founder’s note: beyoutiful
By: Shalini Tripathi, Founder & CEO
When I was six months old, my parents packed up our suitcases and soon we made the move to Singapore. From then onwards, I’ve lived in about eight countries, experienced different cultures, and gained diverse perspectives with a new set of lens everywhere that life took me. Rest assured, it was never always rainbows and butterflies. The downside of my adventurous childhood was that I always craved stability, somewhere to call home. And to this day, I have a somewhat fear of change.
Age twelve was the first time that I was racially harassed. Though I don’t have many memories of my middle and high school years anymore, the ones that I do never tug at my happy heartstrings. Instead, they bring back daunting memories of the racial trauma that I constantly faced back then. I was forced into believing that the color of my skin is my biggest flaw and the reason that I wouldn't have much going for my future. Looking back, while this experience will unfortunately always remain a part of my life, I have made it a point to not let it define me.
While my self-esteem continued to take a massive hit back then, I felt my mental health being compromised as well. From mere stress to depression; I have sometimes quietly, and other times very evidently, suffered through it all. On some days, it would come and go in waves. On other occasions, I could feel the hefty burden of these mental health issues for a prolonged period of time. In fact, to this day, I face some form of anxiety every time I interact with someone I haven’t met before, or when socializing in a new setting. While I have come to accept the fact that these horrors of my past will always remain a part of my life, over the years I have made a lot of progress in combating my mental health issues.
Over the last couple of years, with my life evolving in a variety of different aspects, I have finally started to fully overcome the trauma that I faced. Though the era was hard, and though it took me a lot longer, as life went on I learned for the first time that there was a whole new sea of possibilities for myself. Slowly yet steadily, self-love started to pour in. I opened my heart to new experiences, surrounded myself with kinder people, and built a more refined mindset for myself. I learned to step into my power; to appreciate my experiences and resilience as a first-gen immigrant woman belonging to a middle-class family, the first woman in my family to pursue an education and career in STEM. This led me to become a stronger person and advocate for those who are filling the same shoes that I wore all those years ago.
Many years later, I founded my very own non-profit organization - Embrace Her Lead, through which I am fiercely dedicated to uplifting every single woman who longs to feel seen and accepted. Here, we believe that women are revolutionizing the world, and we are here to act as catalysts for that revolution.
If you can relate to my words, I want you to remember you deserve for your pain to be recognized, you deserve to get the help that you need in order to fight these hidden demons and emerge stronger. I want you to understand that you are valued and that you matter. It is never too late to ask for help or to speak up for someone who is clearly in need. Your experiences may have a lasting impact on your life, but they do not have to shape the person that you become. Don’t let them. The next time that someone tells you that the color of your skin is not worthy of love, or the next time that you flip through a fashion magazine and feel a sense of self-deprecation, I want you to take multiple steps back and remember that you are above the standards of beauty, strength, and grace that society has set for you.
I want you to feel the power vested in yourself to harmonize the beauty & love within you.
There is only one you in this universe, beYOUtiful.
Written with love,
