Meet Heather Abbasi | Model / Digital Creator / Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Heather Abbasi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Heather, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
I hold a few principles in very high regard, starting with integrity and transparency. I don’t like to work with people or companies that make claims and promises they don’t intend to keep or conduct themselves in suspicious or shady manners. I make it a point to operate from a place of honesty and take pride in the fact that I am not a celebrity that just follows a script for a payout. I do research on who I chose to work with and their level of integrity and values in business and in modeling. I prefer to work with people and businesses that do the best they can to offer their clientele quality products and services with genuine concern for their interests because, that is how I like to do business. That is how I believe all good business and agreements should be made, with a chance to make an impact and be a force for good. If something doesn’t feel right or live up to their hype, I will not continue to work with those individuals or organizations.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I got where I am today starting with a seizure and a related follow-up disability from PTSD. I wanted to be a singer/songwriter but all the unprocessed trauma from life-long abuse from more than one narcissistic abuser, starting with my father and step-mother, decided to come in that form at a very stressful time in my life. When that happened, I felt like all my hard work and dreams were over. I had to drop out of college at LACC because I lost speech and memory functions. I started life over with these new limitations. This gave me a lot of determination to heal but left me without the career I had been working 25+ years for. I no longer was able to do things to acquire financial gain easily or on my own. In that time, I found that I could use some of my creative skills from performing to become a model, despite my size and new energetic and other limitations. There was a demand for people who looked like me, who’s beauty was not considered typical. I took that chance and ran as far as I could with it. I then found myself to be in demand.
While healing, helping my husband start a bookkeeping business, (Abbasi Bookkeeping) to fulfill his dream with business experience I had from various service jobs, I found the place I belonged in fashion and modeling. My favorite part I’m most excited about is that I made a positive shift in mindset for a lot of different people, especially my family. Those with disabilities, invisible and otherwise, abuse survivors, the misfits in the world, also. I helped make a more accepting place for them to thrive and be who they were called to be. It wasn’t easy, it still isn’t. I had to overcome a disability that I still have to live with and honor my limitations despite some great strides in recovery. I still struggle to give my all to everything and do a lot of little things every day that are exhausting. I still receive hateful backlash for choosing not to hide myself away. I have to turn a lot of projects down because my plate fills easier than most. I also do a lot for the bookkeeping business and find myself completely exhausted by 5pm. I’m grateful for what I can do yet, always strive to do more and better. I am often, in modeling, my own one woman show. I give myself a lot of grace and rest when I can but I carry on the best I can because I am worth it, my family is worth it, the example I’m leading by is worth it, being my happiest self surrounded by my loved ones who are their happiest selves is so worth it! I will continue to use my platform to advocate for victims of narcissistic abuse and ending their tactics that hurt so many wonderful people in so many ways because I do not want to see what happened to me continue to happen to anyone else but also to showcase that, those people were wrong to treat people that way and wrong to tell you that you can’t do anything you are called to do in this life. You can survive and thrive in the aftermath of what happened to you and that it is a part of you but it does not define your capabilities. That is my biggest mission and goal in my modeling and business journey that I always keep at the heart of my work.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I wanted to have the time of my life in Winslow with my best friend, it would begin with a Hike in Homolovi State Park. There’s so much history, gorgeous sites and adventure to be had. We’d have to visit the local shopping scene, especially downtown or, if the Mother Road Farmer’s Market is open, run by the awesome, Laurie Lashomb. There are a lot of fun entertainment and local shopping events to go to depending on the time of year and what experience someone might want to receive. There is almost always several local native tribes and families selling goods from farm fresh produce to blankets and jewelry. All are wonderful choices! There are awesome food vendors there every time, especially if you love coffee, I would recommend going to Winslow AZ Coffee Roasters or Mojo’s. There’s also Sipp Shoppe for sweet caffeinated delights. We have a lot of artists here, especially tattoo artists. This town has everything from food to crystals, massage and alternative healing services and a wide range of other stops and services to truly “Take it Easy” here in Winslow AZ. At some point, I think it would be fun to visit the senior center and learn to crochet like a pro. If you’re looking for a drink and a game or maybe some karaoke, there’s always Tom’s Tavern on route 66. There’s always something fun happening there. For more of a family atmosphere, Relic Road or Bojo’s or even The Brown Mug would be a great place to have some hearty eats and a stiff drink to go with it. We can’t forget the visitor’s center / chamber of commerce and the local history museum for the really good stuff. There is where we really dig into the history and cultures that make Winslow what it has been and what it still is to this day. If you’re a train and art enthusiast, there are the stationary trains and art cars at Gazebo Park. Most everything is picturesque and worth every moment spent and every picture taken. The locals have a lot to do with how grand everything is. We really have some of the warmest people to meet at all these wonderful places and more. No matter what the choices for the bulk of the visit, we’d end with a trip to La Posada’s Turquoise Room for some amazing art, history, food and phenomenal ambiance. Also, some really classy shopping. They have the best food and drinks in town in the most beautiful setting. It really is the crown jewel of Winslow and is the town’s train travel station. There is so much to see and take in that I recommend more than one day to explore the hotel and grounds to fully see it all. I have included pictures of me at the 2024 Inkfest event at Tom’s Tavern on Route 66 as a pin-up pageant contestant, and a picture of me the following weekend celebrating as Inkfest’s Totally Congenial Winner in front of some of the best the Mother Road Farmer’s Market has to offer. There are also pictures included of Andrew and I as Barbie and Ken models having a treat at Sipp Shoppe for the 50’s /pin-up atmosphere that were published in Miss Pin-up Magazine earlier this year. Just a few examples of just how much fun one could have. In those pictures, I am also displaying / modeling several of the products and companies I mentioned and support regularly in town as well as my Inkfest shirt (designed by local custom T-shirt company Kiwi’s Crafts), sash and sunglasses gifted by our local emcee, Laura Lee Cappuccio and her company that runs the town’s events, Bs and Birds, a tiara gifted by my friend / photographer and treat maker, Mickova who also gives henna tattoos and tarot readings, and custom bag I won as a prize, handmade by one of our fabulous local artisans and new friend, Stacey Walter. All of my pictures are of the beautiful Americana Mother Road vibes that Winslow has to offer. If you hang around here long enough, you can truly take it easy and get all your kicks here on route 66! I recommend at least a 2 week’s stay in Winslow to really take it all in.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My mom was the biggest and only supporter of my impossible dreams for most of my life until she passed a few years ago, and she deserves most of the credit for lighting the fire within me to be successful while also finding joy in my ambitions. I have to thank Juicy Body Goddess for giving me my first real shot in plus-sized fashion. My husband, Andrew has been my next biggest supporter and continues to be as I do all I can to support him back while mutually growing our business, Abbasi Bookkeeping, and further supporting each other. I really want to thank the Molly Roxx Universe of publications for paving the way for inclusion for all sizes and abilities and helping me grow my talent through their various print and digital publications while offering guidance and more awesome publicity. I would like to thank The Henna Guys for accepting me into their circle of models and products I love and use regularly. I’d like to thank Island Sun Club women’s sunglasses for allowing me to model for them. Most of the photos I have shared where I am wearing sunglasses are from their brand. I have recently befriended many strong people in a local pin-up pageant at Inkfest this past October that have fortified my sense of self, purpose, and reinforced that being kind can truly make a difference and deserves recognition and praise. I thank them so much, they know who they are! I would also like to thank people that told me everything I wanted was impossible, too hard, or I was too sensitive for. Those that doubted my every capability, told me I was unworthy and would never be good enough, too fat or ugly, or even went so far as to try and stand in my way. I proved them wrong and have countless pictures and witnesses to validate that I in fact am worthy, and have become successful. I made a difference in other people’s lives and made them feel beautiful and limitless in the process of proving that to myself. That is all I ever wanted. That is all the credit the haters deserve because they could have chosen to be supportive and a positive force in my life. I’m living proof that my abusers and dream crushers saw my potential and tried to hide it from me. I am here, rising above it and standing in places they told me I didn’t belong and tried to keep me from. The best part about it is, there is a trail behind me of beautiful people that want to do the impossible because I do it every day. I love that! All because I live with these principles in my heart and operate from that place. All because the ones that really loved me, fueled the flames of my potential and because those who were afraid of my potential gave me the drive to shut them down.

Website: https://verifiedmodel.co/heatherabbasi

Instagram: @heatherskyeabbasi

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherabbasi.mermaidmelodies

Other: heatherabbasi.model@gmail.com

Image Credits
Andrew Abbasi
Mickova Shada Sebron-Zuelke