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Shettima Webb opened Model Esteem at 7451 Madison St., sharing space with CBD Body High. Webb offers a variety of services to the beauty industry, including advertising and marketing, pop-up shops, and modeling consultations and classes.

But what drives Webb is her desire to promote diversity and self-esteem, and to help other businesses in the industry if she can.

“I’m very passionate about diversity,” Webb said. “I plan to use the space to host discussions on race. And I want to bring people together to talk about our youth and women, especially women loving themselves. Women face so many pressures to be a certain way or look a certain way. I want to showcase all types of beauty.”

Her desire for the Madison Street location is for it to be a “community space,” where events can be held, including cultural and musical events featuring poetry, music and other talent.

Webb will be holding classes for aspiring and professional models, including photoshoots, consultations, and classes like makeup and skincare, and runway and posing. There are no limits on who can model, Webb said, and her classes and events are open to people of all shapes and sizes.

Advertising services offered by Webb include blogs and social media, and her focus is primarily on businesses that don’t have a brick and mortar presence. As with her pop-ups, where vendors can sell products, the focus is on entrepreneurs who are doing business online only.

Webb knows how hard it is to run a business without a physical space; prior to joining the CBD crew on Madison Street, she shared a co-op space in the city, but there were always limits on what she could do and how often she could use the space. Now that those restrictions aren’t holding her back, she intends to grow her own business while helping others succeed as well.

Webb is from the Proviso area, where she attended Proviso West High School. She resides in Hillside. Because of that, she said it was important to her that her business be located somewhere in the western suburbs.

This past weekend, Webb hosted a grand opening celebration, featuring beauty-related vendors. It was a festive event accompanied by perfect weather, and Webb is doing the same next weekend. Stop by Model Esteem, 7451 Madison St., on Sat., Sept. 26, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. or 5 to 9 p.m. The event will also be held on Sunday, Sept. 27, from 1 to 5 p.m.