Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

Fashion is part of our culture, and it's about more than just a pretty dress.

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

When you look at the world, the world isn't just one palette. It's a beautiful rainbow, and why not have someone to represent that rainbow?

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

I was the troublemaker, always being funny - that's just who I am.

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

When you want something so bad and when something great happens, I think it's instinct that you say, 'This is gonna be the moment that's gonna change everything. Everybody is gonna see me a different way.'

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

I just want to continue to break barriers and to show the industry and the world that beauty is diverse, and you don't have to be a certain stereotype to be beautiful.

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

I adore my two older sisters, Erika and Betsy.

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

My personal style is bipolar. Sometimes I feel like dressing in a boyish leather jacket; other times I want to dress more elegantly. Most of the time it's what I like to call 'comfortable chic': Giuseppe Zanotti flat sandals, Rag & Bone jeans, slouchy Isabel Marant shirts.

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

I became obsessed watching fashion TV shows when I was a teenager and recognized that I had the height and body frame. I especially became hooked when I saw on 'E! True Hollywood Story' how much a model can make and how I can achieve a better living for my family and me.

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

I don't diet. I'm Puerto Rican! You can never take my rice, pork, and beans away.

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

I don't need that much contour.

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

I work out almost every day, and I mix it up: I do Thai kickboxing. I have a personal trainer. I work out at my gym.

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

I still get butterflies when I'm doing a runway show. The music starts, you're wearing these gorgeous clothes and your nervous about your high heels, if your shoes are going to break, if your going to slip or do something wrong.

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

I was always being athletic, climbing trees and running after boys, just being trouble. It was always in me.

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

I try not to go to sleep with makeup, because I think it clogs your pores. I always wash my face with something that contains salicylic acid.

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

I always remember my mom saying she wanted a son, so I basically filled that position, like, being outside and always having dirt underneath my nails. I was never afraid of getting dirty and grimy.

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

I'm a little bit of everything. Sometimes people think I'm not Puerto Rican, because my name doesn't sound Spanish.

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

I always knew that whenever you go out there, you're not just representing yourself. You're representing a heritage that's behind you, your culture, so you always have to do things, like, bigger, badder, better.

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

I don't want to be on such a strict diet that I don't have fun. So if I eat sweets, I'll just put in more of an effort when I go to the gym.

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

I always had crazy, curly hair up in a bun, messy, running up and down, sweaty.

Joan Smalls
Joan Smalls

I would always hunch over, I was always taller than the boys. I had the extremely skinny legs... I would double up my socks, those ones from Footlocker, to make my legs look thicker.