This week’s Badass Chick is Dede Schwarz-Gaeta, a local fashion designer for plus-size women who is competing in the Miss Plus America pageant next weekend.
Growing up, Dede was at the beach all the time, and it was around 12 years old when she realized that her body was “different.” As a result, she became interested in beauty and fashion, and by 14, she was modeling. Fashion was clearly her passion, but as she got older, she drifted towards a more stable career: she began bussing tables at a restaurant and eventually worked her way up to VP of a hospitality company.
Feeling like she needed to do more with her career, she knew she had to follow her passion. So she retired, took her last bonus from her company, and invested the money to create her own fashion line for plus-size women, Dede Allure. 10 days after her first runway show, she was showing her collection at Fall Fashion Week in LA with Tyra Banks in attendance.
Dede’s goal is to give plus-size women access to high-quality, well-made couture designs that will last them decades. She’s tired of women covering up their bodies and is giving them the ability to look and feel great. Not only is she doing this by designing beautiful clothing, but she is a role model for other women because she is taking her own advice and living her best life. Dede was recently named Mrs. Massachusetts Plus America and she is heading down to Atlanta on Sunday to compete for the title of Mrs. Plus America, which celebrates a woman’s inner beauty and commitment to communities.
I love that Dede saw a need for improvement and took it upon herself to create the change and inspire other women. For that, she is my Badass Chick of the Week! (Best of luck next weekend, Dede!)
If YOU have a Badass Chick you want to highlight, email me! Loren@1033ampradio.com
The TJ Show can be heard weekday mornings from 5:30am until 9:00am on Boston’s 103.3 AMP Radio. You can follow TJ, Loren and Producer Matt on Twitter: @RadioTJ @LorenRaye and @ProducerMatt AMP and on Instagram: @RadioTJ @LorenOnAir and @ProducerMatt AMP. Listen to The TJ Show On-Demand with The TJ Show Podcast on play.it & iTunes
