Harmful beauty standards and appearance-based discrimination take a heavy toll on society. Millions face daily prejudices based on their weight, skin tone, and natural hair. In 2019, the financial impact of these rigid standards cost Americans over $300 billion. The fashion and entertainment industries must move past basic inclusion and build genuine representation that reflects the real world.
To address this systemic problem, NA Management Inc and We Are Royals Inc launched the True Faces Global Diversity Campaign. We sat down with Nini Amerlise, an award-winning Canadian supermodel and the CEO of NA Management Inc. In this interview, we discuss how her faith-based creative agency challenges industry norms and how the True Faces campaign is changing the narrative for diverse creatives.
Q: The statistics around appearance-based discrimination are staggering. What specific gaps in media representation inspired you to launch the True Faces Global Diversity Campaign?
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Nini Amerlise: The gap was that I never saw people who looked like me. I have gap teeth, a broader nose, a rich chocolate complexion, and a very prominent jaw. I would look around and see beautiful people on the road and in my own family, but not on TV. I didn't see the albino woman. I didn't see the fair girl with coarser ginger hair. I didn't see the curvy Latina, or the petite Asian woman with a fuller figure. I didn't see men with dreads and deep mahogany skin on a consistent basis, or South Asian men with deeper complexions. Everything leaned toward fair skin, blonde hair, blue eyes, and a narrow nose. Those Western standards were never enough for the rest of us to see the beauty in ourselves.
Weight, skin tone, natural hair, age. Those were the things people were told to fix before they were ever told they were good enough. I've worked as a model, a host, and a stylist, so I've watched how quickly a room decides who belongs. That bias carries a price tag of over $300 billion, but the real cost is what it does to a person's self worth.
When you start seeing all of us in the media, the narrative shifts. It supports mental health and gives young people and young adults the freedom to chase their goals without feeling rejected before they even start. True Faces is our answer: stop asking people to change and start changing the room, so every person can embrace the identity God gave them.
Q: You collaborated with platforms like Vogue Italia and African Fashion Week Toronto. How do these partnerships help establish new norms in regions where diverse representation is less common?
Nini Amerlise:These platforms carry weight because people already know them and trust them. When they highlight diversity on a grand scale, viewers automatically begin to respect it. Viewers begin to desire it. Viewers begin to want to emulate what they're seeing. The more it shows up in mass media, on platforms we already recognize, the easier it is for people to accept the shift and embrace the authenticity of God's design and how He made us.
Big platforms give permission. When a name like Vogue Italia puts diverse faces forward, it tells the industry this is standard, not a special feature. I spent 5 years as Talent and Media Coordinator at African Fashion Week Toronto, so I know what it takes to build a runway where everyone is seen. The goal is to make it normal, so no one has to be the exception.
We need this because we live in a world governed by AI, by opinions, and by comments from people behind screens we never meet. We need representation everywhere. True, authentic role models are what will shift the narrative for our self esteem every single day.
Q: The True Faces campaign features creatives who break conventional standards, from a mature Chinese-Canadian actress to a Latina curve model. Why is it important to highlight these specific narratives right now?
Nini Amerlise: It's super important because in the digital age we live in, we're bombarded by propaganda. Propaganda tells us what we should look like, how we should navigate, how we should speak, and how we should carry ourselves. When we have authenticity that isn't fully commercialized, where someone can be present with their freckles, their albinism, or their curves without too much cosmetic veil, we can see ourselves in the people being displayed. We can be comfortable in our uniqueness, in how we speak and how we carry ourselves. All of that adds up to how fully we can express ourselves, and that inspires the generation ahead, because young people need true and authentic role models.
When everything looks the same, when everybody is doing surgery, when everyone wants a nose job because theirs doesn't look like somebody else's, that's when we begin to miss it. But the more people embrace authenticity, the more others will want to hop on the same expression and keep that flow.
Age and size are two of the last places where this industry still says no. Audiences are done with tokenism. They can tell when representation is a trend and when it's real. A mature Chinese Canadian actress and a Latina curve model are proof that talent doesn't expire and doesn't come in one size. Right now people are ready to see it, and brands are finally listening. So it's important for us to stand up and be representatives who inspire change, regardless of the opposition that tries to rise.
Q: We Are Royals Inc focuses on nurturing youth self-esteem through expressive arts. How does this mission complement the broader goals of NA Management in the fashion industry?
Nini Amerlise: The industry runs on a lot of worldly standards, standards set by industry leaders that aren't always healthy or supportive, and we've seen how that impacts mental health, self esteem, and how someone values their own beauty. We Are Royals creates an environment where young people can thrive without feeling judged. Our program speaks to confidence and to identity in Christ, and it shifts the narrative to this: we are all made uniquely and with distinction, and we're complementary to one another. The goal isn't to look like a cookie cutter of someone else. It's to use our uniqueness to build something healthy for our minds, our bodies, and our spiritual development.
Identity restoration happens through education, storytelling, and the arts. The education comes through our workshops. The storytelling is where they get to share their own testimony. And the arts is where they engage across multiple disciplines to find their passions and their pursuits.
We call them Royals because they reflect the Creator. Once that's understood, they can push past whatever beauty standards industry leaders set and keep carving their own path. Everyone has a unique journey, but it sheds light on one another as members of one body, brothers and sisters in the Kingdom of God.
NA Management is the engine. We Are Royals restores identity. NA Management opens the door, booking opportunities and partnering with international agencies to get them working. We develop their book, we refine their craft and their art, so it's received well by prospecting clientele. Once a young royal knows their worth, they can go into the marketplace and walk into bookings without feeling rejected. They can go through hundreds of casting calls without feeling defeated, and if discouragement does come, they're reminded that their worth is found in the Creator, in Christ.
Q: As a faith-based creative agency, NA Management emphasizes wholesome values and integrity. How does this core philosophy shape the way you scout and develop talent?
Nini Amerlise: We don't scout based on physical attributes alone. We evaluate character too, how someone navigates growth, how they communicate, how they carry themselves. Communication is huge. Even social media presence matters, but not the numbers. We look at how they engage with their audience, what their story is, what their why is. We're not looking for talent who leads with "I have ninety thousand followers, people love me." The pride of life can be so distracting. We want people with a story and a mission to make an impact, and if they're not there yet, we want to help nurture that heart posture, because the goal is to serve and to give back.
We've seen it happen many times. A model will say they're ready, they know they have what it takes, and then a month down the road it's "I just want to be seen" or "pay for my gas money" or "do this for me." They haven't yet seen the value of investing in themselves first. It takes a lot to develop a book, and it takes a lot for someone to feel confident in who they are. Without humility in that process, a model or talent becomes very difficult to work with. We'll ask a model what their relationship is with the Lord, and it's one thing to say they're a believer, it's different when they actually have a relationship. That relationship is what allows growth. And the opening for that growth is a willingness to learn. That's what we're always looking for, openness and willingness, not someone obsessed with self, but someone looking to serve and to make an impact.
But when someone does bring that willingness, this is what it looks like on the other side. We had a talent who was very insecure, very shy, and introverted, wanting to book bridal and commercial work but only landing three or four jobs the entire year she signed with us. We developed her, booked her, and by the time her season with NA had passed, she went on to international work and pageantry, and the confidence was night and day. That's what it looks like when we get to be the first for someone, a stepping stone they carry into wherever they go next, whether they stay with NA or not.
That's integrity to us. Not perfection going in, but humility and a willingness to grow once they're in the room. If someone brings that, we'll invest everything we have into them, because character is what makes a career last.
Q: Looking ahead, how do you see the True Faces initiative changing the long-term hiring practices and casting decisions within the global entertainment sector?
Nini Amerlise: Before True Faces was ever an official campaign, I did a shoot with two of our models, one who had albinism and one who was a darker skinned Jamaican model. When I put them side by side, I saw the beauty in their uniqueness and their differences, but I also saw how complementary they were to each other. That's when it hit me how necessary it is to have that range of uniqueness in the room. We need each other. We complement each other, not just in words, but visually, mentally, and as one body. It's like Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12, the body has many parts, and every part is necessary. The eye can't say to the hand, I don't need you. When one part is honored, the whole body shares in that honor. That's what it looks like when we see a real representation of ourselves, the full variety of what God has created, working together instead of standing alone.
Since then, the campaign has moved through three editorial volumes: "Canvas" in 2023, "Roots" in 2024, and "Refined" in 2025. Each one carries its own credits. For 2026, anything ongoing will be accompanied by a docu style video capture, to delve deeper into each Royal's journey, who they are, why they joined, and how they want to make an impact.
On November 20th, 2026, we're opening the call to global Kingdom creatives worldwide to submit and participate. We're building a space where modesty, artistry, and story carry the weight, no compromise required to be accepted.
Selected work from the campaign will be featured in our Kingdom Creatives Magazine, launching between Q1 and Q2 of 2027. Creatives can submit to the digital version free of cost, with no guaranteed placement, it still goes through editorial review against each quarter's theme. For those interested in advertising, we offer two, four, and six page placements, with the digital edition running four times a year and a print version once a year around the Christmas holidays. Covers for the digital editions are available for purchase, but the print cover isn't, that's selected by our team. Paid placement inside the magazine is available as well.
It isn't limited to photography either. We welcome video storytelling, poetry, mixed media, paintings, and music samples, any art form that tells a true story. Selected work gets featured on our website, shared across our socials, and folded into our marketing. From there, the strongest pieces, up to ten, get showcased at our annual fashion week, which brings even more visibility to creatives and brands who want a space without nudity, without compromise, where you don't have to cake on makeup to be accepted. You can be unique and still be received.
The more we build this out, the more communities get pulled in, and that creates a domino effect. Other platforms and leaders in the industry will start to follow the same flow, because the narrative becomes too loud to ignore. Eventually, the gatekeepers holding onto the old system will have to move with the wave instead of against it, because the shift I saw between those two models that day is the same shift the whole industry needs to see.
The fashion and entertainment sectors can no longer ignore the demand for authentic diversity. By moving the spotlight onto creatives who challenge traditional age, size, and ethnic norms, initiatives like the True Faces campaign dismantle outdated stereotypes. Real change requires giving these unique voices a permanent platform, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes.
Building an inclusive media landscape is an ongoing process that demands clear vision and firm values. As audiences continue to reject toxic beauty standards, the demand for genuine representation will only grow. Through its commitment to integrity and self-discovery, NA Management Inc offers a practical framework to lead this necessary evolution.
To learn more, visit namanagement.co.
