Tess Holliday is a 32-year-old American plus-size fashion model. She is recognised worldwide as one of the best in the business and is also an author and body positivity activist, committed to challenging perceptions of fat people through the hashtag she started - #effyourbeautystandards.

Tess has written a book – The Not So Subtle Art Of Being A Fat Girl — a memoir chronicling her life from living in a trailer park to being a model on billboards across the US. In the book, she talks about her turbulent childhood in Mississippi, about how becoming a single mother aged 20 taught her to fight harder for what she wanted, and why the path to always loving the skin you're in, can be complicated and full of obstacles.

Tess spoke to The Women’s Podcast from her home in LA recently and I began by asking her why speaking out about body positivity is so important to her.