4 minute read
Cover Story: Celai West
Chatty with CELAI
Written By: Sandra Sherard Photographer: Demarest Photography (@demarest_photography) HMUA: Andre Marie (@makeupwdre)
Celai West isn’t a new face to KidFash Magazine and most definitely isn’t a newbie to the world of modeling. She’s graced the pages of several issues, has strutted down countless runways for some of the most notable fashion shows, and has been working hard to build her modeling repertoire since the age of three. This familiar face has been working even harder to make sure other children with natural hair feel empowered to be themselves by exuding confidence in her own beautiful hair and speaking up about issues surrounding hair and fair treatment of others. In addition to gracing shoots and runways, Celai is an activist, author, and CEO of her own company, The Chatty Chick. Celai started her modeling journey as a toddler and fell in love with the craft right away. She didn’t realize modeling even existed before her first photo shoot, but the experience won her over and, from there, she knew that modeling was something she’d do for the rest of her life. Her career has since catapulted and she is now walking in shows, such as the highly esteemed New York Fashion Week, which is one of her most memorable moments.
When we say there’s nothing Celai doesn’t love about modeling, we mean nothing! Everything from the clothes to working with designers to meeting models and walking the runway ignites her passion for the craft. In fact, walking the runway with adults is one of her favorite things to do. There’s a certain level of freedom and acceptance that Celai has been able to enjoy when working with the adults. “It’s the one area where I'm not held back based on my looks or my hair...or my age. It's based on my talent and not my ability to pay to participate,” Celai explains. While she enjoys working in the business all around, having the ability to freely and confidently be herself is empowering.
The importance of feeling empowered is one of the reasons Celai started her company, The Chatty Chick. She would always get messages from parents saying their child, or the parent themselves, didn't like their hair. It wasn’t until they saw pictures of Celai confidently wearing her natural hair that they learned to love their natural hair, so she set off to continue encouraging others to embrace their unique beauty. “I wanted to start offering tees that would help empower them to love their natural hair as it is,” she says. Not too long after, Celai created a tee shirt that said, "I'd be jealous of my hair too" and noticed that everyone was wearing it, regardless of whether their hair was curly, kinky, straight, short, long, braided, or in locs. Boys were even wearing the shirt! That’s when she decided to start offering "chatty" tees for the entire family.
These issues and some of her not-so-nice experiences with hairstylists on set are what inspired Celai to become an activist. She wanted to make sure that no one else experienced being treated poorly because of their differences. Fair treatment of everyone is what she advocates for, which is why she has made it a priority to use her platform to address any concerns. Now that she’s older and has a better grasp of the issues faced in modeling and society, in general, social activism is becoming increasingly important to her.
Celai plans to continue her efforts to make a change and support others in any way she can. Social justice and self-acceptance are where she directs her efforts, at this time, but she will always work to ensure important issues are addressed. Her activism for social justice focuses on the importance of using your voice to speak up or out against injustices. “Even if it's just to bring more awareness to a problem, our voices matter,” Celai states. Her self-acceptance activism is centered around encouraging others to love who you are, as you are. “I think that it's so easy to forget who you are because on social media everyone wants to be like everyone else. But it's ok to be who you were made to be,” she continues. Part of Celai’s advice to others is just that; You are already perfect, and you don't have to change yourself or who you are to fit in.
When Celai isn’t advocating or working, she likes to kick back and relax. For fun, she stays home and watches anime or plays video games. “I know it seems like I'm busy a lot but actually, I have lots of free time to hang out and do what I love,” she shares, which is a great thing because it gives her time to wind down, enjoy life, and come up with great ideas for her business. As far as upcoming projects go, Celai recently wrote another book that will be released soon. She co-authored her first two books but is really excited about this book because she did it all by herself, so stay tuned!
