Body Confidence with ‘The Fat Funny One’, Jess
Jess, ‘The Fat Funny one’, is one of the most humorous ladies on the gram. She tours the country inspiring women to love themselves unconditionally, no matter their size.
There seems to be a growing love for ladies of all shapes and sizes in the media. ASOS, Missguided and even Vogue have been so beautifully diverse in recent times. We’ve seen ladies from different ethnicities and sizes, it’s been glorious.
The inclusion of these ladies hasn’t meant shunning others, no ma’am. To be diverse, you genuinely have to include all walks of life. Becky’s of the world, don’t worry! Just because it’s been refreshing to see large thighs in darker hues, I still have a love for you and your ever-increasing thigh gaps.
I came across Jess on Instagram and she immediately became my WCW. Her humour and zero f**ks approach to her posts have me hooked.
She shares images of her mum-tum and unretouched realness. She seems so comfortable in her skin, but has she always been like this? I had to find out!
THE INTERVIEW
JESS: I am 29 and born and bred in London but now live on the outskirts and living that village life (I will adjust eventually!). I am a devoted mum, cake and chicken wing addict, workaholic and just all round nutter. I believe in living your best life, investing in yourself and to quote one of my favourite movies “take no sh!t offaaaa nobody” (Cool Runnings if you were wondering.)
SARETA: You seem to have so much self-assurance girl, it’s quite evident that you are beautiful, you look stunning, body and all! Have you always been so body confident?
JESS: Absolutely not! I grew up very confused about who I was and had very low self-esteem – although I never let this on and always tried to be the confident loud one of the group to compensate. It was when I had my first daughter I realised that if she had any chance at living her best life then I had to make a huge change in mine and that started with discovering who I was and learning to love myself unconditionally.
SARETA: There has been an increasing number of ‘realness’ and ‘Bopo’ accounts. What made you bare all for the gram?
JESS: I originally started Instagram as a diet account! I quickly fell into wanting to be like everyone else and having unrealistic “body goals” because of the images I kept seeing time and time again. I thought, surely I am not the only one with my body? I want to see more images of different shapes and different women so why not start with me and hope someone somewhere can relate!
SARETA: What does your other half think about this?
JESS: When I realised I wanted to do more within the body confidence community and for my own self-love journey I decided to enter the Curvy Kate star in a bra competition. I told him what it was all about and showed him what I would be doing and he was so supportive – told me to smash it and gave me some cheesy pep talk before the shoot! I don’t think he really understood the impact my social media had until the launch of my first event when he saw 120 women in a room all supporting one another and there to listen to me speak. He came up to me at the end and went “so this is what you do? Wow, yeah” LOL I asked if that was his way of saying he’s proud and he just nodded and said “wow”.
SARETA: You know I have nothing but love for you, but I find it hard to believe everyone shares my view. Especially when it comes to diversity. Have you received any negativity online, if so how have you dealt with it?
JESS: Oh gosh yeah – I have seriously had my fair share! I once had an awful man who made horrible comments about me on several pictures. I went into detective mode like a woman looking for her ex’s new spouse and found the guy’s personal Facebook page. Unfortunately for him, he put his employer on there so I made a few calls, sent a few emails and a suspension and formal apology later we were all good!
That was one incident but the reality is there will always be someone who doesn’t like you and I have learned to accept that it is OK. Whilst the frustration is there when I read negative comments it is temporary and I know that it will never outweigh the positivity that is out there in the Internet world.
SARETA: You recently gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, congratulations mama! Not only did you share your pregnancy pics, you’ve been sharing images of your post-pregnancy body. Are you some magical wonder-woman-human being or have you had any whispers of ‘snapping back’?
JESS: Haha! I am indeed a wonder woman – as is every other woman on the planet! I just realise that it really doesn’t matter what my body looks like especially not to other people – it matters what it feels like to me. I have no intention of “snapping back” or even attempting to have some ‘body ideal’ that society has laid out for me. Everything is heading south, everything has scars and everything jiggles but it’s mine. It is mine and it gave me the two most important people in my life – how can I ever be mad at that? For me, every stretch mark tells my personal story, two sets, one for each child and I couldn’t be more proud.
SARETA: Where does your Wonder Woman body confidence come from?
JESS: A bit from my mama; I look back at my life and I never ever heard my mum talk negatively about her body. She may have in private but never in front of me and has always installed in me that I am beautiful as long as I am a good and genuine person. The rest of it? From the incredible people on the Internet – inspiring, supporting and encouraging.
SARETA: If you could share an ounce of this confidence, how would you do it? Is there any advice you could give to someone who struggles to love their body?
JESS: My 3 top tips I always give when asked are-
1. Detox your social media – are you following people who inspire you? Your social media should be your happy place, those you follow should fill you with positive vibes, inspiration and encouragement. If they don’t – remove them.
2. Take each day as it comes. Every day take a little time to tell yourself something positive and accept it isn’t an overnight process.
3. Get selfish. I found this the hardest but I constantly put people before me and was afraid to disappoint anyone but, you know what? Sometimes you have to and you will if you are choosing you but let it happen and don’t feel guilty about it.
SARETA: What’s next for you Jess? How can we book your next ‘Bubbly Body Love’ event?
JESS: So excited about the 2018 events! To find a location near you head over to thefatfunnyone.com. We have two events running this year – “Living Your Best Life” and “Motherhood & Mental Health” both with great speakers and just a fantastic opportunity to meet people of a similar mindset who are all looking for support and giving it to!
