Plus-size model, Veronica Pome’e, of Tongan descent from California, USA, is making her name as the first Polynesian model to appear in the famous Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, to be published next month.

In March Veronica made the top six finalists in a swimsuit model search competition run by the popular American sports magazine. She is the only plus-size model in the group.

The 29-year-old was brought up in California and is the oldest daughter of Tongan immigrant parents.

Veronica told Fox13, Salt Lake City [2], that she got into modelling when she was spotted while working as a community organizer.

“We used to organize events for young people to get involved and express themselves in the arts.”

“And I helped put together a fashion show to raise money to feed the homeless, and me and my team, we’re walking it, and there was a designer in the crowd and she came up to me afterwards and said I want you to walk for me during LA Fashion Week,” she said. “And one thing just led to another and here I am.”

Big moment

Veronica moved from Los Angeles to New York in 2017 and now lives and works there as a model but acknowledges that being photographed for Sports Illustrated is one of the biggest moments of her career.

“Sports Illustrated has definitely helped boost my career. And I am on the radar now where people are starting to become more familiar not just with me but our [Polynesian] culture which is very important to me. And it’s been a journey but there’s still a lot of work to do.”

Veronica also has other interests she is involved in. One of them is advocating against domestic violence having grown up in that environment.

She told The Salt Lake Tribuna [3]l she thought domestic violence was the norm.

“I thought it was normal. It doesn’t fully process until you get older. I overcame a lot of abuse.”

She learned while in college that relationship violence can continue in a cycle and recognized she was treating her five siblings the way her parents were treating each other. To address it, Veronica spoke to her family about communicating instead of getting physical, but she said that understands change takes time.

“Those things stay with you forever. There’s a real psychological impact. But we don’t have to do the same things that our parents did.”

Veronica also started a non-profit organization, “Teach and Be Taught”, to address the issue.

Charity work

Last weekend, she was a keynote speaker at the sixth annual National Pacific Island Violence Prevention Conference in West Valley City, Utah. There are nearly 40,000 residents that identify as Pacific Islander in Utah.

Besides her charity work, Veronica hopes that by being on Sports Illustrated, she will inspire other Polynesian women.

“With Sports Illustrated, this platform has allowed me to change the dynamics of the conversation about representation. This is going to open the doors for other Polynesian women. It’s going to make them dream bigger.”

The highly anticipated Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue will be in shops in May.