Independent, smart, and strong is how Karyn Inder could be described. But her journey to get to this point has been difficult.
“I remember going to a school dance and someone was supposed to pick me up, like a group of friends, and no one showed up,” Inder recalled.
“I went through all that so I get it. So when I see a little girl crying, because someone is calling her fat or ugly and she’s not, she’s just growing – it kills me.”
Karyn spent several years struggling with mental health and body image. She said since she was five, she wanted to become a model. So after graduating in 2011 for Memorial University in Newfoundland with a business degree, Inder packed her bags and moved to Toronto where she was signed as a “curves” model with B & M, a boutique agency in Toronto’s fashion district.
“I remember being in the casting room at B & M and I was different, I was bigger,” Inder said.
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“And there’s always a little thought in your head, you know, maybe I’m just going to go – like I shouldn’t be here.”
But she was in the right place, and it was at the right time. Since moving to Toronto, amazing things started happening like being featured in Vogue Italia as part of a campaign called #BeBodyAware, a project celebrating diverse bodies.
“We did this shoot for this campaign and submitted it and we found out that day that it was in Vogue Italia and we could not be happier,” Inder said.
She has become an inspirational speaker on the topic of women empowerment and body image and speaks to younger children across the GTA, helping to build the confidence and their inner beauty.
“I need them to know that they are enough right now and always have been, and always will be,” Inder said.
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