Growing up I had a difficult time discovering who I wanted to be, feeling out of place for having different interests than the people around me. “Maybe there’s something wrong with me being different?” I’d ask myself as I constantly looked for role models to tell me it was OK to just… “Be You”. That’s how Fashionlaine came about—with my hope to inspire others to “Be What They Want, Wear What They Want”— something I had felt like I was missing.
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The #WokeUpThisWayChallenge I launched in June was my first wave at spreading the message for people to embrace their authentic selves the best way I knew how—through social media. The overwhelming “thank you’s” I received from people saying this topic is needed to be shared much more quickly became the cue that my possibility of inspiration and unity for the world was nowhere near complete with just a hashtag challenge.
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For years my dream has been to head to middle & high schools to speak with students face-to-face & tell them it’s OK to be whoever or whatever they want to be. And with that, the #BeYouB2BTour was born.
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Working relentlessly the past months with Boo2Bullying to turn this vision into a reality, this tour is created to form live panel discussions at schools across the US with influential speakers who touch upon the topics of bullying, intolerance, social media, & body positivity with students. Aka what I like to call WOKE: PHASE 2.
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In honor of Bullying & Suicide Prevention Month, the tour kicked off its 1st stop this past Friday at Raymond Cree Middle School in Palm Springs with over 850 student attendees. And as I heard the panelists share stories & courageous students go to the mic to nervously ask questions like “will I really feel a weight being lifted from my shoulders if I just express how I’m feeling?” my eyes flooded with tears as I saw my dream of people not feeling alone slowly turn into a reality.
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In a world that has begun to feel more separated than together, its time to bring unity through positivity & on Friday I could see this tour beginning to do just that. Check out the videos here from Friday. Are you ready for more people to get WOKE?
Click here for the CBS article coverage of the tour!
