Meet Fiona, an International Plus Size Beauty Pageant Global Winner and passionate advocate for beauty and wellness from the inside out. In this inspiring interview, she opens up about her unexpected entry into the world of pageantry, her experience with body image challenges, and how winning the crown reshaped her views on confidence, health, and self-worth.
With a mission to empower women of all sizes, Fiona proves that true beauty goes far beyond physical appearance—it’s about mindset, emotional strength, self-love and personal growth. As a beauty and wellness inside-out consultant, Fiona now helps clients transform not just their looks, but their self-image and emotional well-being.
You have achieved the remarkable title of International Plus Size Beauty Pageant Global Winner. What inspired you to enter the world of pageantry, and what does this title mean to you personally?
When I first joined pageantry, it was not something that I was experienced with. However, for the sake of wanting to inspire others with the confidence I have in myself and with my outlook, I was motivated to use pageantry as a platform to inspire more women with confidence.
Because I always believe that regardless of your size, whether you’re small or big or any size or shape at all, as a woman to woman, I felt that women do need a good community to fall back on. At that point in time, I wasn’t sure if I was going to win yet, but I just wanted to do my best and put my best foot forward to lead by example.
How did winning the pageant shift your perspective on beauty, and how do you now define beauty and wellness?
After having put in the effort and being rewarded for it, and having the right motivations going into it, I felt that beauty pageants are more than just your exterior outlook but also how you carry yourself, which has got to do with internal beauty as well.
Even with mainstream pageants these days, like the conventional Miss Universe, the participants are all very pretty. And the key thing is, a lot of them have very high IQ—lthey are MBA holders, some have PhDs.
I think I was highly awarded because of my EQ rather than IQ. Having EQ is about having the empathy to show people what you truly stand for as well. So, I think that’s very important at the same time.
As a beauty and wellness inside-out consultant, how do you help your clients transform not just their looks, but also their mindset and confidence?
Usually I start from the outside, because I think that is one of the easiest things to adjust, with the knowledge and products that I have. And usually through conversations, I start to get to know them better as well.
For example, if someone is having very bad acne, then you know internally we have to fix the gut. And if someone is always only wearing black, then you know that it’s either a confidence issue, or simply that’s just his or her favourite colour.
I like to have deep conversations and find out how they’re feeling or how they want to look, or where they want to position or carry themselves.
Then we work towards that goal to make them feel better not only on the outside and look better, but also from the inside.
Before I turned 21, I did a full body liposuction in Thailand, which was triggered by how my dad looked at me. I wasn’t born confident my whole life, and because of this, I went through a surgery that could have probably cost me my life.
What are some common misconceptions about plus size beauty and wellness that you actively like to address?
I think one of the very interesting things was that when I won the pageant, there were a lot of interviews, and there were some interviews or articles where there was backlash from netizens that said something like, “Oh, you’re leading people to be fat,” and things like that.
I think a lot of times people just equate plus size to unhealthy. However, it does not mean that when you are skinny or slim, you are fully healthy. I know a number of people who look “normal” size but have diabetes and high blood pressure.
I think wellness is very holistic. It has nothing to do with how you look. I think how you look is something that you can improve, but what size you are—sometimes it could be genetic.
My brothers and I—we’re all pageant winners and doing pretty well—we are able to put on about 5 kilos within five days just by normal eating or eating a little bit more than usual.
We do have a gene that affects that. Some people have the gene where they are very tall, while some are short. When it comes to genetics, it’s not something you can fully change.
But I think how you carry yourself—that is what is more important, and how you see yourself.
Can you share more about the wellness industry that you are currently involved in?
Health, beauty, and wellness industry. I’m currently with a company known as Market America. We have an internet franchise business concept platform. It’s actually an online shopping mall.
I major in the beauty and wellness division with this company. Due to the product brokerage concept, we have over 1000 stores all the way from Trip.com to Crocs to Lululemon and so on.
With the beauty and wellness industry currently booming, and also aligned with what I believe is important, I am spreading the word and education of beauty and wellness through skincare, makeup, supplementation and nutrition.
I have been able to meet all sorts of people, help them through not only their health but also to look better through skincare and makeup. Using this business concept, I have gained a lot of personal satisfaction in helping more people with their wealth.
Can you share one memorable transformation from one of your clients that deeply moved or inspired you?
A client was referred through a friend. She had chronic acne issues and she would cry herself to sleep every day. She had to change her bedsheets and pillowcases every day. Also, she had been seeking help for many years—like more than 15 years—and so far no one had been able to help her.
I spoke to her and consoled her and look into what’s not just external but also internal, including her diet and sleeping habits. We were able to fix the problem within a month.
It was due to reasons from the gut. And having been able to fix that problem—I felt it was a very big challenge, but very satisfying as well. I think she’s now a lot more carefree, more confident. Seeing her transformation is what deeply moved me. She was also able to find a better job after that.
What advice would you give to someone who struggles with self-image or feels not confident about themselves, especially women?
I think we, as women, tend to be a little bit more emotional, and we also tend to go through different parts of life where a good support system is very important.
That was something in my younger days which I did not have. Seek out a good community that will support you for who you are and lift you up when you need it.
If you’re struggling with how you look, make the effort to change it. If it’s something that bothers you, then seek out professionals who can help you, because there are a lot of resources out there.
One thing I realise is that every woman—whether they are big-sized, small-sized—they still want to lose weight. There was one time in my life I took drastic measures because of certain things that I thought were correct.
Before I turned 21, I did a full body liposuction in Thailand, which was triggered by how my dad looked at me. I wasn’t born confident my whole life, and because of this, I went through a surgery that could have probably cost me my life.
I wasn’t exactly that mature. And because of that, I would say I didn’t get the emotional support that I should have. And even after losing the weight, my mental state of mind wasn’t the greatest as well.
I may be four sizes smaller after that, of course not just through surgery but continuous exercise and diet, yet I was still unhappy. I think it is the process along the way—there are no shortcuts. So looking after your emotional support through the process is very important.
What’s your vision for Singapore in the next five years?
I think we’re doing very well as a country already. And I think we’re very lucky. As one of the entrepreneurs myself, the Singapore government has supported us very much.
Personally, I want to create a platform that would support women not only emotionally, but also for what I stand for, which is beauty and wellness inside out. So that will be on my end.
I also wish more people would be more expressive with what they’re struggling with. Because I think that in the Asian community, we do not speak up enough. And sometimes we wait until the 11th hour before we ask for help. By then, it might be too late.
If you could have one superpower just for one day, what would it be and why?
Teleport! Yeah, because I like travelling so much. To be able to learn and travel to almost every country in the world, the only way is if you can teleport really fast and save time.
I love taking the plane as well, but the thing is, time doesn’t wait for you. So I think teleporting can help me to increase or accelerate that passion of mine for travelling.
Connect with Fiona: Facebook and Instagram.
