£MJAY🎀🇮🇹

Stunning! Olandria Carthen graces the cover of BYRDIE.

Olandria Carthen praises her fan base on their support through her carrer: “Outside of my friends and family, I had never experienced a love like that in my entire life. It’s such an intense love, and I know it comes from a genuine place because so many of these women see themselves in me and in my story. That made me want to take my platform even more seriously. The Ola Dolls range from 6 years old to 60-plus, and knowing people of so many different ages look up to me makes me want to be intentional about what I put into the world. Their support has also gotten me through some really tough moments. As a dark-skinned Black woman stepping into this space, I didn’t expect people to come to my defense because I’ve watched so many Black women in the media get tossed to the side or spoken about negatively without anyone protecting them. I came off the show to a lot of hate, and I didn’t expect anyone to stand up for me. Realizing I had this amazing support system behind me meant everything.”