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A woman who was bullied as a teenager has overcome her self-hatred and is now smashing it as a successful model and body positivity advocate.
Pearl Froud is a full-time model and content creator from Surrey, UK, who turned to modelling during the pandemic.
She completed her photography degree in 2020 but when lockdowns hit, her life was well and truly up in the air.
READ MORE: Body positive babe slams vile trolls who call her 'slut' for showcasing curves
Feeling lost, she started working at Waitrose before she decided to contact modelling agencies on a whim.
Now the size-18 model is taking the industry by storm, having already worked for the brands In The style, JD Sports, Fat Face and Chi Chi London.
She’s also empowering women online with her self love content, proving that curvy women are strong and sexy.
The 23-year-old exclusively told Daily Star: “I spent so many years of my life hating myself and obsessing over my appearance and if I help just one gorgeous person to feel better about themselves then it is all worth it.
“I think through my own personal struggles and to what now feels like a triumph I would be such a fool if I didn’t try to help others who might feel the same as I did.”
Pearl was bullied throughout her teenage years and she says that some trauma still remains from this time period.
While she’s over the cruel taunts she experienced, she’ll never forget the way she was treated.
“When I would get bullied at school my mum and dad would have my back, they are my biggest supporters,” she explained.
“One time I went to a school disco and the theme was ‘Beauty and the Geeks’ and this girl I kind of knew came up to me and said ‘Didn’t you know it was Beauty and the Geeks, not Beauty and the Beasts?’
“That had a huge impact on 14-year-old me, but my parents always reminded me that it wasn’t my problem. During secondary school, I had become quite tough and defensive because damn, are boys mean! So looking back, I wish I was a lot kinder to myself and those around me.
“So to those people, including myself at times, I would say work on yourself and mind your own damn business!”
Even though the bullying negatively impacted Pearl, she also credits it for fuelling her to finally try and become a model.
The bombshell applied to agencies that she thought would be a good fit and waited to see if any of them would respond.
Sandra Reynolds reached out and invited her to a casting day and she was signed on the spot.
“I think what was different about Sandra Reynolds (SR) compared to a lot of agencies that had reached out to me was it felt so accepting and safe,” she said.
“I'm a plus-size woman who is somewhat new to the industry and I feel I was nurtured into working as a model as well as I could’ve been by the SR team.”
While Paige receives trolling online, she doesn’t get as many as she thought she would.
Besides, her past experiences have taught her to simply ignore them.
She added: “I think my page has attracted mainly people who kind of see what’s up, I don’t hide that I’m curvy and I don’t hide that I’m strong and sexy so if you want to bite, go for it but it’ll be wasted on me.
“Normally it’s about my weight or my appearance, I don’t give it the time of day if I’m honest.”
Knowing that her work inspires others to love themselves is what keeps Pearl motivated.
She has a first-hand understanding of struggling to love your own body and she knows how triggering women’s own bodies can be for themselves.
“I truly believe you can learn to love yourself through loving other people’s bodies, which sounds controversial, but I will explain,” she said.
“People always say we want what we can’t have, and to some extent, I think most people have felt like this at one point in their life.
“I believe I have been able to help so many people with their body image because I’m plus size and because I have ‘real’ features.
“I don’t appear as a threat to someone’s body image and self-esteem as much as say, a Victoria's Secret model who is ‘designed’ to challenge and unsettle someone’s self-esteem, to push them to have unattainable and unrealistic goals.”
To view Pearl's modelling profile, click here.
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