The Curvy Coach

The way that plus-size people are being portrayed in the media speaks largely to what people really think about us as a community. They believe that we are depressed, we’re desperate for love, we don’t take care of ourselves, we wear muumuus, and the list goes on and on…

However, if you were to attend events such as Full-Figured Fashion Week or Fuller Woman Expo, you will find beautiful, confident models, business women proudly strutting their curves and handling their business. 

So where is the disconnect? 
You see, not all plus-size people are the same. Quite frankly, no two people are alike but thanks to studies, research, social class, and society we enjoy categorizing people to better understand behaviors, personalities, patterns, etc. I’m not doing this for discriminatory reasons but to actually help you better understand who your target market is. The goal is for you as a business owner to pay attention to who fits your client profile and figure out what motives them:
 
      * Group A: those who yo-yo-diet, want and/or need to lose weight, and maybe considering surgery to slim down as a matter of life and death. They’re weight is an every day struggle and is viewed as an obstacle to living their every day life. Typically, they’re uncomfortable in social environments and probably won’t be at any events even if it were only for plus-sized people.
      * Group B: those who have body image issues accommodated by low self-esteem, they’re usually beautiful and not severely obese but are quite unhappy with their weight. This is usually do to their upbringing, their environment, and distorted imaged of what beauty is. They may have been teased a lot during school or have family members that are skinny who “try” to help them lose weight. They blame their weight as to why they can’t do things such as date or travel, and they often seek validation from others to feel beautiful or good about themselves.
      * Group C: those who have accepted their curves and are growing comfortable with their weight; their weight does not get in their way of life. They workout occasionally, but if they don’t lose weight, it’s not the end of the world because they actually workout for health reasons, not size reasons. They will be happy to be a size 12/14 but not anything below that. They also won’t stress about eating a slice of cheesecake.
      * Group D: those who are fashionistas, they know everything about fashion for the plus-size woman. They’re a fan of every plus magazine, fashion show, and may even have blogs about plus-size fashion. They’re experienced or aspiring models and shock the world with their confidence.  They want to be seen and heard and use terms like “curvy” and “voluptuous” on a regular basis.
        * Group E: those who turn their confidence and sexiness up a few notches and may fall into what is dubbed the “BBW fetish” lifestyle. They’re the ones you see posing in lingerie, scantily clad clothing or nude in provactive and exotic magazines regardless of their size. 
      * Group F: the size acceptance group; they are filled with confident women who focus more on embracing their curves and helping the rest of the world to accept us for who we are no matter our size. They’re typically involved in advocacy groups and are up-to-date with any controversial representations of plus-size people in the media.
 
Of course, we’re all human and some may relate to more than 1 of the groups or none at all. I present this to you so that you understand why Group C or D for example is disgusted by your gastric bypass surgery ads or why Group A and B may not sign-up for your “Big Gurls Night Out” celebration. The moral of this story is to get to know your customers; we are not all the same but you can tap into our common interests, likes/dislikes, patterns, and more. Use this intelligence to better connect with your audience and market to the plus-size community more effectively.
* These are solely based on my experiences and observation, no official study was conducted. I do not support size discrimination or sizism in any manner. Take heed with caution*