We were definitely surprised when Breaking Amish star Kate Stoltz stripped down for a sexy Maxim photo shoot back in 2013 — and she exclusively revealed to In Touch that the topic never came up in coversation with her conservative parents. Today, the former reality star’s model days are behind her — as she’s hard at work with her Kate Stoltz New York fashion line.

Kate simply replied “No” when asked if she had that conversation with her family, then further opened up about her modeling days. “I was modeling when I first moved to NYC,” she recalled at a press preview of her latest designs at her NYC popup on Elizabeth Street. “But when I went to FIT I was going to classes full-time and there’s no way I could do classes and go to castings. So I decided to just focus on this because I feel like this is my future.”

The TLC alum also never worried about how her Amish roots would impact her ability to succeed in the world of fashion. “I’m not concerned about not having the artistic knowledge and the ability to design. I think what concerns me more is having people think of my background as a drawback, when in reality I have been living outside of that for a long time now,” she explained.

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“It’s not like I’m necessarily defined by that, my background. I’m definitely not worried about my history pulling me back. I’m more worried about the perception overshadowing what I actually do. I’m very passionate about my work and I spend a lot of time developing new techniques and perfecting my craft, so I just want that to be the focus.”

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