Today we’d like to introduce you to Heather Johnson.
Hi Heather, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I guess I’ll start from the beginning. I’ve been a big girl my whole life I started weight watchers when I was six, and I continued diet after diet after diet through my younger years. Doctors tried to convince my parents I had an eating disorder when I was 8, they sent me to a mental hospital, but I was only there one day causing my parents to demand they let me out. I struggled with my weight from being a child all the way thru my teenage years. I was 300lbs and a size 28 when I graduated high school. I always had a big butt, big legs, a small waist, and flabby arms. When I was 23, I couldn’t walk for 6 months and finally, after being misdiagnosed multiple times I found out I had rheumatoid arthritis. I quickly begin treatment and was able to walk again!!! It was one of the hardest times of my life. Imagine being a new mom and losing your ability to walk. It was a terrifying experience. A year later I started losing my hair and was diagnosed with alopecia when I was 24. Again, I was lucky, my dermatologist was able to treat my alopecia and my hair grew back. But with both of these diagnoses, I was treated and I do not suffer from them today. Except I do have a little bit of arthritis, mostly because I was a hairstylist for 18 years, which was really hard on my legs and my arms and my hands because of the RA. I’ve birthed three children but raised four! When I was 31, I weighed 425 pounds and I was told that if I didn’t lose weight I would die, so I proceeded to have a gastric sleeve in September of 2013, I lost 165 pounds… but I couldn’t really seem to lose the weight in the lower half of my body as much as I wanted. Which I couldn’t really understand why at the time. I honestly just thought I was different. Made me very self-conscious because my skin was so loose, and I couldn’t lose all of the weight. I would later find out that this was because I had lipodemia. A condition that causes excess fat to accumulate in the lower part of the body. Recently I was diagnosed with severe Anemia and multiple other deficiencies.
My best friend and I started my Instagram in 2016. At the time I was a hairstylist at Bangs and bows in mount pleasant and he was an audio engineer in the city. We would adventure out into the city looking for unique spots to take pictures. I would tag the clothing companies that I was wearing, and eventually, that lead to clothing collaborations with big companies. To this date, we’ve been featured on Lane Bryant, fashion nova, Shein, Good American; Khloe Kardashian’s brand, fashion to figure; Tess holidays brand. Rebel; Rebel Wilson’s brand and curvy sense to name a few of our collaboration opportunities thus far. But the most exciting moment so far was when Tyra Banks featured me on her personal page 3 times in one day. It blew my mind. Like holy sh*t, Tyra banks know who I am and thought to feature me. I was sitting at my oldest son’s football game when she posted the 1st picture and I burst into tears. She has also featured me on her Model Land page as well. What an honor to be recognized by her. Ashley Graham, another one of my inspirations has also recently featured one of our pictures!!!! It was the most amazing experience ever. To go into your tagged pictures and see that these amazing women that you have always looked up to your whole life have featured you. And on top of that, we’ve also been featured in the New York Post, interviewed and posted by the daily mail, and a few other online publications. Instagram has been an amazing medium for plus-size women to find their voice and build a community to be a part of together. It’s also how I found out about lipedema. I live in Charleston South Carolina and there is no lipedema specialist here in Charleston. So, I’ve never been officially diagnosed. But I have so many of the symptoms and traits of lipedema. And through Instagram, I have found so many amazing women who have been willing to help me and talk to me and help me figure out ways to deal with my lipedema. I am hoping to bring light to this very understudied condition and also help others accept and live who they are!! Love themselves and remember they are amazing and perfect the way they are no matter their condition!! To show them they can be bold and beautiful!!!! That they can wear that dress, that bikini, and that sexy piece of lingerie! With wanting to spread love and share our creativity, we recently started a media company!! The House of Heather J Media, LLC was created to spread Confidence through photography. It’s a photography studio run by me and my partner, that features multiple creative suites, creative packages, and the highest quality of care, respect, and creativity to say the least!! Our studio space is located in goose creek. We are super excited about our new adventure and connecting with the city. To book a consultation with us, we can be reached at Thehouseofheatherjmedia@gmail.com.
“You change the world by being yourself.” – Yoko Ono
I myself am still something I’m trying to get used to. Just like society, I grew up thinking my body type wasn’t normal. I grew up thinking that being skinny would make me happy, it would make people like me, and it would make me desirable. I grew up admiring body images that didn’t even come close to what I looked like. I grew up hating my body, hiding behind clothes, and letting others take advantage of me because I felt that’s all I was worth. Why would they want a big girl, with cellulite, a belly that hangs over, stretch marks, rolls, and saggy skin when there are all these skinny, smooth skin, perfectly shaped females. How embarrassing it must be to walk hand in hand with me, be seen with me, so at times I was kept a secret. My father’s advice was a double edge sword for me. “Pretend that you’re confident, then people will think you’re confident, and then you will start believing you’re confident.” This advice got me through a lot of my life until I woke up. No one really knew of my insecurities; I hid them so well that even my best friends didn’t know. They would make comments about how confident I was, how they wish they could be like me, and how they wanted to be able to walk into a room with confidence. So, at that point, I figured what my dad said was correct, so I just kept pretending, and even though I never fully became confident deep down, I was confident enough to make it through life, I was confident enough to walk into a room. But there was one thing I wasn’t confident with, me. Deep down inside I didn’t believe in who I was, I knew it was all a lie, I hated the body I was in, I hated. That I didn’t fit the world’s description of what beauty Was. The harder lesson learned from what my father told me was that I learned how to fake it, I learned how to suppress my own feelings for acceptance from other people. It was also confusing; people look at me as a confident woman but inside I know I’m not. While I was pretending at the same time, I was hindering my own growth. I kept pushing down the negative thoughts about my body instead of facing them. I was putting my hand over that little girl’s mouth instead of listening to her. So even though the advice helped me tremendously to get through my teenage years, the beginning of being a mother and being a wife that ended in divorce, it didn’t help me with the deepest parts of me. The one that I was alone with at 2 AM crying myself to sleep. Asking God why he gave me this body, why am I not strong enough to make it look like this perfect image that is displayed to me every day on TV, in magazines, in the modeling world, in everyday interactions with my community. Why am I different???
I wish through all of those years of pretending I would’ve learned to grow. I wish I would’ve dug down deep and tried to really understand why I was so insecure instead of just trying to mask it, instead of just running away from it, instead of just ignoring it. As a society, we ignore situations that really need to be brought to the forefront. More attention to Mental health is definitely something That this world could benefit from. And learning how to take care of your mental health should be taught from an early age all the way into adulthood.
And although I’ve been through a lot I must say, I am happy for the journey that I’ve been on, learning to love myself. And I’m happy to say that even though I still have challenging days, I’m finally making peace with the girl I see in the mirror.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Yes, it has definitely been challenging considering I live in Charleston, where the plus-size modeling/ fashion industry only caters to a certain size/group of women. I don’t fit in anywhere. As opposed to New York, Atlanta, and California where the plus-size industry has a sustainable support system. So, for all of the things we’ve accomplished to be recognized, we’ve had to work really hard and believe that our goal of being a plus-size model/ fashion influencer from Charleston was obtainable.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We consider ourselves a collective of creatives. We are photographers. We are media specialists. We are stylists. We are interior decorators. We are creative directors. We are visionaries! We are known for pairing fashion with creative composition. Whether it’s building a set from scratch or being creative with nature. We are proud of how we’ve been able to grow our presence organically and continue to grow it as we expand our goals and ideas.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts, or blogs that help you do your best?
Instagram, Apple Music, Photo Grid, Beatleap, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Snapchat, Podcast: lovers and friends, drink champs
Contact Info:
- Email: Thehouseofheatherjmedia@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/heatherj.143?igshid=s9f688kkehzv
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherj.143/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/heatherj_143?lang=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzjYKiTFX5CuW5UVQ6CKhTw
- Other: https://instagram.com/thep.i.c_?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Image Credits
Larry Ford Jr
