Name: Ameni Esseibi
Location: Dubai
Height: 175 cm (5’7″)
Birthday: 20/01/1999
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ameniesseibi/
How did you initially launch your career as a model?
I started in 2018. I launched my career by getting my first contract with a modeling agency in Dubai and with my fashion editorial in Vogue Arabia.
You are Middle East’s first curvy model. How does it feel?
It’s a great honor and responsibility to hold on to that title dearly. I represent a huge Arab community that didn’t have a voice for so long.
What has shaped you along the way?
The strength of my parents and their strong personalities. They started from zero with their careers and showed me how it is to fight for something you really want. This helped me to motivate myself to just go for it and never give up.
You are also breaking cultural stereotypes. What impact have your roots on your career?
My Tunisian roots are super important to me. Also, my Arab values and manners impact me a lot in my work since what I do is not ‘’normalized’’ in the Middle East culture. That makes it a little bit difficult for me to do what I do.
How do you link a healthy lifestyle and body-positivity with each other?
I really believe in the fact that your weight doesn’t define your health. Being healthy does not mean that you have to look a certain way. Healthy for me means to be mentally healthy and feeling in peace with yourself and workout out to maintain your health.
What are your thoughts about self-love and self-care?
Self-care and self-love should be part of each person’s personality. You can never be fully yourself or become the best version of yourself, if you don’t take care of yourself and love yourself. It’s a long journey, which takes a lot of time and patience but once you are there it will be worth it. It is very mentally challenging but also super important.
What role does fitness play in your life?
I’m a very stressed person so it definitely makes me feel better and calms me down but also helps me to destress a lot. Basically, I work out to destress, maintain my health, and that adrenaline feeling by the end of your workout is to die for.
When it comes to fitness and health are you often confronted with prejudices? How do you handle them and what is your message here?
Yes, I always get attacked by haters, but they don’t bother me. For me it’s a sign of success if I didn’t have any haters in my path that would mean that I’m doing something wrong. If anything, they make me feel so good about myself, they give me motivation.
How do you think are you impacting other girls and women? What is your message to them?
BE YOU, LOVE YOU and you’ll shine differently. Read that again.
You decided to collab with Women’s Best. Why did you choose to be part of the Women’s Best family?
I wanted to be part of the Women’s Best family because I felt like they truly support my message and because it wasn’t just a marketing strategy for them. They give me the freedom of being myself with the clothes and share it the way I want and that is super important. It’s so important for bigger people to also be part of the fitness world even though we know they don’t like us much, but we deserve a place in it.
