Plus-Size Model By Day, Student By Night

2 March, 2017 | By Maggie Dillard

On a cold, early January morning, 6-foot tall, curly-haired Grace Edwards walks in and out of audition after audition in the snowy New York City with her fingers crossed each time hoping to receive a phone call later with a casting for a spot to walk the runway at New York Fashion Week this spring. However, in the mean time, she’ll pass the time using mathematical formulas to solve algebraic equations.

As a plus-size modeling making her way up the cut-throat ladder, Grace has made quite a name for herself as she has signed with three agencies, and now working in New York City with Wilhelmina New York. She stays busy in front of many cameras. But, "model" isn’t her only title. She also goes by "student," as she is also enrolled at the University of West Georgia as an Accounting major. She spends her days on runways and in photoshoots, and she spends her nights solving the world’s numerical problems. 

“Probably not this last summer, but the summer before. So, two summers ago was when I decided that it was something I really wanted to do,” says Grace, now signed with three modeling agencies. “But, I’ve definitely always had an interest, but I never really had the opportunity or the means to do it.

“I shot with this girl that I knew in high school and it was kind of a cool shoot, and she happened to have a cousin that lived in Atlanta who shot models that were signed to agencies,” she explains. Lucky for her, he was able to snap a few shots for her to build a portfolio.

“After I shot with him, he said, ‘You really need to do this. You have the look, you just have to get comfortable in front of the camera.’ And I was like, ‘You know what, I’m going to really focus on getting signed.’ Then, I got signed with [Ursula Wiedmann Models Atlanta] in February, so it’s been almost a year since I first got signed,” she says in a voice just as confident as her model photos posted to her Instagram. “And, she encouraged me to take it even further.”

Ursula knew that the unique look that Grace so elegantly learned to portray behind the camera could take her far, and she continued to pass her portfolio around to other agencies. Grace says, “Ursula knows a lot of people because she used to model for [Elite Model Management], and she’s had models who have gone really far. So, I met Dorothy Combs, who I’m signed with in Miami, through her. I got signed with Dorothy in July, and then last month I had a casting with Wilhelmina. They were really interested and the Curve Director of the Curve Board was like, ‘If you want to come up here, it’s about to be New York Fashion Week, and we could get you castings and see if something could work out,’ and I was like, ‘Of course!’ Ursula set up the casting and everything, but it was really the whole agency that went to the casting and met the scout, but it was just through that connection that I got with Wilhelmina.”

However, modeling isn’t all just pretty people wearing pretty outfits. 

“I worked [two days ago], and then I had a casting yesterday, and I have another one tomorrow. I usually just go to one casting a day, but hopefully, two a day. [I’m] just staying busy going around and doing castings and hoping they turn into jobs," says Grace, who is currently working in New York City for Wilhelmina. "I have a job lined up for a couple weeks from now, but everyday is really unpredictable because it’s kind of like you [find out] the morning of what you’re going to do, but it’s pretty cool," she continues. 

As for her future plans, Grace will always call Georgia home, but she hopes to eventually live in New York City long-term, and continue putting her stunning face in front of many cameras. However, “Along the way, I want to be a business owner with my sister. I want to do something like that because she’s a marketing major and since I’m an accounting major, all we need is a supplier of whatever we want to sell. I think that would be really cool alongside of [modeling],” she says. “I want to finish college first. I’m in a Calculus class right now, and I’m like ‘Ugh, yikes!’, but hopefully I can stick it out for a few more years. I kind of just want to [model] until my middle to late 30s. I want it to be my career. I want to model internationally. 

I just want to do this for as long as I can.”

Grace is rockin' her plus-size body and totally killin' it in the modeling industry. As for now, when she isn’t solving math equations for her online Calculus class, she’s staying goal-minded and hopeful of landing her dream role of walking in this spring’s Fashion Week. “I definitely think my ultimate goal is to be able to completely 

support myself off of modeling for as long as I can." 
Bigger is beautiful. You go, Grace!