Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure – Marianne Williamson
For, She is You is an online portal of articles and interviews that seek to inspire girls and women to be kinder to themselves and others and help them believe that anything is possible.
BE KIND TO OTHERS…That girl in the schoolyard, or woman in your team at work, the one having a bad day, the one on the verge of tears, the one trying her best, the one being left out for no reason at all, the one juggling everything, the one feeling like a failure, the one who feels ugly, the one who doesn’t think she is loved, the one who eats her lunch by herself, the one who gets bullied, the one who feels isolated and alone, the one who is struggling. Be kind to her; For, She Is You.
BE KIND TO YOURSELF…That girl you see in the mirror, the reflection that is staring back at you. She is wonderful. She is amazing. She is smart. She is doing the best she can. She is clever. She is talented. She is beautiful. She is funny. She is loved. She is capable of love. She is sweet. She is kind. She is successful. She is unique. She is worthy of everything and more that she could possible want out of life. She is enough, she is more than enough. Be kind to her; For, She Is You.
BE INSPIRED AND BELIEVE…That girl that aces her exams, that woman who is a successful entrepreneur, that talented actress, that beautiful model, the charismatic one who seems to have it all, that image of perfection, that clever writer, the amazing super-mama, the self made millionaire, the CEO in a male dominated industry, the one excelling in her career at a young age, the one starting over again and creating waves, the one taking a risk, the educated scholar, the one stepping out of her comfort zone, the one with the magical energy. Be inspired by her; For, She Is You.
A Note From The Editor – The Back Story
For, She Is You was born out of an overwhelming need and desire to help, inspire and empower young girls and women, and what I hope is the start of a movement, a catalyst for change. I am surrounded by beautiful, sweet, talented, caring, funny, loving, kind, compassionate, gorgeous inside-and-out girls and women that I often see feeding seeds of self-doubt, not believing in themselves or their dreams or being made to feel the size of an ant by others. I also totally do this to myself at times too; half the reason this website wasn’t launched two years ago is because I grappled with my own self doubt. I find it really hard to love myself sometimes, I am terrible at looking in the mirror and telling myself I am beautiful or believing in myself. It is the biggest work in progress of my life and it’s something I have to consistently work at. I still have days when I regress but I’m learning that it’s okay. We all do. The important thing is to keep pushing forward.
We are all so hard on ourselves. And when you’re hard on yourself, you feel really shitty. We live in a society where bitchiness and bullying are prevalent – from the first day of school to the board room. We compare ourselves to other girls and women, and somehow tell ourselves a story that we’re not good enough, we can never be as (blank) enough as someone else because they’re better than us. We convince ourselves that our hopes and dreams are far fetched and removed from reality, so why should we even bother. I know all this because I’ve been there so many times. I’ve seen it, I’ve experienced bullying and bitchiness, I’ve told myself I’m not good enough, I’ve squashed my own dreams, I’ve compared myself to others and I’ve made myself feel so small. However, one thing I like to think I am good at, is supporting my ladies. Whether you’re my BFF or someone I barely know, I pride myself on supporting others. I love championing other women. You tell me your dream, your idea, your vision and I’ll tell you to reach for the stars and go for it. I’ll come up with ways to help. I’ll offer advice. I’ll give you a pep talk. I like to think that I help others feel special, loved, important, beautiful and so much more. The funny part is, I’m so good at doing it for others – sometimes not so good for doing it for myself. Which is why we all need this space, me included. Let it be where we come to support each other, build each other up, celebrate our achievements and know that by believing in others, we help believe in ourselves.
I’ve thought long and hard about it, and the simplest answer seems to be the best: we need to be kinder to one another. Women need to support women. And this stems back to girls supporting girls. Bullying, bitchiness, tearing each other down, comparing ourselves…It needs to stop. I want to start a conversation about kindness; kindness to each other and ourselves. We all need kindness and we’re all more than capable of giving it out. We need to be supportive and encouraging. We need to teach young women about kindness and show them that her success, is not your failure. Throughout the course of talking to the women I have interviewed for #SHEIS, there’s one thing that seemed abundantly clear – when we strip it all back; uni student, Olympic athlete, Hollywood starlet, famous author, successful CEO…we’re all the same. We all have insecurities, we all have pity parties, we all focus on our flaws, we all struggle to believe in ourselves, we all feel alone at times and we all feel overwhelmed with expectations of what we ‘should’ be. And perhaps most importantly, we all need support from our sisters. We all need to be lifted up at times. We all need kindness.
I want you to read real, raw, inspiring interviews by amazing women and be empowered by their words, by their stories. To know that setbacks happen…which is okay. Failure is a part of life and from that we learn and grow. Success comes from hard work, believing in your dreams and supporting one another. Anxiety is more common than you think and by talking about it we can reduce the stigma. You never know what battle someone is fighting which is why above all, it’s important that we let kindness rule. I believe it is so easy to be kind and it’s a worry that it doesn’t come as second nature to some people. I believe that if we cultivate kindness, the world will be a better place. I believe in the good of people and the goodness in the world. And that loyalty, friendship – especially fierce lady ones- and love is far more important than anything else.
I couldn’t have done this without the support of some super amazing ladies (and guys!) in my life. I feel incredibly lucky to have beautiful, supportive, encouraging people in my life that love me, believe in me and always push me to do and be my best. You need those people in your life, the ones who build you up. And if you don’t have them just yet, that’s what this space is for. Let’s support and champion each other. I hope you find solace here, I hope you find inspiration and I hope you leave having learnt something and leave feeling empowered and inspired and ready to shine a s*!t load of kindness and your bright light out into the world.
