The Little Woman Who Could: How Ms. Juicy Became the Queen of Atlanta
Photos by Amy Lombard

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The Little Woman Who Could: How Ms. Juicy Became the Queen of Atlanta

Over lunch at Waffle House, the star of "Little Women: Atlanta" discusses President Obama, the importance of honesty, and why men love fucking little people.

On a back road in Atlanta, a female little person walks into oncoming traffic toward a car wash. She puts her hands out towards the oncoming traffic. "Stop!" she sings. "In the name of love, before you break my heart!" The vehicles obey, and she skips across the street, her hoop earrings bouncing up and down. Two handlers wearing floor-length dresses trail her. A man sitting in a lawn chair outside the car wash points at her. "I see you on TV!" he yells. She smiles.

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Her name is Ms. Juicy, and she is the breakout star of Lifetime's Little Women: Atlanta, a reality show about little people trying to make it in the Atlanta club scene. On the show, Juicy acts as a mother figure to the younger cast members. In the pilot episode, "Twerk Off," Juicy brags about knowing rappers and hosts a twerking contest. (Two best friends, Left Cheek and Right Cheek, win the competition.) Later in the season, she crashes the birthday party of her enemy, Minnie; another little woman, Monie, pours a drink on Juicy's head. Juicy then shouts her catchphrase: "I'm the queen of Atlanta, boo!"

"The reason I'm the queen of Atlanta is that I'm real," Juicy explains. "I'm queen of any city that I go to. You can try to duplicate me, but I can't be duplicated because I got my shit all together. I'm well put together: body, mind, and soul."

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Her realness has caused drama on the series. In a long plotline, she accuses Minnie of lying about dating the Atlanta rapper Pastor Troy. "When you're trying to make someone believe something, you can't be messy," Juicy says. Since the show ended, Minnie has alleged that the rapper has impregnated her. Troy has demanded a DNA test, and Juicy has continued to call Minnie a liar, accusing Minnie of using Troy in a failed attempt to increase her relevancy in Atlanta. "I understand that everyone wants to be in my position and be like me, but I didn't lie to get here," Juicy says. "You gonna taint your image because I'm gonna tell the truth." When I ask Juicy if she would consider Minnie a friend, she responds with a line straight out of Southern charm handbook: "We're cordial."

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She believes people have misinterpreted her as a drama queen because of the controversy."I think people misunderstand the fact that I'm gonna tell it like it is," Juicy says. "They think it's being messy, but no—it's just me telling the truth. I have zero tolerance for BS."

"Do you think people can't handle the truth?" I ask.

"A lot of people can't, and they should come to me. I'll be polite, but the truth will set you free."

In the late 1990s, Juicy's career took off thanks to a night out in Dallas. She was dancing with several of her friends at a club owner's birthday party. The birthday girl was a friend of Shelly Garrett, a.k.a. "the Godfather of Urban Theater." Garrett produces and writes traveling plays about black lives in contemporary America; Tyler Perry has long credited Garrett as one of his chief inspirations. Garrett spoke to Juicy at the club because—according to Juicy—the club owner had told him, "[Ms. Juicy] meets no stranger." Garrett asked Juicy if she had ever acted before, and she said she had performed in church. He then asked Juicy to perform the lead role in a touring revival of Beauty Shop, which MGM would later adapt as a film starring Queen Latifah. Juicy accepted the part.

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Audiences loved Juicy, so Garrett hired her to star in six more productions. "I was in the right place at the right time," Juicy says. The radio host Rickey Smiley attended one performance and asked Juicy's co-star to introduce him to her afterwards. "[Smiley's] infatuated with little people," Juicy says. It wasn't until two years later that the woman finally put Smiley in touch with Juicy. "She wanted to make sure my skin was thick," Juicy explains. She met him at the radio station soon after, and she has worked for him ever since as the cohost of the Rickey Smiley Morning Show.

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Roughly six years ago, the morning radio show moved to Atlanta. Although it was already nationally syndicated and airing in Atlanta on Hot 107.9, Smiley thought the crew needed to live in the city since it operates as the cultural center of the south. "When the morning show moved [to Atlanta], they already knew who we were because we was already on [Hot 107.9]," Juicy says. "Once we got here, they was able to put a face with the name."

When they first moved to Atlanta, Juicy and Smiley arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport late at night. As they walked through the terminal, Juicy says, they heard a woman scream, "JUICCCCCCCCY!" She remembers Smiley saying, "Girl, I can't take you nowhere with me." The woman continued yelling: "YOU KNOW YOU HEAR ME!" Juicy turned around: Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes was shouting at her. She had recognized Juicy from the time she appeared on the Rickey Smiley Morning Show.

Juicy has a distinctive appearance. She wears large dresses and keeps her hair burgundy. "All my favorite clothes [are] Juicy-fied," Juicy says. "It means fun, exciting, comfortable, but looking jazzy and cute all at the same time—not slouchy, but you want to be comfortable, still rock the house, make their heads turn when they walk through the door." She delivers Juicy-fied in a southern twang as memorable as Paris Hilton's baby voice.

"Once you meet me, you can't forget me," Juicy explains.

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In Atlanta, Juicy is a radio host by day and a socialite by night. Both roles help her businesses. On an average day, she says she wakes up before 5 AM, goes to the radio station, talks live for several hours, and then leaves the station to be interviewed, attend events, and promote her business ventures.

Men are sexually attracted to little women because we are small, and they always say good things come in small packages.

Every fall, she hosts Shorty's Run the Runway, an event for kids going back to school, in order to decrease Atlanta's drop-out rate. "I'm always out in the community doing things," Juicy says. The fashion show places experienced models and kids with zero modeling experience on stage together. All participants must attend school, and Juicy bans momager-types from the event. "Parents are not allowed to be backstage," Juicy says. "I need you to be cheering them on." She hopes the event will boost kids' self-esteem and encourage them to continue pursuing an education.

"Most people here in Atlanta want to be rappers or whatever," Juicy explains. "You don't even know how to count your money? You need math. You gotta be able to read. You need to read those contracts, everything: you gotta read what's going on at work, you gotta read the news, you got to be able to understand it. Education is so important!"

Juicy has brought current affairs onto morning radio. She has praised President Barack Obama and discussed Donald Trump, while also raising awareness for the water crisis in Flint, MI. When I ask her who she will vote for in the 2016 presidential election, she closes her eyes and snaps her fingers in the air. (Throughout our conversation, she snaps when she's thinking of an answer; she knows better than to give a journalist the wrong quote.) Juicy opens her eyes. "I love our president and our first lady," she says. "The election this year, I have no comment at all. I really don't."

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Juicy is business savvy. She knew several cast members of Little Women: LA, and one girl recommended Lifetime hire her for the Atlanta edition of the program. Over the past three years, the Little Women franchise has grown into a cult-like version of the Real Housewives. Although the series' ratings and cultural presence are tinier than Bravo's empire, the shows have been bringing drama that Andy Cohen wishes he could deliver. Juicy knew that appearing on the series could elevate her brand to a larger level, so she fought to get on it. "I sent them every information I had so they could find me: every picture I had, my bio, my resume—everything," Juicy says.

"I was born a star, baby," Juicy explains. "See: When you born a star, you don't have to make somebody a star. I'm ready. I think I was a star even before I got on TV. I think I'm just blessing the world now to see me and get to know a little more about me."

Photos by Amy Lombard

On a Saturday afternoon, Juicy sits in a red booth at the Waffle House below a hanging large white light bulb and sign that says, "AMERICA'S BEST CHICKEN." She wanted to eat at the Cheesecake Factory, but agreed Waffle House would look better for photos. Citing a diet, she orders an American Grand Slam (eggs, ham, and pancakes) as a photo prop and grilled chicken as a meal. "I'm trying to stay fit," Juicy says while petting her burgundy ponytail hanging over her shoulder

"[Men are sexually attracted to little women] because we are small, and they always say good things come in small packages," Juicy explains. "They're curious—that's number one. I think they feel we might be different: hanging out with us [might be different], and sex [might be different]."

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Juicy thinks younger little women can get lost partying and views clubbing as a means to build work relationships. "I hang for business," she says. "You can still have fun when you're going out for business, but you are networking versus just going out to twerk."

She says she has succeeded as a "networker" since her early childhood in a rural "country town" outside Dallas. She considers herself a Southern girl; she loves cooking soul food and enchiladas. Her parents raised her to love family. They were short (4'11 to be exact), but not little people. (Her sister, who is a year and ten months older, is of average height.) Juicy faced obstacles as a little person, but her parents taught her to turn a disability into lemonade. "I had good home training," Juicy says. She recalls her mother giving her pep talks: "Don't let nobody tell you [that] you can't do it," she said. "Let that be a stepping stone, not a tumbling block—even if you don't want to do it, do it anyway to prove them wrong."

As a teenager, Juicy studied journalism. She spent her summers working at the local newspaper, taking photos of athletes. "I didn't just want to work in the newspaper," Juicy says. "I took sports pictures because I wanted to be around all of the men." On the weekends, she attended a Baptist church with her mother, which she loved. She says she volunteered to teach the Bible to younger kids. Like any other kid, she also broke the rules, sometimes staying out too late, but she focused on school.

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Even as a young adult, Juicy's confidence shocked people. One day, someone told Juicy that she could never drive a bus, so she decided to become a local bus driver to piss the person off. Juicy studied for a year and a half, passed with a perfect score, and then worked as a bus driver.

After I pay for our meal at the Waffle House, Juicy thanks me for interviewing her. (Texans love their manners.) I stand up to leave, but Juicy stops me. "One more thing," she says. I drop back down to the booth and start digging in my tote bag. "Let me get my notebook first," I say. She tells me to stop, insisting I don't need to write down her quote.

"I have to write it down for legal reasons," I say. "I have to take notes."

"Oh, you're gonna remember," Juicy says.

I find my notebook and pen and then drop them on the table. Juicy looks me in the eye and smirks. "I'm the queen of Atlanta, boo."