Jazzmyne details her experience behind the scenes of Buzzfeed As/Is “I Wore a Bikini To The Beach for the First Time” video. “I was nervous. To this day, I’m still nervous because you know that you’re not the ideal.” Originally from Peru, Illinois, a small town two hours from Chicago, Jazzmyne has grown to be an influencer pushing content for plus size women of color.
Living in Peru, Illinois with a population of under nine thousand people, Jazzmyne’s biracial family was one of the only three people of color households. Due to the racial differences of her mother and father, their two families had often disagreed. Despite this, her parents had always told Jazzmyne and her brother that they were leaders, and that although they may look different than everyone else in their neighborhood, this did not make them any less beautiful. Even so, in adolescence, Jazzmyne still desired long, blonde hair and dealt with the societal pressures of looking like the ideal, or the people near her. She had her own wave of struggle through her teen years that she considers a formative experience in making her who she is today.
At age 18, Jazzmyne left her small town to pursue college in Chicago. “I love bouncing [and] so many things make me happy and passionate,” Jazzmyne said. At first she pursued being a sign language interpreter but had realized that her school was not the right fit for that. Jazzmyne then moved onto studying criminal justice, but after reading case studies and analyzing how messed up the system is, she ended up majoring in visual arts and photography. Jazzmyne had a hard time in college because she had torn her ACL, MCL, and meniscus two volleyball games before nationals. Volleyball was something she had done all her life and even coached as well. This was one of the hardest moments of her life. Through this, she learned that it was possible to support others from behind the scenes and off the courts.
“I started stitching clothes in the third grade, but I signed it Jay Wear by Gia inspired by the character on Full House. I was creative as all can be.” Studying Merchandise Marketing with an interest in Trend Forecasting at the Fashion Institute, Jazzmyne had decided to move to Los Angeles. Later on, she had applied to be a Buzzfeed fellow with zero tech experience. She really wanted to display fashion that was inclusive of plus size bodies, femme queers, and women of color. And at the time, Buzzfeed had not displayed such type of content. Starting out as an intern for six months, she was taught how to shoot, edit, and produce. She then moved into being a fellow, in which she released a video every week for three months. Some of her videos include making at-home leave-in conditioners for non-straight white hair or “Things Plus Size Girls Can’t Do.” Diversity lies at the center of her work so much that she teaches workshops at Buzzfeed. After the fellowship, Jazzmyne was hired full-time as one of two out of the eight pursuing staff positions.
Follow Jazzmyne at IG: @jazzmynejay, @asos_jazzmyne , Twitter: @jazzmynejay, and check her out on Buzzfeed As/Is.