Bullied teen now slays as a plus-size model

At the age of 16, the last thing student Natalie Nootenboom needed to be worrying about was her body.

But after years of bullying about her shape, the gorgeous teen is showing the world who’s boss by signing by a New York modeling agency and taking the fashion industry by storm.

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Natalie, who was born to a Japanese mother and an American father, says her size 16 figure isn’t the “norm” for Asian girls – but she wants to show everyone that these stereotypes are completely wrong.

“The norm for Asian girls is to be, you know, petite, cute, and skinny. But growing up, I kind of was taller, bigger, more awkward,” she told Revelist.

The teen, who is the niece of DJ Steve Aoki, claims girls at school used to tease her, even claiming she’d stretched clothes after borrowing them.

But Natalie’s getting the last laugh, landing a number of campaigns and determined to champion diversity in the fashion industry.

“I was the opposite of what people expected me to be, and so I really want to use my platform to say, you know what? We're all different. We can't build a mould and expect people to all fit that mould,” she said.

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