On September 16, Boris Kodjoe hosted the first ever ‘Finding Ashley Stewart 2017 Finale’ to benefit Dress for Success. Several luminaries studded the event at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, including Nicole Ari Parker, the legendary group En Vogue, gospel singer Kierra Sheard, and inspirational speaker Iyanla Vanzant. There were other performances by Brooklyn United Drumline, Xinos Step Team, and Amanda LaCount.
With the celebrity judges, National Urban League CEO Marc Morial, NFL player Carl Banks, MLB All-Star Mo Vaughn, Miss USA 2013 Erin Brady, WNBA player Kym Hampton, music executive Vivian Scott Chew, and founder of Full Figured Fashion Week Gwen Devoe, the Ashley Stewart contestants proclaimed their influence in their respective communities and showed their interpretation of the Ashley Stewart lifestyle and brand—Ashley Stewart stands for uncompromising style, fashion, fit and empowerment for the trend-savvy woman who flaunts her curves.
Finale winner Theresa (Larsen) Royals of St. Thomas was crowned ‘Ashley Stewart 2017’ and awarded a $10,000 prize package, Ashley Stewart wardrobe, makeover and more; $20,000 in scholarships was awarded to the North Carolina A&T University winner Lydeah Kearse ($10,000), Medgar Evers College winner Latchmie Marajh ($5,000), and Kedeisha Freeman($5,000).
The Ashley Stewart team sought after a woman who represented the brand. Several stars stopped to share their thoughts about the Ashley Stewart’s core values: kindness, perseverance, resilience, confidence, and empowerment.
Iyanla Vanzant: I don’t think the journey is over. Now [that] I’m on the other side of 60, I’m learning to love some new stuff that I didn’t have when I was 40 [Laughter], and I’m learning to love what happens as it happens. I think that for any woman, the journey to loving yourself is just being clear about who you are, and that’s a lifelong journey because who you are at 20 is not who you are at 30, so I think that we have to stay in touch with ourselves day by day, moment by moment and just be willing to grow and shift and change.
Boris Kodjoe: I think beauty is a personal expression of self, which then encompasses kindness, and confidence.
Nicole Ari Parker: Confidence, mixed with kindness, so kindfidence. I think that beauty is a very spiritual thing. When you’re connected to the light inside of you, to your faith, and God, it comes through. It shines, and it blesses everyone around you. When you walk into the room and everybody is blessed by your presence, that’s true beauty because you’re connected to something real, and it awakens everyone else. When you are your most beautiful, everyone around you is beautiful. You inspire them to stand up straight and be their best self.
Rhona Bennett: Self-acceptance just right where you are. Tonight is the great example that no matter what size, height, whatever you are, just be comfortable in your own skin.
Terry Ellis: I’m going to piggyback off what she said. God didn’t make any mistakes, so it’s self-acceptance.
Cindy Herron: The first thing: beauty starts within. It starts with you heart.
Andrea Rachel Parker: You can’t make everyone happy. On any given day, you meet four people and I guarantee that in someway you’ve pissed all four of them off even though you were being your best self. And so, I realize that I cannot please four people, so I focus on what makes me happy about myself. So yea, I might not like a stretch mark, or I may not like a cellulite, but I love my smile, I love my eyes, I love my breast. There’s just so much to me that’s good, so why focus on the bad? And it takes time.
Kierra Sheard: I remember having to wear my father’s clothes and make them as if they were my clothes and then just having to be OK with being the chunky girl out of the group. I might have seemed or felt like the oddball, but I had to keep it moving. And once I started to see other women like me—the person that I always thought was the most gorgeous person, sometimes had those same insecurities—I just had to learn that we all have our issues, we all have our flaws, and we just have to own it. That’s what makes us who we are; that is our ID. And that’s what makes us beautiful. I have this huge birthmark on my leg and it has grown as I have expanded. I had to learn to love that. And it’s also just making sure we’re healthy so that we can fulfill our purpose in life, but at the same time, everybody’s healthy is not your healthy. Sometimes God allows us to be at the weight that we are so we can encourage and inspire someone else, and you have to own that. Are you ready for that?
Ashley Stewart, founded in 1991 in Brooklyn, New York, has become a safe haven where curvy, kind, and resilient women can shop for uncompromising styles and feel a sense of community. With 90 stores across the United States, the brand is dedicated to making the everyday woman feel as confident, glamorous, and ready for any occasion as possible.
For more information about Ashley Stewart and the 2017 contestants, click here.