Have you always felt this way or can you talk us through your own journey to find self love?
Not at all, I grew up in a family and in a school where people would say “She loves herself” like it’s a negative. I was a plus size model for 14 years and felt constantly in flux, I wanted to be skinny but the agencies wanted me to be bigger, it really messed with my self worth, I felt like I wasn’t good enough as I was and I had a mean inner voice constantly telling me that I wasn’t enough.
In modelling it’s like living in a microcosm of a macrocosm of what happens to all women. We blame ourselves for everything, if clothes don’t fit, if a relationship doesn’t work out. We’re constantly telling ourselves that we should be skinnier or curvier.
I was studying nutrition while working in NYC and I was always really busy - working, partying, everything. It got to a point where I was numbing myself with alcohol and just by keeping busy all the time and working to please other people so I thought enough is enough. I quit it all, I quit modelling, I quit friendships that weren’t right for me and I quit dating. I became celibate and vegan and cleared out space in my life for something different. I got the signs from the universe -I don’t need to change. It’s profound but so simple and that’s what I teach to my ladies now.