She emerged as a rose amidst the thorns of controversy.
Banks beer held on strong with Faith, choosing the beautiful Callender as the one to grace its 2014 calendar.
Overworked (and admittedly corny) puns aside, the 20-year-old brought a refreshing twist to the contest.
A quick check on the brewery’s wall of past calendar girls revealed the accounts and finance major at the University of the West Indies was the first winner with dreadlocks. Faith Callender’s intelligence and silky smooth vocals also made her stand out.
This brew will be the one to bank on, as the talented beauty has determined to “do what she can” to raise the profile of the competition – and its competitors.
The importance of branding is something she knows well.
Faith is also the proud co-owner of tee-shirt line, Teddy the Brand which celebrated its one-year anniversary on December 12. In front of the microphone, the budding rose goes by another name, Fate, and has performed at several venues across the island.
She will also bring her own brand of sweetness to Honey Jazz, slated for January 19 at Frank Collymore Hall, as well as during Crop-Over.
“I am going to do everything in my power to push Banks beer and I can combine it with my music,” she said enthusiastically.
Interestingly enough, Faith did not live up to her name when it came to forecasting her chances in the calendar girl competition.
“ . . . There were other contenders that I thought would give me licks, so to speak, but I guess it came down to the night.
“I was feeling a little shaky, . . . I still had the confidence but when you join a competition, you still have doubts, but it all came out well.”
With a winning personality to match the recent victory, this versatile young woman believed the fact that she was able to strut away with the grand prize in a conservative ensemble sent a message that flaunting it all in next to nothing was not the only way to be “sexy”.
A few contestants sent ripples of shockwaves throughout the bumper crowd which gathered at Oistins Bay Garden with costumes that tested every law of gravity.
“You can still be covered and show your beauty,” she asserted during an EASY interview on a breezy Friday morning at Banks Breweries’ Newton, Christ Church headquarters.
“It does not have to be a long skirt or a whole piece [either], but you can still dress sexy and show your body without totally being exposed.”
In fact, she continued, entering a competition of this kind can be “empowering.”
“ . . . If you are in the gym you feel good to know your work is paying off, to know you are appreciated for your efforts and your beauty without being lewd.”
Out of the eight finalists, one would emerge winner after two costume segments along with a question and answer segment. One of the two costumes was provided by the beer company.
“We did not [talk] about the costumes amongst ourselves,” Faith said. “Banks provided us with a costume and all we talked about was having those ones fitted. The individual ones were only seen on the night of the show.”
Crowd reactions to some of the “personal style” costumes created an air of separation backstage.
“There was no more of the fun energy.
“Everyone was to themselves and [some] left pretty quickly. Hardly anyone came to congratulate me . . . They seemed confident and they thought the costumes were okay, but I don’t know how they are feeling now . . . .”
Personally, she felt that some were not appropriate. Emphasizing that she was not “out to bash anyone,” she said: “I just think they could have done better and thought about the end result.”
Furthermore, she thought the public outcry against Banks, including some calls for a boycott of the product on social media was unmerited.
“Banks did not have a say in what the girls wore.
“It was our choice to find the costume,” Faith asserted.