We invite EVERYONE to come out to cheer these beautiful inside & out girls on the runway and see all of the newest BYOU ‘Be Your Own You’ empowered apparel for girls! We’ll have lots of giveaways too! Please join us! Directions for the Denver County Fair at the National Western Complex are below.

Here are the modeling details:  Due to the overwhelming response, to be able to be a model in the fashion show, you MUST be able to attend BOTH the Wednesday evening training/rehearsal from 6:30-8:00 PM and be at the show location on Thursday from 3:00-7:00 PM. Not all girls attending the Wednesday audition will be able to model in Thursday’s show (unless you are already scheduled be to a model) but ALL girls attending will receive runway training, a FREE one-month membership in the BYOU Be Your Own You Team Esteem Empowerment Program, and will be kept on file for future modeling opportunities.

Wed, July 27, 6:30-8:00 PM: Audition/Training/Rehearsal

LOCATION: BYOU Be Your Own You Store, 6770 S. Dawson Circle, Suite 800, Centennial, CO 80112; (303) 400-8888

Directions: From Arapahoe Road, take Jordan Rd SOUTH; make first LEFT on to S. Dawson Center, building will be on your LEFT in the Arapahoe Center building; BYOU Store will be around the other side facing Arapahoe Road (you can see the store when you are on Arapahoe between Parker Rd. & Jordan Rd)

Please bring: Paper & pen/pencil, BYOU shirt if you have one

Thursday, July 28, 3:00-7:00 PM: Fitting/Rehearsal/Fashion Show

LOCATION: Denver County Fair- The Fair is located at the National Western Complex, (I-70 to Brighton Blvd Exit –just east of I-25 - MAP) 4655 Humboldt St. Denver, CO 80216. Go to Gate 1 on the North side of the Hall.  After you park at the Fair, please go to front door of the Expo Hall and check in at the window labeled Presenters.  You will receive your pass into the Fair and directions to your stage.  Upon your arrival at the Fashion Pavilion, please check in with Aimee Newman with BYOU ‘Be Your Own You.’ Each model is allowed to bring 1-2 adults with her (and siblings); other guests coming to watch the 6 PM show must pay fair entrance fee (General admission-$10. Youth (5-12) $5. Children 4 and under, free.

Schedule:

3:00 -5:00 PM: Fitting, Rehearsal & Hair Styled by Sweet & Sassy – please come with clean hair

5:00-5:45 PM: Final Rehearsal on Stage

6:00 -7:00 PM: Fashion Show!

7:00-9:00 PM: Informal Modeling (Optional – we’d love to have some girls stay after to informally model at our booth!)

Please bring:

1.       Denim jeans and/or shorts (no cut offs or ultra-short shorts!)

2.       Black pants/leggings/skirts

3.       Black shoes/sandals (no flip flops or high heels!)

4.       Fun accessories or things that allow you to ‘be your own you’

5.       Water, snacks, and/or sack dinner

6.       A great attitude! This is going to be great fun!

We look forward to seeing you!!

Having heard Demi’s name mentioned in the news, my eight-year-old daughter’s ears perked up and she exclaimed, “I love Demi Lovato! What are they saying about her?” Not wanting to completely taint my daughter’s image of this perpetually big-grinned teen star, I explained to her that Demi struggles with feelings of low self-worth and will sometimes do harmful and negative things to herself. My daughter, finding it difficult to understand how this confident-appearing favorite of hers could ever suffer from low self-esteem, responded, “But, Mom, she always looks so happy and sure of herself!”

 Demi’s disclosure on her issues is yet another example that “having it all” does not guarantee happiness or love for ourselves. I found that out during the years I personally spent working in the modeling and acting industries, and learned that true feelings of self-worth can only come from within (to hear the whole story, click here). This is the message I so passionately teach our girls.

Many don’t yet know what cutting is, so I wanted to bring awareness of what it is and offer preventative measures so it doesn’t become an issue in YOUR life.

Much like the “Mean Girl” trend, cutting is  increasing as an unhealthy self-harmful “trendy” behavior, especially with girls. Self-harm typically starts at about age 14, but more cases of kids as young as 11 or 12 doing it show up daily. As more and more kids become aware of it, more kids are trying it.

When a girl “cuts” herself, typically it is self-inflicted straight-line cuts with a sharp object, often parallel like railroad ties, carved into forearm, upper arms, and sometimes the legs. Some girls cut words into themselves, like if they’re having body image issues, they may cut the word ‘fat,’ or if they’re having trouble at school, it may be ‘stupid,’ ‘loser,’ or a big ‘L.’

Self-injury is a coping strategy for feelings of low self-worth and unhappiness. Parents often mistake cutting for suicidal behavior, but psychiatrists believe that self-injury has an effect similar to cocaine and other drugs that release endorphins to create a feel-good feeling. Children in emotional pain cause physical external pain to themselves so they won’t feel their internal pain as much.

And much like a drug addition, cutting typically escalates over time, with more frequent episodes and more cuts each time, because it takes more cutting to get the same relief.

Self-injury begins as a defense against what’s going on in a child’s internal and external life. If emotions and situations feel overwhelming, if they have failed in an area of their lives, of if they struggle for self-identity, this is a way to get “control” and blunt their emotional pain. Very often, girls who self-harm also have an eating disorder and tend to be sensitive, perfectionists, and overachievers.

Our work as mentors of children, and my mission in the work I do with girls, is preventative. Just like keeping our bodies healthy daily with good sleep and nutrition to ward off sickness, we want to daily nurture our own/our child’s self-esteem. And in this case, little things CAN make a difference!

We make choices every day how we handle difficult situation and how to help our children cope with the pain they are experiencing. If a child tells us she feels hurt for others teasing her, we can tell her that she is too sensitive and needs to get on with things, or we can listen to her and see what it is others are saying which is causing her pain. If she says she is unhappy or feels unloved, we can tell her to stop complaining and appreciate all the good things, or we can ask her to explain why and learn from her. If she tells us she feels judged by the comments we make, we can tell her she takes things too personally, or we can listen to her and try to be more accepting and less judgmental.

Be mindful and aware every day. Your responses to what may seem to you like a trivial thing could lead to either empowering her or leading her to seek other ways to numb her pain. Don’t wait to be proactive until she experiences mood changes like depression or anxiety, out-of-control behavior, changes in relationships, communication, and school performance – by then, she is suffering and in pain, and looking for ways to cope with that pain.

Children face so much today, and their emotional capacity to handle things is still immature and vulnerable. Whether they act like it or not, every child needs a strong support system to empower them “from the inside out.” 

PLEASE take 30 seconds and vote for my show, it’s truly essential that you do for it to get noticed. There are over 7,500 submissions at this point, many who entered early and have been able to gather a ton of votes, so I’ve got lots of catching up to do! The good news is that you can vote MULTIPLE times and it’s really easy to do (no signing up, just voting!) Voting closes July 3, so please, VOTE ASAP and VOTE OFTEN…and ask your friends to vote too (how about inviting your Facebook friends to vote?!) We’ve got to create a buzz for Oprah and her producers to notice, and we all know how important a show Empowering Girls From the Inside Out would be!

And if you (please!) add a comment to your vote, it will create even more of a buzz. Let’s show Oprah and her producers how essential it is to give our youth today, especially our girls, the attention they need and deserve to become the powerful women our world needs tomorrow.

Here’s the link to the video and to vote:    http://myown.oprah.com/audition/index.html?request=video_details&response_id=19866&promo_id=1 

Please vote, it’s urgent, and important. And pass this along to your friends…and ask them to pass it along to their friends…who pass it along to their friends…you get the idea And don’t forget, you can vote numerous times through July 3rd. Thank you SO MUCH for your support!

As you may know, I’m quite passionate about building the self-esteem of young girls, and as a national speaker and the author of the Heartlight Girls series, I’ve always felt the motivation to do so. Yet as I write this today on my daughter’s eighth birthday (Happy Birthday Ella!), it is in my role as a mother that my passion, and compassion, is fueled even more to make a difference in girls’ lives. With much recent news of teen suicides attributed to depression and relational aggression/bullying, my concern for our youth is magnified, as I’m sure it is with many other parents.

Recent statistics show that every 7 minutes a child is bullied, and that 77% of students are bullied mentally, verbally, or physically. Bullying causes feelings of rejection, anxiety, and unworthiness in a child; these are some of the same feelings which are the main causes of suicide. The Center for Disease Control reports that the third leading cause of death, behind accidents and homicide, amongst teenagers ages 15 to 24 is suicide.  Even more disturbing is the fact that suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for children between the ages of 10 and 14. Self-esteem issues and bullying are worse than ever in today’s schools, and unfortunately often beginning as early as first and second grade and magnifying in the upper elementary and middle school years.

It is with these disturbing facts that I ask your assistance. I dealt with my share of bullying while working in the modeling and acting industries, and it was a challenge even as an adult. But to know our children deal with it on a daily basis breaks my heart. So Heartlight Girls is taking a stand against school bullying. In addition to writing the Heartlight Girls series (the next book, Star’s Attraction: A Girl’s Discovery on Inner Beauty, is due out near the holidays!) and developing products, I’m also building a series of expansive self-esteem programs to develop feelings of self-worth in our girls. And I’d really like your help.

I’d love to know your concerns, your needs, and your desires. What would be helpful to you, and what do you feel would be important in a self-esteem program? Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts by taking a brief survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LT3Y535. Please pass this link along to others (parents, teachers, girls), for the more input we receive, the better we can create what you would like to see, as well as incorporate what’s needed to help our youth to stay strong, empowered, and in a position to always make wise choices.

By completing this survey, in addition to being a contributor in this important mission, you’ll be entered into a drawing to receive tickets for you and a guest to attend one of the Heartlight Girls Self-Esteem programs! Girls receiving this email can take the survey themselves, share it with a parent, or ideally, have both of you take it! Then we’ll have double the input, and your family will have double the chances of winning!

Again, here’s the link to the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LT3Y535. Thank you for your participation. Your opinion will shape the young girls we work with here at Heartlight Girls!

Unfortunately this behavior filters down into our schools with the increasing popularity of "mean girls," and that’s why I am so passionate about getting out there and reaching these girls. It was challenging to handle all this as an adult as a model, but it breaks my heart to see it happen with our young girls today!

More on that at a later time…for now, here is a call to action to help stop a contributing factor to our girls’ obsession with thinness. Filmmaker Darryl Roberts has become an advocate for body acceptance since making the fabulous documentary AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL.  Now he’s spearheading a boycott against Ralph Lauren that’s really intended to get the attention and wise up the whole fashion industry. He needs us all to join the boycott! Here’s the link to sign up for the boycott and learn more about Roberts’ campaign: join the boycott

Also, here’s an excerpt from Eating Disorders Blogs: There’s a storm brewing!  Ralph Lauren’s photo-warped ads have been outed, but he keeps making more, and that’s gotten filmmaker Darryl Roberts hopping mad.  Roberts has become an advocate for body acceptance since making the fabulous documentary AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL.  Now he’s spearheading a boycott against Ralph Lauren that’s really intended to get the attention and wise up the whole fashion industry.

He needs us all to join the boycott BEFORE FRIDAY, December 11.  Here’s why, in his words: "This is only going to take a few minutes, I need you to sign up for the boycott on our Facebook page. Ralph Lauren needs to see how many of you support the boycott and it needs to be at least 10,000. If we don’t reach 10,000 then this particular movement will be discredited by Ralph Lauren. We need 10,000 people to sign up by Friday. Forward this to everyone you know asking them to sign up before Friday. Call them back and make sure that they did it. We have to create a viral grass roots movement. Write comments on the Facebook page. Let Ralph know how you feel. Trust me they will monitor our page heavily."

And if you need a bit more incentive, consider this, also from Darryl: "As you may or may not know, Ralph Lauren is designing the outfits for the Winter Olympics ceremony for 2010. Athletes come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Here is a picture of a real Olympic Skier. Her name is Emily Cook:[http://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs009/1102070670847/img/1432.jpg?a=1102872102420]

Now, here is a Ralph Lauren sketch that obviously shows his vision and design for this years Olympic Skier:[http://origin.ih.constantcontact.com/fs009/1102070670847/img/1431.jpg?a=1102872102420] The drawing looks just like the ridiculous ads he’s been running. Why am I not surprised. He must be stopped!"

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( To see Filippa’s appearance on the Today Show and to read more, click here )

In speaking to young girls about the current and harmful trend of "mean girls" and bullying, I often admit  how well I can identify with what is going on due to my years in the very competitive modeling industry and some of the experiences I had with mean girls. Just like the girls who bully other girls today in our schools, the bullies of the modeling industry did so due to low feeling of self-worth. The modeling industry is brutal on a girl’s/woman’s self-esteem…can you imagine being a size 4 or 6 and constantly told you are too fat? As models, we would get criticized on a daily basis for one physical "flaw" or another. I learned from the bottom up how to build my self-esteem, and that’s why I’m so passionate about teaching it to others through my speaking and books at Heartlight Girls!

I believe the fault lies with the designers and advertisers who put tremendous, unrealistic pressures on the models, which in turn, filters down to the young girls who want to emulate these models. Thank you, Filippa, for speaking up. If enough of us speak up, the world will pay attention! Would love to hear your comments too, please leave one below!

One thing I never quite understood in the modeling industry was the way top designers "demanded" they have super skinny models. Yes, I know they create their designs in "sample" size and clothes photograph better on a more lean figure, but lean and healthy is one thing…emaciated and skeletal is another. When working in the bigger markets, it was constantly chirped in my ear from my agents to "lose weight" (I was a size 6)…there were designers I just could not work for because I was "too big" and refused to starve myself. I made many sacrifices to work in that industry, but my health and life was not something I was willing to jeopardize.

The ironic thing is that consumers do not appreciate the super skinny the way the designers do. So often after a fashion show I would hear women in the audience commenting how they simply cannot relate to the bone-thin models and therefore had no interest in the clothes. By designers pushing the envelope they way they did with this Ralph Lauren ad, they lose our respect, especially as we as women become more empowered in our true beauty, and concerned for our girls as they face dangerous pressures we never even imagined facing in our vulnerable years. I guess that’s why after years and years of being in that industry I felt compelled to do something proactive and founded Heartlight Girls, teaching girls that "it’s what’s inside that counts!"

This is a great excerpt from: http://shine.yahoo.com/event/fallbeauty/image-of-ultra-thin-ralph-lauren-model-sparks-outrage-521480/): The U.S. isn’t the only place where advertisers are feeling the public backlash over retouching claims. Overseas, a recent Olay ad featuring a virtually wrinkle-free 59-year-old Twiggy caused such an uproar in the UK that the British Parliament recently proposed outlawing retouching in advertisements aimed at teenagers. The movement was initiated by the nation’s Liberal Democrats, whose leader on the issue, Jo Swinson, said:

"Today’s unrealistic idea of what is beautiful means that young girls are under more pressure now than they were even five years ago. Airbrushing means that adverts contain completely unattainable images that no one can live up to in real life. We need to help protect children from these pressures and we need to make a start by banning airbrushing in adverts aimed at them. The focus on women’s appearance has got out of hand – no one really has perfect skin, perfect hair and a perfect figure, but women and young girls increasingly feel that nothing less than thin and perfect will do."