by Britney Gardner
I believe 100% of my soul your success is tied to your self-worth.
And I’ve got a little story to prove it.
Let’s talk about a woman with a child of about 18 months or so and the slightly-neglected body to show for it. A woman who’s not feeling so great about herself. A woman who considered herself successful just a few years ago, but now feels like she’s failing. Disaster is near, and no, she doesn’t feel like that’s hyperbole.
And then, she and her husband are invited to the wedding of good friends who happen to exist in the same industry she herself is in, and many of the guests also are colleagues. It’s a black-tie wedding. Do you feel the instant lightning bolt of fear that just careened down her spine? I do. Do you know why? That was me a few years ago.
So we replied yes to the fancy invitation and planned the trip to a lovely, Moroccan-inspired bed and breakfast in a most idyllic location. And on a whim, my husband took me shopping and convinced me to buy a dress we couldn’t really afford along with the shoes to match. And I had my hair done in a ridiculously bold way and since it was that kind of crowd a bunch of us hired a makeup artist to do her professional thing and really make our eyes sing and, well, it was nothing short of amazing.
Was the wedding weekend great? Yes. Did I post a selfie of myself looking stellar? Oh yes. And also yes, it was one of the most-liked Instagrams of the year. That made me feel good.
But you know what really got me out of that slump? It was simply knowing I could still do it. I could still make it happen. I could take the time, pamper myself a bit, and put myself first for once and really, truly feel like I was the beautiful person others already knew me to be.
A friend of ours took a real, non-selfie photo of us at that wedding and it hangs on my wall today. (I’m sharing the selfie, as that’s my photo and I don’t have permission to share the other.) It’s a reminder to me that even if life is not perfect, I need to honor myself. I am beautiful. And it gives me the confidence to make decisions that are not easy. That slump I was in a few years ago? It seemed never-ending until that weekend.
It took me a little time, but I launched a new business based on this experience. If wearing a fancy dress and hiring a makeup artist and taking a few great photos could pull me out of that slump, I wanted to do that for other women. And then I decided I wanted to do this for women in business, women who really need to feel great about themselves so they can succeed in every other area of their lives.
You know those “The stars are just like us” articles in the tabloids? I used to photograph them. And now I kind of feel like saying something similar. I’m just like you, and you’re just like me. No one is confident 100% of the time. We all need a little boost here and there. We all need reminder of how beautiful we already are on the outside so we can feel that way on the inside.
And with that boost, that extra little pep in your step, I believe you’ll set yourself back on the path to the success you know is around the corner.
Any time you doubt this, just look at that print on the wall. You’ve got this!
If you’re ready to reclaim your beauty, hop on over to my site for more information and sign up for several bonus tips on how to look beautiful in photographs every day, even if you don’t have a professional photographer in your back pocket. It’s time to feel good, from black-tie weddings all the way to networking events and ladies’ luncheons.
Britney Garner is a designer turned photographer turned marketing strategist–with a focus on organic content strategy.
She’s one of the few marketers marrying creative and analytical skills. She pairs the visual creativity of the past with training under the top copywriters of the country and weaves in the mastermind/architect skills her personality naturally brings to the table.
