Sexy, sweet and confident, just-turned 20 year old Katie is the perfect model to represent the Torrid girl. Katie chats with Torrid about modeling, love and why she's such a great hit with our customers in her first-ever interview.


How did you get into plus size modeling?

When I was 17, I was in Seattle for a volleyball tournament and I went to an open call at Heffner Management. They signed me right there. I got my first job off a Polaroid picture a week later.

I just researched it online. I knew that there were modeling ads on the radio, but they always want you to pay money. The reason I chose Heffner was because they said you should never pay anything to come in. You pay for your book only if they want to use you. It was credible. They're great. I love them.

The open call was actually scary when I went in because I went in behind this really pretty, tall, blonde girl. I walked out of the elevator thinking, "Do I have to walk in behind this girl?" I totally thought she would get in. What they do is they take your pictures then they'll give you a sheet with other agencies that you can try if they don't pick you. They don't always not pick you because they don't think you can model. They might just have someone who looks just like you so they can't use you. I know people who went to an agency, got turned down then went to a different one but got picked up there.

That's a hard one. Sometimes, I do feel like we're not looked at as being models. If you tell someone that you're a model, sometimes they don't get it. Not that they don't think you're pretty but we all have an idea of what a model looks like. They all think "stick thin." That's just what we all think. I even think that when I think of models.

I would say traveling. I go to Germany a lot. I've never been out of the country before this and now I've gone there eight times. It's really cool because they pay for travel so you get to go and make money. You have really long days but it is a great job to do because you get to meet people and go places and all those things are fun.

No. When we go to Germany, it takes us almost a full day to get there with the time difference. We sleep that night and work all the next day, usually about seven in the morning to seven at night, shoot about ten outfits and when we end that day, we leave the very next morning.

You have to travel alone. See? It's the best and the worst. You get to travel and do all those things but you're not with the people you care about. You're in hotel rooms alone and you're on the planes alone. You're alone a lot.

You need to have a really good figure. Even though you're plus size, you have to be really proportionate. So, if that's not the case, you have to work on that. Get to that point where you have the curves.

Definitely don't try to do pictures and stuff on your own before getting repped by an agency because that's just a waste of money. If the agency decides to use you, they'll just throw out your pictures. Don't spend any money. Go into a local agency, somewhere near you. You can even send your pictures to agencies through the mail and they'll call you if they want to rep you. Open calls are the best thing because they don't cost anything; you just go in and it's not a public display of whether you can model or not.

Also, modeling is expensive. To get started costs a lot of money. You're looking at about $500 for your photo shoot, plus your prints. To get your book (modeling portfolio) really going, you need at least $1,000 to have professional and really good pictures.

I don't really take it personal. If they're looking for a certain type, there's nothing I can do. I really don't take it personally because it's not me they're dissing; it's just that I'm not right for that particular shoot. At first though, in modeling, you really get your feeling hurt a lot. People will say, "Her nose is kinda crooked. She looks funny with her ear sticking out." They just say things about you in front of you. But now, I just laugh. They're still paying me to be there so you learn to take everything with a grain of salt. It really doesn't matter. It's not personal.

When the agency told me about it, they told me it was for Hot Topic. They said it was for a sexier, new concept so I was all excited about it.

I love it! I was waiting for this! All of us plus models talk about it all the time. We all want to do shoots like the Torrid shoots because we feel we're sexy, but no one ever photographs us or let's us express that at all. A lot of the stuff we get as plus size models are catalogues, especially in Germany and other countries where their styles are really odd. Like the pants that go up above my belly button and are tight with a big t-shirt over it. It's hard, even when you're on a photo shoot, when you're wearing these really nasty grandma jeans and you have to feel sexy. I feel like a frump.

People talk about Torrid a lot, especially in the plus market, because it's the only thing like it. There are very few campaigns that you really want and everybody wants Torrid because it's the only one that's fun and sexy. We don't get that very often so when you get one that is, you really want it.

I think the surprising thing is that it's your own business. You're in charge of it yourself. People will tell you things you want to hear and they won't follow through. You have to make sure to be assertive and really stand up for yourself. If people aren't paying you on time, you need to tell them. You have to follow up on everything. It can be really hard, especially when you're younger, because you're used to people helping you with that kind of stuff. It was really hard for me. I always feel weird, especially with money, but I don't really care anymore if I'm not nice because they're not nice.

I did at first, but you have to put yourself out there. My first job was for Nordstrom.com and I had never seen a photo shoot and had never been in a studio. I had no clue and nobody told me what to do. I had a lot of pictures like this (she poses with one hand on her hip) and then there was this one (same pose with the opposite hand on her hip) and my mom was like, "Wow, you really mixed that up." You learn a lot watching other models who have been doing it for a long time because you really don't know how to move.

To get a really good picture, you might have to be doing something stupid, like fake laugh. When there are eight people watching you and you're laughing by yourself on a bench, especially when strangers are walking by, you feel a little stupid. You have to do it because you get the best pictures like that. When I did the last one for Torrid, I was in lingerie. It was completely see-through and there was a crew of ten guys in there. They asked if I wanted them to leave. I didn't care. You kinda get to that point where you don't care.

Nordstrom.com. Torrid is coming up again. That will be fun. That's really it right now since I don't currently have a New York agency. I'm on hold for Avon so that's what I have for the next two weeks.

I'm also kinda working together with Bradford (her boyfriend) on leather stuff now. He owns Three Skin Leather. I hand paint belts and watchbands for big stores, award shows and celebrities. Actually, we were doing vintage purses yesterday. I was designing and finishing those for the Oscars.

I do artwork also. I had a show in Soho at the Warren Ness Gallery for my oil paintings. I just finished that one not too long ago. It was a big project; I had about six oil paintings and that took a long time. Now, I'm just working on the leather. I've kind of incorporated painting into the leather stuff now. I do all the painting. Eventually, I really want to design plus size clothes.

I live in New York, but I'll be moving here (LA) in about three months to be with Bradford. Actually, I met him because of Torrid. I was here for a job and I went to an LA Models party and that's where I met him.

We were in the party and he saw me from across the room. He came over and he said, "Hi, are you here from LA Models? What do you do?" I said, "I'm a plus size model." He smiled and said, "Can I just tell you those are my favorite words?" I said, "Can I just tell you I love you?" He said, "Seriously, you are amazing." That never happens, you know what I mean? He's a model and they usually like really skinny girls so I was like, "Alright, Torrid! Without you, I wouldn't have even met him." And he likes curvy women. It's a plus.

I would say try not to set your self worth on what size you are. I think so many people do that and you waste so much of your life whining about that. You lose out on a lot of fun things and people because of what you limit yourself to do. If you're not satisfied with how you look, or you feel like you're bigger than you want to be or not as firm, then make the choice to change it. But make realistic goals with it. I mean, if you're a bigger girl, to want to be a size 2 probably isn't realistic but if you're a 16 and want to go to a 14, that's a totally realistic goal.

You sabotage yourself thinking about it every second of every day. You're obsessed with it and you can never win. It goes back to when I was in high school when I was in really good shape and I'd look at my pictures and think that I was so fat. Now I think, "I was so stupid! Why did I do that? I looked so good." If you want to get to that point where you want to feel better about yourself, set yourself realistic goals. Just being healthy is a main issue, not necessarily a certain size or a certain weight.