturity. I saw my mom get rid of everything. We sold all [of] our belongings, her entire life, and her parent’s life to come here. I felt that the least I could do was not complain and do my best in school. All they ever wanted for me were better opportunities.”
Throughout her life journey, she has dealt with body positivity issues and the many challenges of being a girl. I asked her for tips on confidence and advice for being positive as a curvy woman.
“Believe in yourself,” she said. “The most important [thing] is believing in yourself. You can accomplish anything when you believe you can do it. Staying positive has helped me be confident. I’m a firm believer that the energy you put out will be what comes.”
Gimena also stresses that self love is one of the top three things she has attained during her journey of becoming a confident woman.
“Once I came to terms with who I am and realized that I’m more than just my size everything came full circle for me,” she said. “We need to focus on the positive and embrace it! Focus on what you love about your body. Our value is not solely based on our body because beauty and confidence comes from within.”
This is how the 24-year-old beauty believes she earned her prestegious modeling contract with Torrid.
“I think part of it was being genuine since the beginning and never losing focus,” she said. “I realized early on that the experience would be an emotional roller coaster and that I was going to have to leave my comfort zone so I decided to let it be and let go. I always made sure I did my best and embraced the process. Once the first photo shoot happened with Torrid’s Top 10, I realized that I did not want to settle for being behind the scenes. I realized right there and then that this was something I really wanted and the passion has not stop burning since.”
So far so good! It’s been nearly a month since Maria Gimena has taken on the role of being a pluz-size model and she says it has been exciting.
“I never know what to expect. Every shoot is different!” she explained. “For a control freak like me it was a little nerve racking, but I’m enjoying giving up control because Torrid really knows what they’re doing. Besides the glamour, makeup, clothes and traveling I get to meet really cool people and that really feeds my soul.”
Finally, Maria Gimena’s go-to fashion color these days is black!
“I love black. Period,” she said. “I feel that black clothing makes you look effortlessly put together. It makes you feel good because when I look good, I feel good.”
Check out Maria Gimena’s interview with Torrid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30hpeVOu3R4