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Jalisa Mosby

Source: Thick House / Thick House

Name: Jalisa Mosby

IG: @jalisashaveh

Agency: 

Claim To Fame: Mosby has appeared in a Ponds commercial and e-commerce campaigns for Rydel. She is also appearing in the upcoming modeling competition show Thick House. 

New York is considered the center of the modeling universe but when it comes to commercial work, everything’s bigger in Texas. The southern destination offers plenty of opportunity for those looking to get their feet wet in the modeling industry and Jalisa Mosby got her big break during a stroll in the mall. “I started modeling with a spontaneous decision to answer a fashion show in Dallas, Texas, and that’s where my modeling career started,” she told HelloBeautiful. “I was able to win a one-year modeling contract.” The contract landed her in a position to eventually acquire paid work. “It turned into bigger opportunities doing fashion shows in Dallas and Louisiana,” she said. 

“I honestly was very nervous at this time of my life because it was my first time doing something that had to do with modeling. And it was also my first time doing something by myself. I had just moved to Texas after graduating. This was like my stepping stone into adulthood and the opportunity presented itself.” 

She took advantage. “I started to get more serious on building my portfolio. I built my first portfolio and it probably wasn’t the greatest of course, but it allowed me to know what it took to become a model,” she continued. She supported herself by working gigs off the runway but her heart was not in the work she was doing. “I was working so many different jobs and they were all at customer service or they were some type of corporate job and I just wasn’t satisfied,” she revealed. “And that turned into doing more commercial modeling and print modeling.”

Mosby wants her work to contribute to the slowly growing diversity in plus-size modeling. She is appearing on the upcoming modeling competition Thick House, where aspiring and working plus-size models will have a chance at increased exposure. “I want to be able to represent the tall girls who have no hips, who have no thighs, who are not what you see as a standard plus-size model,” she said.  “We have to evolve with the people and include all types of women who are wanting to be represented.”

“I feel like we’re finally getting the representation that we deserve,” she continued. “It sucks that it has taken this song, but we’re finally getting somewhere.” 

“My first commercial gig was a Ponds commercial,” she said. 

She previously developed the on-camera presence that helped her complete the job by creating a Youtube Channel with a focus on makeup. “That’s where I learned my confidence in being on camera,” she revealed. She gained other on-set secrets by serving in the makeup department for projects including The Demon Inside MeSouth Central Love, and Blue Laces

Mosby used her makeup expertise to start her own business and continues to operate that as she works on building her modeling career. It provides a creative outlet and an avenue to be of service to others. “I have a lash business called Shady Lashes. We participate in community outreach every month and our recent community outreach was with the Forgotten Baby series, and it is a non-preferred non-profit organization for foster children. And we donated 50% of our proceeds to the Forgotten Baby series.” 

Mosby donates her “time as an makeup artist,” and has  worked with an organization called Kids in The Spotlight and a co-curricular program designed to offer workshops and perspective to “young ladies who are learning the standards of beauty.” Childrens’ causes call out to her because of her familial makeup. 

“Children’s causes resonate with me because I am a big sister. I have five younger sisters and I’m also the oldest out of 27 grandchildren. So children to me have a very special place in my heart. I’ve always had the leadership role when it came to being the oldest sister and being the oldest cousin. I see that it has an effect on them when I come around and I show them my experiences and what I’ve chosen to do with my life. It affects them in a way that was something I needed growing up. And I see that in them. And it definitely carries with me every day in my adulthood, everything that I do,” she said. 

“I know that it’s not just for me.” 

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Model Monday: The Eldest Of 27 Grandchildren Jalisa Mosby Wants To Be A ‘Role Model’  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com