Get to know Taylor Sharpe and learn all about her incredible journey!
Image Credit: Nick D’Orazio: @NickDorazio
Most notably known as a 2021 Sports Illustrated Swim Search Finalist, Taylor Sharpe is an emerging model advocating for Women Empowerment. She is also currently working on designing a luxury street-wear clothing line that will be released later this year, and is talking to HOLR about her journey to date!
In addition to the projects she’s working on, Taylor hopes that by sharing her story of becoming a mother at a young age- as well as her journey to success- she will encourage mothers of all ages to continue chasing their dreams. She’s also a triple threat, as she is getting into the acting business as well!
Check out our conversation with Taylor below!
Image Credit: Tuan Pham: @Tuan.Pham_
At only 23 years old, you have had an incredible career to date, in which you are widely recognized for being featured as a Sports Illustrated Swim Search Finalist Model in 2021. Tell us about how your experiences have shaped your journey and where you plan to go from here.
At 17 I started my career modeling, and I feel like I’ve done so much and I’m so grateful for everything I’ve been able to do. This year, after Sports Illustrated, was a huge year for me to just kind of take a step back and figure out what I want to do and what other things I want to pursue. I really want to do more!
I started getting into acting a bit and I’m doing that now. So I’m just learning and figuring it out, taking it slow. I’m also a mom- I have a 4-year-old. I’ve just been taking time to be a mom and figure out all that.
Image Credit: Nick D’Orazio: @NickDorazio
You are a model turned fashion designer! Talk to us about your luxury street-wear clothing line you’re designing that will be released later this year.
I’ve had this idea for a while and I’ve been taking everything super slow just because I want to make sure that everything is exactly how I want it. I’ve been talking to people and getting advice, just narrowing down what I want to do. Every week something changes!
This is new for me because it’s so different from modeling, so I’m just trying to figure out what’s best. I can say that it’s very comfortable!
As a mom, can you share the importance of advocating for women’s empowerment, in which you hope to inspire others with your openness and positive perspective on life?
Being a mom at 20 years old was not in the game plan for me. I originally wanted to model and only focus on my career and traveling. When I found out I was pregnant I was shocked and honestly devastated because I thought everything was over for me.
Having him and looking back now at 23, I see why everything had to happen and the benefits of that happening to me as a person. I love being a mom- I would have more kids if I could! After I was open about it on social media, I had so many other young moms come to me in my DMs. It was so surprising for me. It was like this 16-year-old girl from Texas and this 20-year-old girl from New Jersey, and I was like, “These people are seeing my posts and it’s inspiring them? That’s crazy!” It was so fulfilling for me, more so than just posting a bikini picture on Instagram. I was like how can I share my story in a way where other girls are really inspired and think, “I can do this too.” That’s because I wasn’t the girl that thought I could do this- I was really upset and felt like I couldn’t.
However, once you’re ahead of everything you can see how far you’ve come, but when you’re there it feels like your world is crumbling and you think to yourself, “What am I going I do?” One thing I know for sure my whole life is that I want to let other women know it’s going to be okay- mom or not. I had so many eye-opening moments after that and now I try my best to go with the flow. When one door shuts, I trust another one will open better for me.
Image Credit: Alex Evans: @AlexEvansPhotography
You are also in the midst of pursuing your love of acting, where you have some exciting projects coming up! Can you give our audience a hint as to what they can expect to see from you in the future?
Right now I’m learning all about acting and getting into it. Growing up I had so much going on that I think I have a lot of emotion to pull from. I started doing commercials a bit modeling and I realized I like being on film camera. Now, I’m taking this year to figure out clothing, acting, what Taylor loves, and what I want to do!
I have a couple of things I can’t talk about (yet!) I’m really excited about everything and the future!
Published by HOLR Magazine.