Mamas At Work: Plus-Size Model Tabria Majors Has A New Respect For Her Body After Having Her First Child

What are some of your earliest memories of Torrid?

For me, it’s a brightly colored store on the top floor of the local mall in my Illinois suburb, filled with dark tops and plenty of jeans. The store, similar to Hot Topic in vibe, was quite colorful. For Torrid model and mom Tabria Majors, her earliest memories are a bit different.

“It’s funny because actually, in high school, during the summers, I would work at a distribution center for Torrid and Hot Topic,” she tells ESSENCE. “I would literally pack people’s orders and get them out. And that was the second job I’ve ever had. But that is my earliest memory of Torrid, being somebody who packs your order.”

With that in mind, it’s something to see how much Torrid has evolved in its look and designs. It’s also pretty fantastic to know that Majors has become a sought-after model, including for the brand she once shipped orders for. And now, she’s helping Torrid to find their next top model, like herself and fellow former Torrid model Ashley Graham, through a nationwide casting call experience that will include more than 100 events throughout the year.

“I actually started working with Torrid, I believe it was right after they had their first model casting call,” she says. “But I have such a strong relationship with them, and I love the team. Me being a model, the number one question I get is Tabria, how do you become a model? And this feels like such a natural partnership as well, because it is how I became a model. I got my start with a casting call with a brand. So I think this is a very tangible way to take actionable steps to become a model. And it was just so natural because it’s my story.”

Majors will be at a few of the events, including New Jersey on June 8 and Nashville on June 15, and she recently took the microphone and met with participants during the Los Angeles casting call. She’s looking forward to giving advice on how to maneuver the industry and to get their foot in the door.

“It’s really not nearly as complicated as they think. Less is more when it comes to this process,” she says, remarking on hair and makeup in photos. “So I’ll be happy to give all the advice. I love connecting with people online, so connecting with them in person will be even better.”

Something that Majors is soaking up advice about herself is motherhood. She recently welcomed her first child, a baby girl, in August of 2023. We talked to the stunning model about how she’s adapting to her new role, how she looks at and feels in her body after baby, and what she’s learned about herself in the process.

ESSENCE: You are someone who’s very appreciated for being body positive. I know you recently had a baby girl. Congratulations on that! I wanted to ask you, how are you feeling in your body? Your body is such a big part of your work, your brand and your image. And so I wonder how you’re feeling in this frame now that you’ve been able to create a child and bring that child into the world.

Tabria Majors: Well, I will be honest. I was very nervous about how I was going to feel about my physical appearance after I gave birth, especially being a model, obviously it plays into vanity so much. And I’ve always tried to straddle the line of just living in the present and not being so consumed with my looks and all of that, even though it is a part of my job. But honestly, after going through that experience, it truly didn’t even matter to me because it was just such an amazing, I don’t know, my birth was just the most amazing experience of my life. And worrying about something as trivial as my appearance just didn’t even resonate with me once she was here. Those thoughts certainly consumed my mind before, but once she was here, I did not care whatsoever. And I have such a newfound appreciation and respect for my body and everything that I went through to get her here.

And I did just complete 75 hard, I’m going to tie this in, but I did complete the fitness challenge, and it wasn’t more so about what I looked like. But after giving birth, I just felt so weak. And I’m not used to feeling like that. I am a very physically strong person, and that’s something that I’ve always loved about myself. I guess I’m really naturally strong, and that’s one reason why I have chosen to just dive into fitness so much because there were some days where it was just exhausting holding her. And I’m like, she’s only 15 pounds. Why am I tired holding her? And we have stairs in our house. Oh my God. It’s too much. So I’ve been putting so much more importance on my health now that she’s here, so I can be here for as long as possible and be able to toss her around and play with her and do all the things.

Yeah. You’re trying to get back to feeling strong. You are so focused on her that is making you want to be your best physical self, but not from a vanity purpose. It’s about strength.

Exactly. Just truly from a health perspective. But yeah, she’s the reason I do everything now.

Nice. I love that. And so how are you adjusting to motherhood?

It was certainly an adjustment. Obviously you don’t even have your own time anymore. That’s me. Time is just so non-existent nowadays. But I’m trying to navigate a good balance. I was a very hyper-independent person before, and I didn’t rely on anyone for anything. I hated asking people for help. But this has been a total 180 shift in my personality because I lean on our family and friends for so much help. Now, I’m not afraid to ask like, Hey, can you come watch her for a minute just so I can sit or go work out or go film some content or whatever it may be. Because you will get lost in motherhood if you don’t take that time to yourself. And I know this country, it certainly doesn’t offer the support that families need when it comes to raising children. So we are very fortunate with the support system that we have. And I understand it’s a total luxury, but I’m very thankful that we do have the support to lean on whenever we need it. But it took six months for me to feel normal again after I delivered and everything.

I just didn’t feel like me. I don’t want to say it was a negative feeling, but it was just different.

Is it feeling like, oh, you’re completely not lost in, but you’re so wound up in motherhood, only you’re just taking care of a child around the clock.

Yeah. It’s like my sole purpose is to keep you alive. So that is what I’m focusing on. Yeah, it’s a lot. It really threw me for a loop, but I feel much more confident in my ability as a mom now, especially going through this for the first time. You’re like, oh my gosh, am I doing everything right? I don’t know. But yeah, I feel much more assured in my limited thus far.

And so how are you practicing self-care when you have the time? I know you said fitness!

I do walking all the time. So one of the other aspects of the fitness challenge I’m doing is you have to do visualization every day, whatever that means for you. Meditation, quiet time, prayer, whatever it may be. And so for me, it varies on the day, honestly. But I’ve started journaling, and even if it’s taking five minutes a day, just like writing down your thoughts or anything that you need to work through that, I don’t know if I want to talk to anybody about this, but let me just write it down. You can work through a lot of stuff just by writing down or journaling. And it’s been kind of a cathartic experience for me, and it’s been really enjoyable just to try to tune out the noise, even if it’s just for five minutes a day before, I could never, I don’t want to call it meditation, that’s not really what I’m doing. But for lack of a better word, I could never meditate because I would just, a million things would be running through my mind. But now I have a million more things running through my mind. I crave that quiet time even more now, so I’m able to really hone in and do it. So that has been a new form of self-care that I’ve been practicing.

I really don’t know about anything else. If I can do skincare one day, that’s amazing. But for my birthday, I did a spa day. I mean, I’m kind of figuring that out right now. And not even just self-care, but also my relationship with my partner getting back to our romance again, because oh my God, we still haven’t been out on a date. It’s just when you have a baby, it takes over everything. And so that’s something that we’re figuring out now. And yeah, it’s interesting. But we’re getting there.

I love that. And lastly, I wanted to ask you, what is the biggest lesson that you’ve learned thus far about yourself through your new role as a mom?

Honestly, it’s you can’t be a control freak because man, they always say Virgos are, they’re so meticulous in everything that they do. I have no Virgo in my chart whatsoever, but I need to be in control at all times. And it’s something that I kind of learned when my boyfriend and I moved in together. That was a step into, okay, really pushing a little control here, but it’s fine. We’re going to get through it. But having a child and just not being on a schedule, having things just pop up literally at the last minute, not being able to make it anymore on time. It’s so many, I don’t want to call it a disruptor in my life, but it’s just the unplanned, it happens more than ever now. And I can’t stress over things like that now because I simply can’t control it. I can’t control her. I don’t want to control her. I’m just going with the flow and taking it as I can. But yeah, just breathing and not being so worked up about things that I can’t control. That’s been the biggest lesson I’ve learned.