With a little help from the flashing lights of the camera, Kathleen O’Brien is hoping to break down the barriers of the industry built around looks as Canberra’s first disability and curve model. Kathleen recently joined Diversity Models Australia, the country’s first NDIS-registered provider modelling agency. Hoping to inspire a message of inclusivity and acceptance, Kathleen is proud to lead her home city on this journey.

Stumbling across the Diversity Models Australia agency, Kathleen decided to shoot her shot and apply.

“I was doing a spontaneous Google search one day, and I was looking at model agencies for one that I wanted to be part of, and I found Diversity Models. I had a look at their page, and it just stood out to me because they’re so inclusive of disabilities and plus-size people,” says Kathleen.

Diversity Models prides itself on accepting models of all shapes and sizes, backgrounds, abilities and ages, opening a door to the world of modelling for someone to whom it may have been traditionally closed.

“You don’t see people around the world who are plus size and modelling and who have disabilities, they always get excluded from things like that, so I’m trying to break down the barriers, saying people of all shapes and sizes and abilities can be models,” says Kathleen.

Kathleen believes talent isn’t confined to a specific shape, size or ability. 

“You don’t see many of them these days, there are no other plus-size models I can think of…Although I do like the singer Lizzo, I’m inspired by her. She is plus size, and a singer and she doesn’t care about what people say about her body and I don’t care about what people say about my body,” smiles Kathleen.

Due to the nature of the industry, Kathleen knows that she will get comments on her looks and body. She is prepared to deal with positive and negative comments and isn’t afraid to use the block button.

“There is a right way and a wrong way to go about it. You can look at those nasty comments and be affected by them and it will be detrimental to your life, or you can look at those comments and completely ignore them, just move on,” she says.

Diagnosed with autism and ADHD at a young age and more recently diagnosed with Bipolar II, Kathleen says sometimes she faces challenges and that her social skills aren’t great. She can sometimes misread cues or say things others might think are inappropriate. By booking modelling jobs, she is hoping to build on these social skills further and enjoy all the perks that come with the job. “Being able to travel and meet new people, experience that excitement of showing people what you can do and breaking down those barriers of realistic expectations about models.”

While she hasn’t booked her first gig yet, Kathleen is open to modelling for print, posters and billboards, or appearing in commercials and on TV. Not catwalks, though – Kathleen doesn’t do heels.

When she isn’t busy putting herself out there and trying to make connections in the modelling world, Kathleen works in hospitality and is finishing a journalism degree online through the University of Sothern Queensland.

“I’m hoping to finish my university degree and then see what happens but at the moment it is going to be a lot of freelance [modelling]… I would like to be on TV reporting the news. I really love true crime, I would like to be a crime reporter or an investigative journalist,” says Kathleen.

The ultimate mission is to play a part in breaking the stereotypes of what a model looks like. Kathleen’s advice for any other budding disability or curve models is to take the leap.

“Go for it, don’t let anyone hold you back or tell you what you can and can’t do. Seek advice but at the end of the day it is your decision.”

Follow Kathleen on her barrier-breaking journey; instagram.com/cbrcurvmodel

Find out more about Diversity Models; diversitymodels.com.au

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