This internationally renowned fashion model has teamed up with Women’s Running Magazine to found Project Start, a collaborative effort to encourage and inspire women to begin their own running journey. She has also launched a size inclusive clothing line for women, Day-Won. While she is termed a “plus -size” model, Huffine is at the helm of models pushing to expand boundaries for curvy models and to eliminate the label “plus” from the fashion vernacular. Candice is a runner and ran the 2017 NYC Marathon.

Today’s Guest

Candice Huffine is an internationally renowned fashion model. She became the first plus-size woman to be featured in the Pirelli Calendar, a UK Glamour trade calendar. Her A-list work includes being featured in publications such as CR Fashion Book, Italian Vogue (cover), Vogue, W, V Magazine, i-D and Glamour. She has also recently launched a clothing line for the full size range of active women called Day/Won.

What you will learn about:

• How she is living the dream she had as a little girl, despite the fact that she doesn’t have the typical model body type/size.
• How being slotted into a role as a plus-model, at age 15, allowed her to grow into being a woman with all the curves of a normal woman, and being positive with her body as it is. It was the impetus to grow into a role as a spokesperson for body acceptance.
• How the body positivity acceptance move is allowing people to feel they are represented. And how it is becoming more acceptable to let our bodies settle where they are meant to be rather than endlessly trying to lose weight to fit into some pre-conceived mold.
• How she started running in 2015 when her husband dared her to do a half marathon as a part of their annual discussion of their goals for the next year. She first viewed it as just an impossible and unfair dare, but he was so passionate about it she stopped and listened to his reasons. She was inspired by the positive changes in his life when he first took up running, so something in the dare caught her interest.
• Her first half marathon (NYC half in 2016) was such a learning experience, as she had never trained more than 8 miles and didn’t know what at all to expect. So she psyched herself completely out. But she then used it as a learning experience to move forward. She learned that not only is she susceptible to a dare, but how competitive she could be with herself. It also taught her how important it was to take time for herself to do things that balance you out, and running has been an outlet for that. It has given her time to be meditative and thoughtful.
• How she found that the running clothing that was available was so uncomfortable and she spent more time adjusting clothing that just didn’t fit her body properly so she spent a bunch of time tugging at things. She decided to found her own brand, Day/Won, launched in the fall of 2017, that made athletic clothing that really fits a woman’s curves and was inclusive across the entire range of sizes.
• How she used her own brand to stand for causes she felt were important. Inclusivity, sustainability, etc. From giving back to charities, supporting the LGBT community, using recycled materials, making things in the US, digital printing to avoid water waste, and making things to order to save on waste.

Inspirational Quotes:

There is always someone listening, being self-deprecating can influence someone and you won’t even realize it.

We have to break the cycle of the negative things we say to ourselves.

If you commit yourself to a goal, other things you want in your life will fall into place.

You have to know it is going to be a slow process but suddenly you start to see the progress you have made and how you have achieved the short term goals that make you proud of what you can accomplish. Run because of how it makes you feel, not how it makes you look.

So many women of all sizes are out there doing incredible things, it was time we started dressing them. You stand at the sidelines of a race and see people of all ages, shapes, etc. and it is so inspiring.

No one should feel on the outside, you should not have to change to fit in. Explaining and apologizing for our bodies is exhausting and frankly has nothing to do with the bigger picture.

Resources:

Last week's episode with Dr Rich Willy

Tina4Real Podcast

Running for Real Superstars Community

Support Tina through her Patreon Page

Buy a Running for Real T-shirt, Tank, or Hat

Candice on Instagram

Day-Won on Instagram

Ps You Got This on Instagram

Candice on Facebook

Candice on Twitter

Day-Won Clothing

Thank you to HOKA ONE ONE and Bodyhealth for sponsoring this episode of Running for Real.

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