Plus-size influencer reveals how one video changed her life
When this influencer posted a video without much thought, the “happy accident” completely changed her life.
When she first started creating social media content as a teen, Karly Polkosnik had no thoughts of becoming a body positivity influencer.
Now 26, Karly flaunts her curves – and encourages other women to do the same.
Chatting to Daily Star, the Canadian internet star said she’d been an influencer for close to a decade, having started out as a traditional blogger back in high school.
At the time, she was a professional cheerleader and used the platform to blog about her experiences during her gap year, The Sun reports.
Then came TikTok, and her life changed.
After uploading a satirical video about her intended immigration to the US, Karly suddenly became an online sensation, gaining 50,000 followers overnight.
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At the time, she said, she was posting dance content, lip syncing content, various story times, and there was not much about body positivity.
Then one day, she uploaded a clip of herself rocking a crop top and trackpants, and comments began pouring in about how others had never seen their body type represented on TikTok.
For her, it was kind of “happy accident” because although she did realise she existed in a “bigger body”, it was never her focus when first starting on social media.
That one video, she said, made her realise just how desperate people were for that kind of content.
“On top of that, one of the largest reasons I think it’s important to produce body positive content is the impact on youth,” she said, explaining that people comparing themselves to the unrealistic images online often leads to eating disorders.
“Having access to content of people existing healthily in larger bodies … is helping dismantle traditional beauty standards, and curb harmful eating disorders one block by one,” she said.
“At the end of the day, this type of content helps people to love themselves, which in turn helps them to live a fulfilled and happy life.”
Now Karly works to show off her curves by rocking sexy lingerie sets and cute outfits that make her feel her best.
And the message seems to have spread, as the 26-year-old receives hundreds of messages from people thanking her, saying she has helped them feel more empowered about their body.
To Karly, beauty means all kinds of things, but what matters most is what’s inside.
You could have the most symmetrical face, one that matches all the beauty standards, but if the “personality sucks” then the heart is “ugly”, she said.
This story originally appeared on The Sun and reproduced with permission