by Maddy Figueroa-Jones

She may not be the face you immediately recognize but I'm pretty sure if you have a TV or have visited the modeling sites in NYC you have seen Macey. Known for her classic girl next door look, in this special Valentines Day Issue of PLUS we turned our Southern Belle, Macey into a Certified Vixen.

[Maddy] How long have you been a model? How did you get started?

[Macey] I used to model for dance catalogs when I was little so I've been in the industry for a while.

[Maddy] I have seen you in the Playtex commercials. How fun was the commercial to make? Can you tell us a little about the experience and how you prepared yourself as a model for a commercial?

[Macey] Oh the Playtex commercial was such an amazing experience! Everyone involved was so easygoing and fun to be around. The atmosphere was laid back and everyone just wanted to create a positive commercial that relates to every woman while still having a great time. It turned out to be a bigger success than we imagined so we were able to shoot another one because of the response we received. It was so nice to see all kinds of women and even men that loved the message of the commercial. It was about making women feel comfortable no matter what size you are and I believe we did exactly what we set out to do.

The preparation of the commercial was a little challenging but I truly enjoyed it. I'm an actress as well so being in front of the camera and acting is what I love. One of my degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was in dramatic arts. So having lines to remember and acting in front of the camera is a lot of fun for me. I was so lucky to have an amazing director that allowed us to improvise. I love to improvise! Sometimes some of the most unbelievable commercials are the result of improvisation. So we were given lines and when we were on set the director told us we could play with the wording and so creativity was very high that day! I love sets like that. It just makes people feel at ease and believe me all of our stomach muscles were hurting that day because some of the lines we came up with were hilarious! Playtex is so wonderful and I truly enjoyed every second of that special day.

[Maddy] Have you done any other commercials?

[Macey] I have been so lucky to have done other commercials other than the two Playtex ones. I have done commercials for Honda, Acura, and Daisy May's BBQ. It's so nice to have clients that hire people of all body types to represent them. People like to see all types of body types on TV because people relate to those that look like themselves. I think that is why the Playtex commercials were such a success. There was a woman in the commercial for every person watching those commercials to relate to. And that's good advertising. Plus they were so funny!! How could you not love them?

[Maddy] Tell me about working for Lane Bryant online... I know you mentioned to me that shooting for them was a really nice experience... can you tell us about this?

[Macey] Lane Bryant was also an incredible experience. Everyone involved was so warm-hearted and accepting of me. We all were there to make a great shoot and also have some fun. Lane Bryant is such a great store and concept. With the average American woman being a size 12-14 it is so nice to know that stores are realizing that all women love to look their best no matter what the tag on our clothes says. That number is just a number anyways. It is all about how you feel on the inside and it took me a little while to realize that but now I'm happy to be where I am today.  Lane Bryant makes all women feel like they can look their best and I love that about them. The shoot was for the web and I was able to model everything from suits to lingerie. It is always fun to have such a variety of clothing to model. Modeling dresses and suits are a lot different than modeling a swimsuit or lingerie so it is always fun to be versatile.

[Maddy] What type of advice do you have for aspiring models looking to take their careers to the next level?