PLUS Model Magazine Inspiration: Plus Size Model Katya Zharkova featured in Cosmopolitan Russia’s #CosmoGirlPower Campaign
Plus size model Katya Zharkova was once a young girl, living in Russia with big dreams of becoming a model. However, she grew up in a society where size 14 and above is seen as obese so diets and being skinny were the main focus. Still, she never gave up and planned to come to New York City one day to pursue those dreams of being a model. After careful planning and doing her research, which included reaching out to our editor-in-chief Madeline Jones for advice, Katya made it to the US and was signed with Wilhelmina. Later on, she would get to work with Maddy as the model featured in our “Plus Size Bodies, What’s Wrong with Them Anyway?” feature, which went viral.
Katya’s dreams have come true. She is a well-known celebrity in her home country of Russia and is now the host of her own TV show there. She is proof that if you have a dream, don’t ever give up. Pursue it. Do your research and make those moves to make that dream come true. Katya has become not only a successful model and TV host but she is also someone who is plus positive and a leader within the plus size community. She is truly an inspiration as she is breaking stereotypes and showing that you can be successful no matter what your size.
She’s featured in the September issue of Cosmopolitan Russia as part of their #CosmoGirlPower campaign, which is all about women who did not give up on their dreams or let any setbacks halt them on their journey to success. These are women who did not take the easy way out. They pushed forward and kept going. She is one of six other women who have seen success against all odds.
To learn more about the #CosmoGirlPower campaign on the Cosmopolitan Russia website, click here. Please note that the website text is in Russian. However, if you are using Chrome as your browser, you will be asked if you want to translate the page to English.
To learn more about Katya, you can visit her official website by clicking here.
To follow Katya on Facebook, click here.
What do you think of Katya’s story? Please leave a comment below and let us know!