I call myself a “social media queen” because I love to post about my life and my inspirations on social media. My focus is on body positivity and I aim to spread confidence and empowerment through my posts. As a result, a beautiful community has grown among me and my followers.

People are always surprised to hear that I wasn’t always this way, that it took me awhile to build up my confidence and feel comfortable in my own skin.

Growing up, looking into the mirror was always the hardest thing and I would try and avoid looking at myself as much as possible. When I turned on the T.V. or checked social media I would see beautiful, flawless women that looked perfect being celebrated and whenever I was at school, the girls that looked like the women on T.V. would be the ones getting all the attention.

My confidence plummeted and I tried to stay away from T.V. and social media to keep myself comparing myself and worrying about how I looked.

A couple of years ago, I started a journalism class at school which I was really excited about but my teacher advised me in order to do my best in her class I needed to be on social media in order to keep up with world events and understand how journalism was evolving.

I was nervous about trying and explained my concerns to her but she said she’d help me navigate it all. I opened some accounts that afternoon and my life soon changed.

I realised that with social media I could control part of what I was reading and seeing. From privacy settings to unfollowing negative channels, I curated my own content. My lecturer also encouraged me to be the change I wanted to see online, “Use your social media to change the messages you think aren’t good for young women,” she said.

I started using my Instagram and Facebook page to post inspiring stories about the things I saw around me - particularly body positivity and women I admired. My pages were about being comfortable in your body and I started to notice a lot of girls following my pages. They wanted to see stories about how to follow a happy healthy life as much as I did! Through social media, I was able to speak out, start a movement about self-love and start a community that celebrates women and the things we really care about.

How do you express self-love for yourself? What do you do to celebrate your beauty? Tell us in the comments below