Sophia Carter-Kahn and April Quioh on Building She's All Fat

(Photo above article) April K. Quioh (left) and Sophia Carter-Kahn (right), creators of podcast She’s All Fat

Photo by Vanessa Acosta: www.fromabolivianphoto.com

The creators of She’s All Fat, a podcast about body positivity and radical self-love, met online, on a now-defunct app called the List App. Sophia Carter-Kahn and April K. Quioh found themselves having a number of conversations about size and self-love, and eventually decided to create a podcast about it. 

And so, She’s All Fat was born. The podcast, which just launched its third season, is a mix of serious and fun discussions on fatness, pop culture, intersectionality and anything April and Sophia are feeling passionate about. The two chatted with She Spends about the launch of their latest season, how money and size intersect and their advice for starting a side hustle of your own.

(Editor’s note: this interview has been edited and condensed for clarity)

What will be different about your third season? 
S: We want to expand to experiences that we don’t have. We’re interviewing people who are fat and nonbinary, fat and parents, fat and do a lot of exercise. That on top of the stuff we already do on top of media criticism and fun episodes about whatever. 

When it comes to money and finances, how does that intersect with fatness? 
S: For clothing, which is the easiest place to look, it’s a top down problem. Designers make clothes only for straight sizes. As we’ve been looking to make merch, it’s hard to find clothing beyond size 3X. It’s because of discrimination, not because there isn’t a demand. 

A: As far as more day-to-day financial aspects of being fat, something we talk about a lot, if you need to go to an event, you are shit out of luck, you can’t walk into a store and find something specific. You have to shop for a bunch of things. Clothing sizes aren’t consistent. I have to order several dresses, determine what fits, send them all back, get money back.

It’s just another level of planning. You cannot live a spontaneous lifestyle if you live in a fat body. 

What are some ways straight size folks can support fat friends, partners and family members in a financial sense? 
S: I would say that in terms of clothing, straight-size people can shop at plus size stores. I have never seen a straight size person shopping at Torrid. They start at size 8. Research if the places you shop at and see if they carry plus sizes. Some only go up to size 20. Reach out via social media or email, and ask them to expand plus size clothing size. 

A: In group outings our activities, think of your fat friends. Being thoughtful about accessibility when going out to dinner or to theme parks is important. 

When it comes to brands and the body positive movement, what does true inclusivity look like?
S: It’s very rare for a brand to go to 6-7x. That is the highest I see. That’s pretty inclusive. I see that at Walmart and Premme. Mostly, it’s just that brands will go to size 20. They say all bodies and it’s not all bodies. 

A: It is more expensive to offer more sizes, so I get it. But those that don’t offer all sizes don’t get to say all bodies are welcome. They should say this is our sizerange. 

S: Aerie is an example of celebrating all bodies but only going up to a size 20. It gets messy - how do capitalism and activism intersect? It’s not so much that I’m like, don’t talk about it, but talk about it right. 

A: if you’re doing the work of accessibility, you should talk about body positivity and inclusive sizing. We have 300 emails about how no one can buy any pants. There’s a huge market right there.

What’s next for you two? 
A: We want She’s All Fat to continue growing. We’ve grown quickly. In just a year we’ve had such a passionate audience who has really stuck with us.

What do you think has helped She’s All Fat to be so successful? 
S: We have been very respectful and believed in each other, we’ve given each other the space to make a decision and we talk about when things go wrong. We usually do know what's best for us. There are podcasts that I listen to where they talk about behind the scenes drama. 

I’m so lucky that I trust April so much and I think she’s the smartest and funniest person, so when I feel insecure or worried about my own decisions or business acumen, I know we’ll figure it out together. I have heard of many businesses that fall apart because they fight. I didn’t even think we talked about it, but just in retrospect, we really like give each other last say on a big decision. 

A: If you want to do a side hustle with someone else, make sure you respect and trust them, both creatively and professionally. This is literally so much work, I would never do it by myself and I would never do it with anyone else. This is what makes it success. Don’t be afraid to work with someone who is different from you.