QUEENSLAND’S Cosmo Curve Model Search finalist Loren Burton says the modelling industry has come a long way since she started out at age 14, pegged as “the token black girl” struggling to get work.

The 29-year-old mum-of-three was this weekend crowned the Sunshine State’s hope in the magazine’s national search for a body positive model, leaving her in “total shock”.

“I can’t believe this is happening - I can’t believe we even have a curvy competition,” Burton told Confidential.

“I’m being recognised and validated and shown you can embrace your body as a mum and you can look different to the stock standard way, it’s an amazing feeling and is mind-blowing to me.”

Burton, who scored a five-year contract with an agency after winning a competition as a teenager, said that being older and wiser had made her realise her experience with the industry when she was younger “wasn’t the best”.

She said diversity - including in the form of curves - wasn’t yet a focus at the time, and the door to her dream modelling career was shut when her contract ended.

But the loss of her 33-year-old brother Vaughan to thyroid cancer in 2016 led her to revisit her dream of finding a platform to inspire girls and women through her own journey.

“I think my journey to self-love and self-care has been out of necessity,” she said.

“It wasn’t just a trend but it was what was getting me through this process (of grieving).”

Burton, who studied psychology and has a Masters degree in human rights, worked in community services with foster children and their carers until her brother died and the emotional strange prompted her to take a break.

The now stay-at-home mum to sons Elijah, 3, Amari, 5, and Miles, 7, started a body-positive Instagram account that has built a following of almost 10,000.

“Losing him (Vaughan) changed my life - life is so short,” she said.

“I decided to put myself out there. I’m a shy person but I felt like there were so many lives out there that could be touched by what I’m going through so I wanted to try and be brave.

“We’ve all lost someone, we’ve all experienced grief or sadness or mental health issues.”

Burton, who was encouraged to enter the Cosmpolitan and Taking Shape initiative by one loyal Instagram follower, said she was nervous to audition in public at the Myer store in Brisbane’s CBD but husband Jerald gave her the “big push” she needed.

“They (my sons) are watching everything I do so I try to be a good example,” she said.

“I know it’s just as important for them to learn how to love and take care of themselves because that’s not something I was taught.”

The winner of the Cosmo Curve Model Search will go on to receive a three-year contract with Sydney-based Bella Management and star in a Cosmopolitan fashion shoot.