00:03I was bullied a lot growing up for being kind of odd, always opinionated, which doesn't
00:09serve well with children. I struggled with an eating disorder for a little bit and that
00:14was based more on self-confidence and looking in magazines and then wanting to be these
00:18women. Shaving my head just in a lot of ways I guess shed, for lack of a better term, a
00:24lot of those fears as well. When I shaved my head it was kind of a big deal. I decided
00:28I would raise money and shave my head for kids' cancer and I was really excited about
00:33it. But the feedback I got was a lot of like, wow that's really great, but like you're
00:37going to grow it out now, right? Because girls shouldn't have short hair. And so there was
00:40a lot of back and forth between me and like myself and being like, but I feel beautiful,
00:45which was a long journey for me to actually like be able to feel beautiful. I used to
00:49hide behind my hair, put it over my face when I had a pimple, and when I shaved my head
00:53I
00:54had to embrace all of the blemishes. And that was hard, but it also helped me grow and
00:58my confidence. I was able to embrace more of who I am and not have something so trivial
01:05like be something that defines me as beautiful. It wasn't until I started to
01:11like really look at myself and be like, you're beautiful, you're a beautiful person,
01:16and you deserve to believe that you're beautiful, that I realized that other
01:20people around me saw that too. It's about defining yourself and not letting the
01:25society or the world or the things around you define you. I challenge people then to
01:31look in your mirror and truly say I'm beautiful. Do you believe it? Because if
01:35you don't then just keep saying it until you do.
