We are much more than just a blog

September 2012 was a special month and I didn’t even know it. It was the month, Self Love Beauty was born. While I had the thoughts for about a year, I finally put everything into action. I started become vulnerable, emotional, sharing and more. Most importantly, I became me more than I ever realized.

I started Self Love Beauty because I was trying to find my purpose, where I fit in and I was struggling with body image. I started this company to share my story of finding self-love again with the hope of empowering others to know they are not alone on their journey to find self-love and confidence.

I started Self Love Beauty as a blog and for a few years thats all it was. It grew so much from 2012-2016 from having me be the only contributor writer to having more than 100 writers.

The beginning of major growth…

In 2016, we were growing so I knew we had to shift a little. Self Love Beauty grew from just a blog to having a Beautiful Me collection of clothing and became an LLC. While that may seem minor to you, it was a huge step. I had to learn to fill out the right paperwork, what an LLC even meant, and how to create a collection of clothing. It was all knew to me.

In 2017, Self Love Beauty grew even more. We tripled our readers and grew to hold Beautiful Me campaign photo shoots across Michigan and New York! These photo shoots brought women of all ages, shapes and sizes together to express their journey to self-love through a shoot. We also opened our Ambassador program in July of 2017, and it surpassed my expectations, bringing in new ideas, new people and spreading the word even more.

Over the course of 2017, I received lots of feedback and I tried to decide what was next for Self Love Beauty. I prayed a lot and built a better business plan to come into 2018 with a clear vision.

Starting off with a bang…

In 2018, we started the year off with a bang. We launched our podcast ‘The Confident Girl’, continued to grow in our blog, grew our beautiful me collection and campaigns and our ambassador program doubled in my goal within just six months from start in July of 2017. I had more opportunities than ever to speak at schools and organizations about self-love and confidence, found new collaborations and partnerships and we impacted more than 40,000 people. Say what?!?! But the biggest impact on the year was one many didn’t see…

For the past couple of years the focus of Self Love Beauty has changed a little but one thing has remained the same; our focus on self-love, confidence and empowerment and our authentic approach to everything we did.

Our biggest change yet…

For years people have been telling me that Self Love Beauty could be huge and also for years people told me that it would be nothing. For the past two years, I was sat down by many sharing their opinions but I knew I had to do what was right in my heart and that the timing had to be best for me and Self Love Beauty. In July of 2018, I found myself filling out paperwork to change Self Love Beauty from an LLC to having non-profit status. It was a lot of work! I was told when I submitted it, it would take 3-6 months to hear back so the wait started. Little did I know, I would be surprised two months later with a letter in the mail. I just got home from teaching a spin class and I was sitting in my drive way. I took a deep breath and opened the letter. We were approved and officially a non-profit. I couldn’t believe it nor I couldn’t believe my reaction which was a flood of tears filling my face. I had more emotion of ‘this is it God isn’t it? This was your plan.’ Timing truly meant a lot.

For the fall of 2018, I spent time planning. I met with teens, my ambassadors, leaders, etc and I built the strong plan I ever have built for Self Love Beauty. Filled with new programs, new possibilities and growth.

At the end of 2018, I announced many of the big events we had planned for 2019 because I was so excited. I held an ambassador meeting and shared the news with them about what was next again to my surprise they all jumped in to want to help, which I was extremely grateful for.

Impacting more than 50,000 people…

Self Love Beauty’s (SLB) mission is to invest, impact and educate individuals on the importance of self-love and confidence in order to empower them to be the best versions of themselves. Our vision is to create a world where everyone feels empowered to love themselves and achieve anything they desire. Our core values are self-love, confidence, empowerment, authentic, health and social impact.

Our goal this year is to impact more than 50,000 people and I know we can do it because our goals for the beginning of 2019 through reach and impact has already been exceeded.

I have changed the words in my speaking to I to WE for a reason. It is no longer a solo person working on Self Love Beauty nor has it been that way for a long time. The ambassadors, writers, supporters, friends, volunteers and leaders have all helped expand Self Love Beauty.

So are we still a blog? Yes, but we are so much more.

2019 is the year we have started to launch more than 20 programs, events and conferences. Our list includes a Teen empowerment series of more than 10 elements which include:

• Teen Conference
• Affirmation Day
• Youth Ambassador Program
• Mother/Daughter Retreat
• Mother/Son Event
• Father/Daughter Night Out
• How to embrace your uniqueness class
• How to make friends class
• Empowering Speaking Panel
• Teaching Your Kids to Thrive Class

We also have many programs for adults including:

• Online 2-week Self-Love Program
• Mothers with Son event on communication
• Speed Dating for Friends
• Adult Ambassador Program
• Workshops around: Investing in Yourself, 4-Pillars of Self-Love, vision boards

Our reoccurring opportunities include

• One on one coaching with our life and self-love coaches
• The Confident Girl Podcast
• Self-Love Blog
• Online courses
• Beautiful Me collection and campaign
• Affirmation subscription

This is just the start, but as you can tell, we are so much more than just a blog. We are a community of men and women who want to create the ripple effect of change. We want to respond to social issues so no woman and man ever goes without self-love, having confidence or feeling empowered.

I believe in this organization but I cannot do it alone. Together we can do so much more. Join us by sponsoring an event, donating, attending an event or volunteer. We welcome all opportunities. For additional questions, email us at [email protected].

We have some amazing opportunities ahead of us and I cannot wait to see how we grow in the future to impact even more individuals.