Amber Pratt

Embracing My C.OR.E. Out Loud

By Ayana Bryant

Photos by Amber Bryant

Inner beauty and self-confidence are something that Amber Pratt manages very well. She is an overcomer and someone who doesn’t shy away from letting her voice be heard.

The Temple Hills, Maryland native and resident is also a full figured model and creator of the lifestyle platform “Live Your C.O.R.E Out Loud”. Amber is not taking a back seat to anything or even conforming to what society says she should be. Instead, she is creating a lane of her own to empower and uplift women of all sizes.

A recent contestant in the Ms. Full Figured DMV Pageant 2021, Amber established a community of support and sisterhood by embarking on this life changing experience. The Ms. Full Figured DMV Pageant was initially launched in 2017 as a subdivision of the “Ms. Full-Figured USA” Pageants, LLC. The Ms. Full-Figured USA Pageant was founded by Theresa “Sparkle” Randolph and is the longest running and first beauty pageant system solely dedicated to promoting empowerment for full-figured women. After a year of hesitation to join the pageant world, Amber finally decided to submit her application for Ms. Full Figured DMV Pageant. “Throughout the application and interview process, I wasn’t sure that I would make the cut, but in April 2021, I was selected to be a part of the pageants royal court,” she shares. Throughout a series of pageant workshops, Amber says the experience helped her better understand some things within herself and for what was to come. “I was able to grow with a group of like-minded women who supported me from the very beginning of the process and until the end. This growth experience made all of the difference, and at the conclusion of the pageant, I placed 1st runner up.”

Throughout the application and interview process, I wasn’t sure that I would make the cut, but in August 2021, I was selected to be a part of the pageants royal court.

As a young girl, Amber often struggled with issues surrounding her confidence and self-image. The opinions of others made her feel as if she was less while being plus size and that she would only ever be second best. It wasn’t until she was able to immerse herself into a new environment by going to college that she began loving herself more. “I had to say, okay… I’m pretty, period! You can think what you want to think about me, but I’m going to do what I need to do for me. That didn’t mean I was perfect but how I was able to get to where I am today was by doing what my platform states,” she says.

While competing in the Ms. Full Figured DMV Pageant, Amber created a lifestyle platform to run on. That platform is “Live Your C.O.R.E. Out Loud”. Core is an acronym for “Confidence, Overcoming Resilience, and Exercise”. This platform was established to help people at any age step into their full potential and show the world their authentic selves. These are the things that Amber has taken from her personal journey of triumph and used them to help others who might be struggling the same way she had.

Another way that Amber was able to overcome her personal challenges was by prioritizing her mental health. “Often times in the black community, seeking therapy and self-help is looked down upon because we have been conditioned to believe that suffering in silence is okay,” Amber shares. Although the conversations surrounding mental health have begun to shift in recent years, there is still quite a way to go. amber is an advocate for therapy and found her life improving once she began to see a psychiatrist. Throughout her journey, she focused on doing her work and even began seeing a nutritionist, who she says doubles as another therapist to her. Amber also explored utilizing healing crystals, which she found helpful.

When asked what she loves most about the work she does, Amber answered, “I love seeing women feel good around me. I love to see them feel more empowered, even men! I enjoy helping people develop their ideas, and I love being people’s cheerleaders.”

Amber finds inspiration in continuing the legacy of the generations that came before her, including her grandmother, mother, and herself. “Those women significantly pushed me, and have always supported, inspired, and shown me what it meant to be a woman. Seeing the sacrifices they’ve made for me, I’d never want to disappoint them,” Amber explains.

In the future Amber hopes to continue be active while encouraging and empowering others. This includes doing more hosting’s, continuing to spread the message of “Live Your C.O.R.E. Out Loud”, and maybe even a TedTalk someday. She also wants to honor the Ms. Full Figured DMV Pageant and find ways to support her fellow sisters’ platforms. Currently, she is working with magazines and doing as much networking as possible to further her platform and brand. “I would like to utilize my modeling to help people build their confidence,” she says. By the sounds of it, Amber doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.

To connect with Amber Pratt and follow her on her journey she can be found on Facebook at Amber Pratt and IG @a_pluscurves.