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.

Besides being a model, I'm a human and a woman.

I want to be an actress when I'm on set, not just a model. Those are the moments I live for.

I have made a choice to listen to myself even if everyone in the entire world doesn't agree with what I think. I know me, at the end of the day and I know what I can handle emotionally and what I can handle physically.

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

We can always find each other, we girls with secrets.

We women are a lot more powerful if we see ourselves as fighters on the same side. But it’s easier to judge others - their choices and their bodies - than to think about the struggles we share.