By: Livvie Van Lanen, Makeup Director 

What does it mean to be a woman? Women are strong. Women are resilient. Women are powerful. Women are equal to men, though women’s efforts have to outshine the efforts of men to be seen as equally important. Women are beautiful; inside and out. Women are empowering. I was raised by a woman who engrained these traits in my head, and formed my definition of what it means to be a woman. Every day, I aspire to inspire the women around me.

Throughout my life, I’ve always been extremely confident and comfortable in my own skin intellectually.

However, like many other women, I’ve had my fair share of insecurities. I used to set goals for myself, like if I lost 10 lbs by summer I would reward myself with something.

I would lose the 10 lbs, and reward myself, but then I’d set another goal. I was always dissatisfied. I’ve always been healthy, but because of the harsh societal standards I hated my body.

However, when Aerie launched their #AerieREAL campaign, my mindset began to shift.

 Though I’ve never been a frequent Aerie shopper, their campaign caught my eye and captured my heart. One of their models, Iskra Lawrence is an incredible woman whom I’ve come to admire.

Iskra has been modeling her entire life, but was always told she was too thin to be plus size and too large to be a regular model. However, Iskra embraced her body and had confidence in herself.

Over the past two years, I’ve embraced my body. I’ve learned to love my curves! I now aim to empower other women to help them overlook their insecurities and find love in their hearts for their beautiful bodies.

As soon as I embraced my body, I noticed an overall shift in my attitude, my mood, and my day to day vibes.

I claimed power over my insecurities.

When will you?

-Livvie Van Lanen