Stolen from her average Wednesday, one that fleeting New York daydreamers and aspiring Los Angeles socialites could only imagine, the Chinese American plus-size model and full-time influencer Catie Li allowed time in her schedule for a one-hour interview, with the help of a Zoom link and a lukewarm latte.
I noticed almost immediately her eloquent background that filled the small rectangle. A marble finish on the backsplash of her modern style black kitchen cabinets allowed Li to pop in the foreground. Casually cool in an open black blazer, Li jumped up to corral her newest 14-week-old puppy running through the perfect image.
“She's my second lab and she has tons of energy. So she's just like all over the place,” Li shouted back to me over her shoulder. After gushing over her puppy’s small barks, I went straight in with my questions.
I started off by asking Li about her experience in the plus-size modeling industry. When Li started her modeling career almost a decade ago, there was little room for plus-size model representation and although she has never had difficulty working, Li understands just how limiting the industry is to body types like hers.
“I've never necessarily had harsh critiques about my body when it came to my agents, but I think overall being a plus-size model is rather difficult,” Li explained. “There's only one plus girl in campaigns if you think about it, there's only ever one spot. If you look at campaigns, there's always an array of girls to show diversity but only ever one plus spot.”
Many models are criticized for not having the correct weight distribution across their body, no matter the size.
“I see it all the time and I hear it all the time and it’s not even just the plus girls, it’s a lot of small girls in what we call the ‘straight-size’ community,” remarked Li.
Li went on to reveal the lengths some models must go to in order to create the illusion of a “perfect” body type behind the camera.
“They used to use mannequin padding and would make that a requirement for you to buy. When I first started modeling, they would give you a list of some things that you needed in your modeling pack and one of those was mannequin padding,” Li went on with wide eyes, mirroring my expression back to me. “It was to pad your hips and give more of an hourglass figure. I think that’s probably what most plus-size models struggle with because there’s a perception that everyone has an hourglass shape when in reality, we maybe have more of a tummy or some women are larger on the top than the bottom.”
Laughing in between words Li finishes her thought saying, “you’re too small or you’re too big, you’re never convenient!”
Although Li is naturally the owner of a gorgeous set of brown eyes and a bright white smile, she wasn’t always the one in front of the camera, and for that she is grateful. “I was really blessed that I went to college, and I had work experience. I've dealt with talent behind the scenes a lot, so I understood certain things like what was acceptable and what was not acceptable, and I always came into castings thinking this is a business and this is for me.”
Caught up in the pressures of the prepubescent body types of her friends and the traditional Asian bodies she saw in her family, Li always assumed she wasn’t small enough to model.
“The Asian community is quite known to be petite, and I've always been a little bit curvier, and I’ve just always been told ‘oh you're pretty you could model’ but I've always known it's because of my size that it would never happen,” Li revealed.
While chatting about body image, often Li would use the word “ambiguous” to describe her outward appearance. “Chinese is the last thing anybody thinks of…I'm half Chinese, my dad came from China and my mom is white and I grew up eating Chinese food, speaking the language…but I will never be considered for a Chinese role because I don't look the part.” Going on to describe the ways she feels isolated from her heritage Li said, “I don’t have black hair, I don’t look full Chinese or to some people even part Chinese, so that kind of hurts my feelings sometimes.”
However, with a positive outlook on her situation, Li chooses to focus on the benefits of being ethnically “ambiguous.” She goes on to say, “I get other opportunities that I'm grateful for and as the fashion industry hopefully grows, they'll grow their perception and even with myself looking like so many things I can be identified as a Chinese woman as well.”
A successful transition from public relations to modeling, it was only after the pandemic that Li’s career path changed once again, this time making the plunge into social media. Her weekly routine of flying back and forth to London suddenly stopped, and her growing internet presence began. “Everything happens for a reason and when I started my modeling it changed my life overnight, and now I'm a full-time influencer and that has changed my life overnight.”
Grateful for the opportunities that come with a career online, Li opened up about what she has been able to accomplish since making the switch. “I was able to pay off my student loans, I was able to buy a house at 26 and it just opened up my eyes to other opportunities outside of modeling like starting a clothing line or collaborating and being more creative.”
“I feel like now I'm really starting to get to where I'm supposed to be creatively. Having more creative freedom and not being in a box” Li said, nodding self-assuredly with each word.
I went on to ask Li how she felt about social media, and the impact just one person can have on such a large group. Did she consider herself just an “influencer” by title or truly someone of influence?
“It's so fascinating to me because I come from a really small town… and honestly I consider myself a very regular person…and not that I'm famous by any means, but the impact certain people have in their life is crazy to me,” Li said giggling into her next sentence. “Even though I feel like I'm being myself and doing my thing, it's crazy that it really helps people in their day-to-day…I think that's one positive thing about social media, that it reaches out to millions.”
“I use my Instagram platform as a marketing tool to appeal to people I want to work with. If I want to work with Rihanna tomorrow, I can go buy Savage X Fenty, create my own photoshoot, tag them and they can see me and I’m putting that work forward instead of an agent. I find that when your page is more organic to you, people are drawn to you.”
While we were on the topic of Savage X Fenty, which can be summed up as Rihanna’s boundary breaking lingerie line, I asked Li for her thoughts on the brand’s mission to include such a diverse set of models in their shows and campaigns. “I think it's really really cool…I would love to be part of her show one day and I think it's great to show so many different types of people, especially for younger girls,” Li went on saying, “I had nobody to look up to when I was younger, absolutely nobody…especially being a woman of color. I think it's great that there’s shows like that and brands out there that are really doing it.”
Slowly but surely, we managed to get back on topic, and Li began explaining how she manages to have a healthy work life balance. This, along with the recently coined term “mental health,” is a hot topic among many social media content creators who find it difficult to “clock out” when your life and your business are so tightly intertwined.
“It's a huge part of my life but what I did was mute the negativity…I tend to not look at comments. I just post and keep going on with my day. You must have boundaries not even like me as a model, but just as a human. Burnout is real and I know it’s real because CNN told me it was real and Harvard told me it was real,” Li laughed and went on saying it “was a real struggle but I try to clock off at a certain time because for me influencing is a full-time job…so I literally do a nine-to-five schedule and make sure I clock off at the end of the day.”
Li uses her free time at the end of a busy workday to relax with her fiancé Carlos and previously mentioned adorable pet Labradors Lola and Gigi.
Although the list of social media influencers and online content creators is growing longer by the hour, Li is one of a kind in the way she proudly shares her unique path of existing without boundaries. Each day her audience grows significantly, clearly drawn to Li's beauty, grace, and kindness, all of which I got the luxury of seeing up close through my computer screen. Enjoying the view from the top, Li is a powerhouse who isn't stopping anytime soon.
Creative Credits
- Written by
- Elizabeth Grace Coyne
- Image courtesy
- Catie Li
- Photography
- Roxy Rodriguez
