Beth Rylaarsdam, known as “curvygirlbeth,” across social media, is a motivational speaker and plus size model who has risen to notoriety globally throughout the past two years. Beth connects with her followers daily through her organic posts and regular “LIVE” interactions on her main platform, Instagram. Although Beth’s prior world was volunteering for her son’s school in a leadership capacity, and Human Resources with a specialty in Recruitment and training before that, she has really established herself in the social media world as an inspirational, freelance plus size model and lipedema awareness advocate. She has created campaigns for a variety of brand collaborations such as Fashion to Figure, Hara the Label, Smile Natural Products, Queen Hosiery, Lipoelastic, and Big Girl Season to name a few. Beth has been a part of runway projects in New York and most recently graced the runway in Los Angeles.
This new found social media presence actually brings Beth back to her roots. Growing up in New York, she always had an eye for fashion and wanted to pursue a career in fashion. She almost attended FIT(Fashion Institute of Technology) in New York but felt she lacked the technical drawing skills that were necessary for a career in fashion design. Ultimately, Beth opted to gain her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Marketing with a minor in Advertising and a concentration in Fashion. During college, she utilized her passion for fashion as an Image Consultant and helped her clients find their own style. She was even sought after by modeling agencies at that time in New York but her education came first. After college, Beth relocated to the West Coast and modeled locally for Plus Size boutiques in the San Diego area and continued Image Consulting as time allowed because she was entering the corporate world to pursue her Human Resources endeavors. To say that Beth is now combining all of her previous business experiences and passion for fashion and helping others in her social media journey is an understatement.
For years, Beth was plagued by diet programs and exercise routines to slim down her lower half and arms with no remarkable success. She was consistently diagnosed with obesity until October 2017 when it was officially confirmed that she had Lipedema which affects at least 11% of women but is unknown to most. Once Beth learned of this condition, she realized that there needed to be representation and education to create awareness of this progressive disease, Lipedema. And, so, she set out to enlighten others.
Beth’s grass roots effort really took off in 2019 but skyrocketed during 2020/2021. Her fashion sense and her authentic, engaging personality attracted others to seek her out for brand collaborations/partnerships and projects such as hosting on The Plus Talk Show and guest spots on various podcasts. She was a Speaker at the Click In Women’s Empowerment Virtual Summit. This year she will be a speaker at the Fat Disorders Research Society Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. Recently, Beth was named as one of the Body Positivity & Body Neutrality Influencers for Tagger Media.
Beth’s presence continues to expand across social media under her “curvygirlbeth” brand. She has just become a YouTube Partner and is poised to create more brand partnerships as well as develop more offerings for her loyal community. She’s continuing to bring uplifting content around fashion, cooking, fitness and lifestyle. Her focus is on self-care for 2022 and she is encouraging others to do the same. Beth’s message of “Acceptance is Key” is transcendent for all and clearly asks us to examine our mindset so we can let go and be inspired to live our best lives.
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