by Arts & Entertainment Editor Stephanie Penn-Danforth
Connect With Stephanie in the Community
Last year a little birdie crossed the United States border from Canada
with the news that The Fuller Woman Inc. would be making history by
hosting their first
Fuller Woman Expo; an event where women were not
only empowered but also had a great time. Fast forward to 2009 and Georgia
Greenwood hasn't stopped in her mission to uplift and enhance the lives
of women. In fact she has decided to take her expo abroad. In addition
to being a wonderful woman, Georgia is a visionary and an avid
supporter of the Plus Size movement.
Stephanie: Who is Georgia Greenwood?
Georgia: Wow that's a loaded question how much time do you
have........all kidding aside I am the Creator and Executive Director
for The Fuller Woman Inc. a five year old company whose main goal and
focus is to uplift, enhance, motivate, educate and celebrate the full
figured woman; as an Image Consultant as well as an Etiquette &
Personal Development Coach I am driven to use my skills and training to
fight against sizeism in our society and to improve the mental health
of full figured women. I am a member of The Federation of Image
Consultants, The International Size Acceptance Association as well as
The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, I use my
association with these organizations to foster and focus my passion for
self development and have taken that passion to another level were I
created several subsidiary companies under The Fuller Woman Inc. brand
ranging from clothing designs, girls camps to our image consulting firm.
I consider myself a visionary, The Fuller Woman Inc. is who I am; being
a fuller woman myself I understand and have dealt with the real
day-to-day trials and tribulations fuller women encounter and have
risen above it with self confidence, self awareness and self
appreciation, my company and personal motto is "Image for both Body
& Mind" and my purpose is to elevate women within the plus size
community to new heights.
Stephanie: How did the Fuller Woman Expo get started?
Georgia: Actually The Fuller Woman Expo is also a subsidiary of The
Fuller Woman Inc. The concept of the expo was created in late 2006 when
I had hit a fork in the road as to were my place was in society, two
years prior I had received my certification in image consulting and was
doing fairly well as a consultant catering exclusively to fuller women
but I wanted more I felt as if I wasn't reaching enough women to
increase their self acceptance, confidence and advancement I want to
connect on a larger scale hence I created an event were fuller women
and young girls could come together through educational workshops and
seminars where they will begin to accept, love, respect, treasure and
celebrate their unique beauty and join the CURVY REVOLUTION!!!!
Stephanie: Why is this so close to your heart?
Georgia: I am a proud full figured woman but it wasn't always like
that, when I immigrated to Canada from Jamaica 17 years ago I found
myself struggling with my weight, I was on every diet you could image
trying so hard to fit into what the North American society consider
normal which was a battle in its self considering my Caribbean roots
were if you had "extra junk in the trunk" this was normal it was even
considered being of size that you were very healthy and now I was in a
place where it was the complete opposite it was like trying to fit a
round peg into a square slot (no pun intended...ha..ha).
I experience every emotion imaginable from self hate to depression it
was at the point were I thought I couldn't handle it any more, I had
never experience these feeling before and I contemplated returning to
Jamaica but chose to take a three vacation instead and that was it, I
had a 'A-ha' moment, being back in that environment made me realize who
I was and not what I was and that was all it took.