From everyday girl to perfume spokesperson: Introducing Jessica Kruger, Lise Watier Something Sweet ambassador

Something Sweet Jessica Kruger
Photography by Shayne Laverdière
Something Sweet Jessica Kruger
Photography by Shayne Laverdière

Lise Watier has some exciting news to share. Not only does the Montreal-based cosmetics company have a delicious new scent on the market, they’ve gone against the model-as-spokesperson trend and chosen a young Canadian woman as its ambassador. A nationwide contest was launched to find the new ambassador for the scent, appropriately titled Something Sweet. After rounds of online voting and in-person judging, the position was claimed by Jessica Kruger of Coquitlam, B.C. She dazzles in the Something Sweet ad campaign, which is set to launch this fall in magazines, Shoppers Drug Mart stores and online.

“I’m a big fan of playing with makeup, I love to be a girlie girl” Kruger says, describing the campaign as a “good fit.” A fourth-year student at Simon Fraser University, Kruger plays rugby and volunteers for various charitable causes. Oh, and did we mention she is the very first person with quadriplegia to act as a beauty ambassador for a cosmetic brand?

We caught up with Jessica Kruger, who we’ll certainly be seeing a lot of soon, to talk about how she landed this pretty sweet gig and what it’s like becoming the face of a national campaign:

What inspired you to apply for the ambassador position?
A friend had suggested it to me, and I thought it looked kind of fun. It was after I had entered it that I realized that the community [where I live] was really interested in what was going on and the media was paying a lot of attention to it. It became an opportunity to make a difference and spread the word and that’s when it really got exciting for me.

What made you feel connected to the spirit of the Something Sweet fragrance?
Every single advertisement that I saw for it and the smell and everything, is totally me. […] The colours [in the advertising] are colours that I love to wear everyday. That fun flirty side of it is totally how I try to dress and how I try to portray myself. It just seemed like such a perfect match, that’s why my friend suggested it in the beginning.

How did it feel when you found out you won?
I was so in shock. I definitely wasn’t expecting to win; I was just excited to be there and to get the opportunity to do the photo-shoot and all of that. […] It still hasn’t really completely sunk in but slowly I’m getting more and more use to it.

How does it feel to see your face in a national campaign?
It’s a little strange; I’m definitely not use to seeing my face everywhere and getting recognized by people. [When it launches] it’s going to be so surreal, I don’t even know if I’ll be able to look at it, it will be too weird. But so far it’s been a fun journey so I’m excited to see where it takes me.

What does it mean for you to be the first person with quadriplegia to act as a beauty ambassador for Lise Watier?
I mean it’s not something that I’m taking lightly, I realize that this is an opportunity that I’ve been so blessed to have been given and I definitely want to make the most of it. […] If I can talk to a bunch of different media sources and spread the word about what I’m doing I will because that means that other people who are in the same situation as me will see that just because you’re in a wheelchair or you have a disability it doesn’t mean that you can’t be seen as beautiful or that you can’t be seen in the fashion and modeling sphere.

What are your upcoming plans as ambassador of the brand?
I mean the hard part is over. The photo shoot was a big part, now it’s just sort of handling the media and speaking on behalf of Lise Watier. […] I got to place my order for all of my Lise Watier products, which was part of the prize. [That was] a lot of fun, so I’m excited for that to arrive. It’s going to be one day at a time and I’ll see where it takes me.

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