Woman Who Was Bullied Relentlessly for Her Looks Now Makes £25k a Month from Modelling
A woman who now makes £25,000 a month has opened up about her teenage bullying hell — and how classmates threatened to beat her up because of her looks.
Angelina Valdez, 32, originally from Queens, New York regularly shares images of her gym-built body to her 331,000 followers on Instagram (@its_angebaby) — but she wasn’t always this confident.
Throughout her high school years, the model was abused on a daily basis as people mercilessly attacked her for her appearance.
“I was bullied for a very long time — I’d get in physical fights every day,” Angelina, who now lives in Murrieta, California, told Jam Press.
“As a teenager, I would wear crop tops and shorts, and I would get picked on by the other girls.
“I was jumped by five girls who were way bigger than me — to later find out that their intentions were to poke me in the eye with a paper clip.
“They’d say: ‘Hey, green eyes you think you’re so cute’.
“One time they even told me I had to break up with a boy I was seeing because they liked him and I shouldn’t be with him.”
The situation got so severe that Angelina felt forced to carry a weapon to school, in case she was jumped — and also cut class regularly to avoid her bullies.
She said: “I had to leave school early every day to avoid the bullying.
“But eventually I got fed up with running so I carried a heavy padlock as a weapon — this stopped the girls from attacking me, but when the school found out I was expelled and sent to a different school.
“When I was caught I denied carrying the weapon — the school thought I was crazy.
“But my parents agreed with me taking matters into my own hands, since the school wasn’t gonna do anything to protect me.
“The bullying stopped when I was sent to the new school — it was nice there and the kids were completely different.
“I haven’t spoken to any of the bullies since being expelled, but I guess if they found me online they would see how successful my looks have made me.”
Angelina has since had time to reflect on her unhappy time as a teenager and come to the conclusion that the girls who picked on her were simply jealous.
She said: “I pretty much got bullied for standing out.
“I had exotic features — small bright green eyes with olive skin, big lips and brown curly hair — maybe I was just the envy of other girls.
“I see that now, as an adult, but when I was young I didn’t understand.
“I guess going through the experience has made me learn to not give a s*** about anybody else’s opinion.”
Liberated from her haters, Angelina has gone on to a successful career showing off her hourglass figure to adoring fans on the internet — earning tens-of-thousands a month.
She said: “It’s pretty cool that nowadays I just get paid to look really nice, and walk around in lingerie.
“That’s £6,000 a week or so, just to be me.”
Angelina, says her work has helped her build her confidence back up.
She said: “I do feel very confident In everything that I do, and I feel comfortable in my own skin.
“I’ve been looked down upon, been gossiped about — and I probably still am — which is perfectly fine by me at this point.
“It all comes down to how you feel in your skin — if you’re happy in yourself, then you can do anything.”
Angelina also makes a point of using her self-confidence to try and help others.
She added: “If I meet a girl who has any type of insecurities, I try to promote positivity.
“I’m actually proud that I can not only share my motivation but encourage other girls to not care what other people think.
‘That’s what I really try to do.”
Angelina made the career jump to modelling after she realised her potential.
“I used to work as a nurses aide, and I used to work a lot of overtime and it’s crazy how much more money I’m making now.
“It comes with a lot of backlash though.’
Angelina herself doesn’t plan to stay in the game too long.
“Even though it’s much easier than a regular nine-to-five, I’m not planning on a long modelling career.
“If you have any type of brains, take as much money as you can from it, then go build your dreams with it.”