A Williams Lake resident could soon be on the cover of a world-famous tattoo magazine.
Kimberley Paige is currently in first place in the international category for a voter-driven contest to be named Inked Magazine’s cover girl, which comes with a cash prize of $25,000.
She says she didn’t think much of the contest that a friend sent her via Facebook at first, until one day, she thought what’s the harm in trying.
“At the time, I was going through a bit of a rough go and then I saw this link and kind of laughed it off like oh thanks, but I’m not going to try that,” she said.
“And then one day I was just kind of sitting there and thought you know what I’m going to try.”
After submitting some photos, Paige says it was a couple days later that she got a text message from an odd number that turned out to be Inked Magazine.
“I’m feeling a little nervous not going to lie, but I’m definitely really excited,” she said.
“I was bullied really badly growing up and it’s something I never thought would be possible, and I always looked at these girls and thought that they were so gorgeous and amazing.”
“To be competing against them is so crazy and such a surreal feeling. It’s life-changing for sure.”
As for how many tattoos she has, Paige says that’s hard to say as they’re all kind of linked together, noting she already has a couple more in mind she would like to get.
“I have a female warrior on my arm, some leopard spots on my shoulder, and then I have a huge chest piece which is a crown and three roses for some family members that had passed away,” she explained.
“And then, I have a butterfly on my neck which probably means the most to me and it was inspired by a quote that I had saw ‘perhaps the butterfly is living proof that you can go through a great deal of darkness and find something beautiful so that really spoke to me and I wanted to put it somewhere that would remind me of it every day.”
There are seven different rounds in the contest, with the first ending on Tuesday, October 2nd.
“My mom is my number one supporter for sure. I love her to death and she’s so amazing,” Paige added.
“It’s been such a heartwarming experience. The amount of people in Williams Lake for sure, but also all over B.C who are supporting me and sharing my stuff, the link to vote, and just reaching out to me and messaging me and sending me positive thoughts and wishes. It’s just so neat and so cool.”
– with files from Rebecca Kelli, My Cariboo Now