Ninety-nine percent of girls want to be models because they believe it will mean that they are the most beautiful women in the world. They think that they will wear expensive clothes, makes loads of money, travel a lot and have a rock star for a boyfriend. This never interested me. I didn't want anyone to scream out my name. I wanted to make art, to create an image with a photographer. And yes, I wanted to get out of Clinton, Mississippi - a small town that was so closed-minded you can't even imagine.

Do I have bad days? Absolutely. But there are ways to overcome these things and that's perhaps what I do differently: I don't allow myself to dwell day after day on my imperfections.

The girls everyone considers the "prettiest" are not always the most interesting or ambitious people.

There's been a lot of focus on my body, but it's taught me to appreciate myself no matter where I am.

Photoshop is an art, and you can do a lot with it. Change the atmosphere through different lighting and make the pictures look more interesting.

Redken is a brand I've been using since I was a kid, my grandmother introduced it to me, my mother used it, so obviously I was very aware of the brand, so when I heard we were going to meet and potentially do something in the future, I was very excited.

I have to say the thing that I want to do so badly is design a line. I still don't know exactly what direction I want to go but designing a line for full-figured women, offering them a chance to have chic clothing that's maybe a little more daring than the clothing they've been offered in the past, I would like the opportunity to create that for them. I'd also like to break into the beauty industry and be the face of a makeup line. I think for it sends a fantastic message: Here's the face of beauty and look, she's a bigger size.