We recently interviewed Dionne Reeves-Grubbs who created an organization in 2012 by the name “Full Figured Fierce”. We interviewed her about her organization its features and aims.
First, please introduce yourself to the readers?
My name is Dionne Reeves-Grubbs. I am a plus model from Huntsville, AL and the founder of Full Figured Fierce.
What was the inspiration behind launching Full Figured Fierce ?
I wanted to change the image of the Full Figured woman. We were always viewed as sloppy, unhealthy, didn’t have any style, we weren’t beautiful, etc. Unfortunately, a lot of my plus size sisters bought into that theory. So on top of changing the image of the plus size woman in the media, I also wanted to reprogram the minds of the Queens who couldn’t see how beautiful they truly were.
What kind of response has your organization got from the community?
I have to say, it was hard at the beginning to get my immediate community to believe in what I was doing. On a national and even international level it catch on pretty quickly. We have followers all over the world. Africa, London, the Caribbean, a lot of places that I had honestly never heard of. It’s definitely been a blessing though.
You also created a Brother page for males, have you achieved your goals for that?
I haven’t achieved my goals for either, honestly. Of course, I would like for my male followers to reach the level of Full Figured Fierce of course and surpass those goals. but our goal for both pages is to touch as many lives as possible.
What was the motive behind introducing “Love Letters”?
Writing yourself a love letter was something I learned in grief counseling. It was a way to Love yourself, forgive yourself and encourage yourself so that you could get through whatever you were going through. It worked for me so I figured it could help someone else as well. At times, we are our worst critiques. This was a way for you to stop beating yourself up and love yourself where you were. There are levels to everything. Loving yourself is no different.
You got around 30,000 people backing you up, what’s your next target?
Each year we set a goal to reach 5,000 new followers ( or hearts to help heal) but we have already crushed our 2016 goal, just about to hit our 2017 goal so I’m shooting for 100K in the next 3 years. I think I can do it, but if its literally ONE more follower, I’m ok with that too. It’s not about the popularity for me. It’s about the making sure someone else feels good about who they are.
Where can anyone follow you?
You can follow us under the name Full Figured Fierce on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter ( FierceNFavored), Youtube, WordPress, Pinterest, Google+, etc. We try to be as visible as possible.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FullFiguredFierce
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fullfiguredfierce/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FierceNFavored
Wordpress: http://www.fullfiguredfierce.wordpress.com