Latest / Inchstones with Sarah | Autism Advocacy & Caregiver Stories / Bridgett Burrick Brown Spills: Motherhood, Beauty Standards, and Surviving The Chaos

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Bridgett Burrick Brown Spills: Motherhood, Beauty Standards, and Surviving The Chaos · Inchstones with Sarah | Autism Advocacy & Caregiver Stories

• 0:00
  Speaker A: Today, on the Inch Zones podcast, another amazing person that has come into my life only recently, but has shaken me up in the best of ways to redefine what my own longevity and perhaps sticking points of my own acceptance of my own beauty is what it was, how it's evolved. Bridget Barrick Brown, thank you so much for being here today.
• 0:22
  Speaker B: Oh, thank you for having me. I love that intro.
• 0:25
  Speaker A: Well, you radiate. You radiate what your mission is, and I think that's one of the coolest things that I feel. I know that I noticed about you is that we all desire to be a walking billboard for our brand, but you really are that, because I think that, you know, you do.
• 0:39
  Speaker B: Thank you.
• 0:40
  Speaker A: You do, and you speak it to life. Tell everyone about a little bit who you are and what your. What your platform and mission is.
• 0:46
  Speaker B: So I have a project called the Beyond Beauty Project, and we're helping people kind of go beyond these societal expectations of perfectionism, whether it comes, you know, it's about your appearance, your success, your family, your wellness, and really get in tune and back in tune with yourself, your true self, and to feel beautiful, successful, worthy from the inside out. And we do that in a lot of different ways. We're really active on Instagram for, like, a free way. We have a newsletter, but I also do keynotes and workshops and all that fun stuff, so. And I work from, like, with preteens to corporate. I just did the awesome preteen workshop this weekend.
• 1:28
  Speaker A: I work with the moms.
• 1:29
  Speaker B: I do it all well.
• 1:30
  Speaker A: Well, that's what we women do. That's what we do. What was your personal journey behind starting this and shaping this mission of yours?
• 1:38
  Speaker B: Yeah. So, okay, so the personal journey really came from my whole life, you know, which I won't tell you about my whole life because that'll take a while. But, you know, I grew up with my mother, who had multiple sclerosis, and she was in a wheelchair by the time I was 7. Ish. 5. Sevenish.
• 1:53
  Speaker A: I didn't know that. Wow.
• 1:54
  Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
• 1:55
  Speaker A: Wow.
• 1:56
  Speaker B: So that was really like this. Almost like I didn't even know that was shaping my psyche. Right. I was the only other. Like, I was the only daughter in the house, so I was often the one helping her, like, fit her, you know, growing belly from steroids into clothes that no longer fit her. And just to see this, like, you know, she was a hairdresser.
• 2:15
  Speaker A: She was beautiful, she was tall.
• 2:18
  Speaker B: She got a lot of her worth and her value and her significance from her appearance. So I saw she Lost that. And I saw she lost her body, and I also saw that she lost her confidence. So I know that that started affecting me. I went into the dance world, then I went into the modeling world, and I spent 20 years there. I had quit one time when I was just like, I'm kind of sick of people telling me to lose weight and, like, cut my hair and whatever, you know. And I had went back home and I was. That's when I really started to dive into, like, holistic nutrition. I got my personal training certification, my holistic health. Nutrit went back to modeling. Spent the next, I don't even know how many years, and I had a long career. When I did go back, I said, I'm gonna do modeling, like on my terms with my body. Like, you can't tell me to be smaller. And then I just had this, like, kind of rock bottom moment. I had lost a bunch of family members in a row, and I went on to having, like, some miscarriages back to back. I lost twins at five and a half months, and I was really just like, rock bottom. I had lost my mom, my dad, my brother in under two years. I know. And I went. I was like, okay. Like, me and my husband were like, okay, we're not gonna have any more babies. Like, let's just like, we already had had our daughter, thank God. And like, really, my body and my mental health were, like, so crushed. They were like, I'm so. I was like, okay, I'll go back to work. And I went back and like, the first thing I heard was, you need to lose weight.
• 3:55
  Speaker A: You're like, I'm out.
• 3:56
  Speaker B: Do you want. I was a size 6 and I was like, can I swear? Can I swear?
• 4:01
  Speaker A: Yes, absolutely.
• 4:01
  Speaker B: I was like, fuck this shit.
• 4:03
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 4:03
  Speaker B: Like, I'm like, I'm a woman that's been through some stuff, so I already had a lot of this in me. You know, I had some girl bullying high school. But anyways, I cried. I cried a lot because someone told me my arms were bug. I slept on it, I talked to my people and I walked away from the industry. And as I know it then, and I just started this project. It first started with, like, sharing about, like, my suicide ideation and my body changing. And then it's just developed into this really beautiful thing. And I've gotten certification since then around body image and eating disorders so I can support myself and the community more. And it's just grown into this gorgeous, like, beautiful, worldwide, global thing.
• 4:47
  Speaker A: As hard as it is to say, hitting rock bottom or whatever we think is rock bottom. I always say, I thought I hit rock bottom one time, and the universe is like, nope, nope, you're gonna go a little lower. We're gonna go, nope, we're gonna throw a divorce in there too. Like, it just kept going, right? And I remember thinking, like, when is the fucking rock bottom? But the beautiful part about it is that in realizing that I was really low, which you had at multiple points of your life, too. And I still woke up the next day. And I still woke up the next day. And I survived 100% of my hardest days. Yeah, that's just like hearing you say that in such a condensed format. I hope that you look back and are so proud of yourself. When you spell it all out, how does that make you feel? Yeah, that's so sweet, but it's so true, Bridget.
• 5:29
  Speaker B: Yeah, no, I'm proud of my resilience. I'm proud that I, like, put one foot in front of the other, and I just, like, I did it. And I. From where I was then to where I am now, it's just. It's cool. It's incredible. And what I've built with this, I always say, like, the beauty in breaking is you get to create whatever you want. And, like, when I talk about, like, the suicide ideation or being rock bottom, it's like, if you're listening to this and you can think, like, okay, that's how I feel. But if I could say I can create anything I want, what do I want it to look like? You know, and keep asking yourself those questions, I think it will help you get out of bed.
• 6:12
  Speaker A: It's the meditative part about rock bottom. Is that all you keep thinking is, it's over. I ha, this, I don't want this. It's over. I hate this. And it can either become the anvil that keeps you there or what just shoves you into motion because all you can do is put one foot or take one next breath, I guess. What's the most powerful for you as Bridget right now, today?
• 6:30
  Speaker B: Oof. That is a good question. I think I want to say all the losses, but probably becoming a mother.
• 6:41
  Speaker A: It'S so hard to deny that.
• 6:43
  Speaker B: I mean. Yeah. Like, I think the biggest pain I felt in the biggest obstacles probably were those losses. But being a mother has changed my life. Absolutely. It just pushes you and challenges you and me, you know, I. That's what, you know, I'm healing a lot with my project. Like, I would say I'm going on this healing journey with you guys. And a lot of the healing is for her. I know that sounds cliche, and she.
• 7:11
  Speaker A: It's. I.
• 7:12
  Speaker B: But, yes, the more, like, I can heal, the better. Like, she's going to end up being like. When people are like, how can I help my daughters with a healthy body image. I'm like, kill yourself. You got to heal yourself first. Like, I know you don't want to hear that, but it really starts with that. And I always, like, take the shame out of it. Right. Or the pressure. Like, we have so much pressure as parents, but it can be little by little or inch zones.
• 7:35
  Speaker A: That's what I mean. Like, that's the. I think half the journey of my own motherhood for Millie and Mac specifically has been the inch zones to celebrate them. Oh, hit me slap across the face. Flat across the face. And was like, do it for your damn self, Sarah. Like, that's what this all means too. Have to just say too. And confirm what you're saying about. It starts with the mothers that are asking these questions about beauty or health. I know so deeply that how I model to all my kids, but specifically to my typical oldest daughter. She is watching me like a hawk. I don't think she gives a rat's ass what I say to her. And I don't think she's going to really care. She is watching how I do my hair, how I do my makeup, and something triggered me. And I'd love to get your opinion on this. It must have been a year and a half ago summer. I have never contoured my face in my life. Okay. I've never really been, like, drawn this. But, like, you know, got like a. Like a bronzing, like, contour stick. And I was like, here just did, like, a little bit of this. She goes over to a friend's house after a basketball game, and the mom was like, I let the girls do their makeup before taking them out to dinner. Oh, my gosh. How was it? She's like, I mean, you're a girl. In the contouring. I thought this. It just completely reminded me they are watching us, and they are watching what it means to be a woman. But it's terrifying. It's literally terrifying. And then at the same time, we're showing them how to begin again, how you're allowed to start over. We have to do it.
• 8:57
  Speaker B: Yeah. And it's also like admitting, like, there's things. I'm like, don't be like me. Like, don't. Don't do that.
• 9:03
  Speaker A: Yeah. Or. Or, like, in saying that, like, I've Having. Allowing your daughter or my daughter, any child to come to you and say, hey, mom, do you notice you do that? Yeah. And not being reflexive or reactionary.
• 9:15
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 9:16
  Speaker A: That's been a huge thing for me recently. I'd be like, oh, you're right.
• 9:20
  Speaker B: I think, like, letting them know that we're still working on ourselves and that's okay. Like, we can look at ourselves and be like, oh, yeah. Noted. Thank you.
• 9:30
  Speaker A: And it's not, I think hearing it from a child, especially like a mother daughter relationship and being the mother and saying, I hear what you're saying. Thanks for. Thanks for bringing that up. Changes the narrative of how previous generations have done it. I don't think it's soft. Don't you? Like, I don't think that it's being soft. Like, my role models for motherhood are like, two Southern women that are older than me, and they're not. Like, they're definitely strong mothers, but they also apologize to their kids and listen when their children have opinions. Yeah.
• 10:03
  Speaker B: No. And I think when you listen like that and you respond the way you did, you teach them that their voice is important. And women, and girl to girls, need to learn that earlier so they can much earlier up to be women that can use their voice.
• 10:19
  Speaker A: Where do you feel your voice now in the conversation around beauty? Do you feel like it's gaining momentum? The way the holistic approach, the mindset, the inner beauty, the emotional resiliency aspect. Like, where do you feel like, I guess beyond Beauty is taking to the stage more of a. Of a front and center outlook on beauty?
• 10:37
  Speaker B: Yeah, I think it is. It is kind of like, grabbing hold now. I think we have some momentum, and I think. I think people are relieved when they start diving into what we're talking about because they're like. Like, I'm allowed to just exist. I'm allowed to exist as I am. And I think it starts to change their mindset and their sort of the way they're talking to themselves. To take this focus off of, like, my appearance is what drives my worth, you know, like, there's so much more that drives my worth. Like, I'm innately worthy. Like, I was innately worthy when I was born. We all were, you know, so, you know, to kind of, like, cut out the noise of these societal expectations and really come home to ourselves. I think it's catching on.
• 11:25
  Speaker A: I think it is too.
• 11:26
  Speaker B: I still get the, like, backlash. Like, I had actually a really funny comment from a makeup artist I used to work with. He's like, it Was something about like, beauty comes from within, you know, like one of our posts and he's like, oh man, just add like, hi, my name is Jason. Like I'm a recovering like, you know, I mean, it made me laugh.
• 11:45
  Speaker A: Of course you have to be fun of it because it is.
• 11:49
  Speaker B: Some of the things like, sound so cliche, but. I'm sorry. They're true though.
• 11:52
  Speaker A: No, I, I believe, I mean, I, I think about that kind of stuff a lot. Like one front of the other. That's Inchton. So if someone was like, put your, you know, right foot in front of the other, I'd be like, get the, like, shut up. You have no idea what it's like to change diapers of a nine and a half year old still. Yeah, but at the same time it really is just that it's like, don't put the, you know, cart before the horse. And when we do it, we actually do it one step at a time.
• 12:12
  Speaker B: But the thing is, is I say little by little all the time. And yeah, you can look at him like, eh, so cringey or cheesy. But guess what? Guess how I got myself from the lowest moment of wanting to not be alive anymore to where I am today. Little by little, little by little, foot in front of the other and inch stones.
• 12:32
  Speaker A: Yeah. And that's how I did it. You have to. I was reading an article, I really, I gotta go back to the source on this and I'll credit it, but it was a, it was someone saying something about a passage in a book that was like this man that I follow as a teacher and mentor celebrates his morning routine and getting his day going as if he's winning a prize to get to his work. And it was a, you know, best selling New York Times published author who's like, I have to celebrate rolling on the side of the bed and be like, slippers are on. It's five o' clock in the morning. Like I go into the my. I brush my teeth. It sounds silly, but if you celebrate those, you do get into more of a groove with it and then you become that person that you've always wanted to be.
• 13:13
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 13:13
  Speaker A: You can't just do it by flicking a switch.
• 13:16
  Speaker B: No, it's like where people. First of all, I never think there's a destination vaccination.
• 13:20
  Speaker A: No.
• 13:21
  Speaker B: People are like, oh, when I get here, I'm gonna be happy. No, no, it is a journey, like even healing. I'm like you, I will be healing until I'm dead.
• 13:29
  Speaker A: Like, that's exactly.
• 13:31
  Speaker B: But also like Things don't happen overnight. It's like progress over perfection.
• 13:37
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 13:37
  Speaker B: Just like a little bit here and there.
• 13:39
  Speaker A: The act of doing is actually. It's like the power and the. What do they. What's that sentence? I sound really blonde right now. The power is in the pudding. The potion's in the pudding.
• 13:48
  Speaker B: I don't know that one.
• 13:49
  Speaker A: Do you know what I'm talking about? It's like something is in the pudding. The proof is in the pudding. The proof is in the pudding.
• 13:55
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 13:55
  Speaker A: A lot of these in there. But it's true. That's what, that's what I think it is. Is that like, it's the, the act of doing it. The act of healing. Your choice to be in a position or my choice in advocacy work, but your choice to change the standards of the beauty industry is not that you're changing the standard and putting a stamp on it. Yeah. It's the act of showing up to the mission that you're doing. That's actually the mission. Yeah, yeah. The mission is to keep showing up. The mission is to keep going. The mission is to say there's no alternative. This is now a part of the beauty industry. My voice, my platform is now a part of the beauty industry. And it doesn't even mean there's anything that, like you said, there's no destination. There's no like Hollywood star that you're getting for that. But what you're getting is your healing others. Healing. I mean, what I always say, like, it's the greatest luxury in life to be able to help aid in someone's. Any journey they're on.
• 14:44
  Speaker B: It is what I like. Yeah. It's an honor.
• 14:47
  Speaker A: You know, people always say this whole, this whole episode is now saying cliche is a funny thing. The greatest things in life aren't things.
• 14:57
  Speaker B: Right.
• 14:57
  Speaker A: You know, like, like what is silver? Old friends, new friends. What is something that's going. No, but about purchasing things? Like, what is something that you can't purchase?
• 15:05
  Speaker B: Time. You cannot purchase time, connection and connection.
• 15:09
  Speaker A: You could. Exactly. You cannot purchase time and connection when you make that for someone. When you, when you, like, have a space for someone through your life's work that is giving someone more. More time to understand themselves or a greater connection with someone they love or within each other, literally. It's the greatest luxury.
• 15:28
  Speaker B: Yes, Love.
• 15:29
  Speaker A: And it gives you energy. And, you know, I, I talk, you know, every week to newly diagnosed autistic parents or employees of companies that have special needs children. And they're like, can you just tell me what you do you seem like, really happy and positive? I'm like, I didn't wake up at 30 years old in New York City and go, two children with non speaking autism. That is exactly the flavor of motherhood that I want. Yeah. Like, I didn't choose that, but I. There's no alternative. That is my reality. And I think that you can create the environment in your mind and body to reflect whatever you're feeling about the situation. So if you're going to, you know, think that your life is over and you're just a caretaker now, you will think your life will be over and you are just a caretaker.
• 16:15
  Speaker B: I love that.
• 16:15
  Speaker A: You know, what do you.
• 16:17
  Speaker B: I'm like, now can we interview you? What do you do to like, it kind of reminds me of my mom in a wheelchair. You know, like, you tell yourself when you've been given something you don't want, you didn't necessarily want, option A does not exist.
• 16:33
  Speaker A: Let's kick the shit out of option B. Like, I don't even consider, like, I. Obviously there's pangs of grief. That happens.
• 16:41
  Speaker B: Good morning. Yeah.
• 16:43
  Speaker A: And it's like, that happens in any grief timeline. If I am traveling somewhere or even in New York, like in the city, and I see like, you know, a mom around my age with like, girl, girl, boy, around the same age. And they're just. And the mom's like, hey, just stop at the stop sign or stop at the corner. And if I were walking parallel to her, I'd have like one on a leash, one in a stroller, and my oldest one helping me out.
• 17:04
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 17:05
  Speaker A: And I think those points of grief remind me of the choice that I have. That's my word of the year is choice. Like, I do not have option A. That's not even a choice. Like, that is literally not even a choice of mine. I have another choice, which is to lean in so big to who my children are that I know nothing else. And that only benefits them in the long run. It just does.
• 17:26
  Speaker B: It does.
• 17:27
  Speaker A: It benefits everyone involved. And then I replay a situation like that in New York and I replay my mind and going, that woman might not. Maybe she does. She might have had different hardships and she doesn't appreciate what she has. But as an outsider, who knows what great loss looks like to that dream, it's hard to like, hard to inject someone with that. Right? Like, I can't go up to her and go, you have no idea how lucky you are. Yeah, because I think I'm lucky too, because I have a mindfulness about Me that I would not have had.
• 17:55
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 17:56
  Speaker A: If I didn't have my kids.
• 17:57
  Speaker B: That's it.
• 17:58
  Speaker A: I love that I said, I think muscle memory also takes place in parenthood and motherhood, in that when you do the same thing over and over again for your child and then you realize you're doing it for yourself, that's. That's, like, the intersection of love and growth. Right.
• 18:12
  Speaker B: Wow.
• 18:12
  Speaker A: You know? Yeah. Yeah. What is. What is the biggest lesson your daughter has taught you about beauty and loving yourself and anything that has to do with the mission of Beyond Beauty Project?
• 18:23
  Speaker B: I think the biggest thing that she's taught me overall, and it definitely intersects with bbp, is like, so we live in a. I would say a type A area right outside of New York City, and, you know, moved there during COVID and got into it, and then she quickly, you know, couldn't keep up in school. So she has a lot of. She has ADHD and dyslexia and dyscalculia and all this stuff, you know, and it was hard, but we got her, you know, diagnosed. She moved schools. And I just quickly learned that, like, we weren't gonna be able to compete with everybody else because I got sucked into it for a second. Like, yeah, everyone has tutor. Extra tutors, and they're getting extra training for, like, whatever sports they're in. And I just said no. And it just. I guess. I guess it reinforced that belief of, like, you have to go with your timeline. You have to walk your top. Like, your path is the best path. Some more cliches.
• 19:23
  Speaker A: It is. It's so true. Well, anyway, let me say.
• 19:30
  Speaker B: I love your path is the best path. So write that one down, people. But, yeah, it's just like, she's so incredible, and, like, I've learned to, thankfully, through a lot of resources, like, help her in the way she needs help.
• 19:47
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 19:47
  Speaker B: For her nervous system, for her brain, for the way she works, and, like, she's thriving. And she's such an inspiration. Like, I didn't have that when I was little, and I spent so many years, like, trying to fit in, trying to be something else, trying to be more perfect. And she's just teaching me that, like, she just helps me do that more, too.
• 20:09
  Speaker A: Yes. Yeah.
• 20:11
  Speaker B: But I think it, like, the whole. Where we live in the school and, like, her, you know, things that's going on with her, it's just really made me, like, overall, in our life, we are doing our life. This is our life, our family, how we want to. How we want to do it, and that's the only people. It matters. It matters to no one else.
• 20:30
  Speaker A: It matters to no one else. I always say the world's reaction to me and my children being exactly who they are and not we are is none of my business. Yeah. Like, literally, if half the world thinks that I am ridiculous and have a baseless founding for my lived life experiences of autism, I'm cool.
• 20:48
  Speaker B: Yeah, like cool.
• 20:49
  Speaker A: I also realize through, you know, probably you do as entrepreneurs and mothers, there is a lot of Tisk Tisking from the peanut gallery on choices. And I realized, unless you're in the ring with your own mission, unless you're in the ring taking hits and changing and redoing paths and all this stuff, like, I literally could not care what your thought is on what my growth or potential is. And same, you know, it's like I trust in the process of it. For me. For me. Yes. Right. And I, I will pivot based on what my needs are. And the other thing I was going to mention, because you said you touched on it, is the greatest teachers or people that I would look to in life that were older than me are the ones who life has not made bitter. You know, like my, my boyfriend Mark's aunt is 82, single, has lived in New York City since 1965. And you look at her and she, you know, sixth floor walk up and she's still fit and everything. I'm always like, what's the biggest piece of advice? And she's like, stop caring what anyone thinks about your life choices. Yeah, totally. Because it's, it literally there's, there is nothing. She's like, there is nothing that is going to make everyone happy with what you choose to do and especially people that are closest to you.
• 22:02
  Speaker B: Yeah. Oh my God. I mean, I totally related to what you said about the entrepreneur life people having. I had no idea.
• 22:11
  Speaker A: I know.
• 22:11
  Speaker B: I had no idea. And I had just moved here too.
• 22:14
  Speaker A: So it was like a crazy situation. Yeah. My mom, just to interject, my mom. And you'll find this interesting, my mom was an entrepreneur and she's an artist and calligrapher. And to this day, and she's done it for like 40 years. Okay. So this is not like new that she grew a company, wildly successful, probably sells 400,000 greeting cards a year. People to this day, if I run into them from back home or a one off person will go, is your mom still doing that card thing? She gets paid to do that. And I recently reflected to my mom about that. I was like, mom, I remember hearing that. And I remember thinking, why are people questioning this? She travels around the country and goes to conferences and marketing shows. But it shows more about people's lack of ability, reality, to look inside themselves, to make a change for themselves, don't you think?
• 23:02
  Speaker B: I was just talking to my girlfriend who is just starting sort of a mission based. So she's on the very beginning of it and we were walking and she's like, God, I just feel like I'm getting like a little bit of, I don't know, like lack of support from some of my closest friends. It's so wild. And I'm like, yeah, that happens for some reason. I don't know. I don't know if it's jealousy. I don't know if it's. I don't know. I think it's probably jealous.
• 23:31
  Speaker A: There's something about taking the idea of it and when you actually do it, I don't know, I don't even know what to label it as. But there's something, there's some mismatch between people being supportive of you in an entrepreneurial sector and then when you're actually the entrepreneur doing it.
• 23:47
  Speaker B: I'm shocked that you're getting any of this because I think this is a big issue that is probably not talked about in the entrepreneur especially probably with. Probably only with women. Most of us.
• 23:58
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 23:59
  Speaker B: What could anybody have pushed back with you? Like you are doing such a beautiful.
• 24:03
  Speaker A: Thing that I am using my children to pawn off a business. No, I'm just telling you what I've heard from trolls, okay. That I'm only making money based on my children being cute.
• 24:16
  Speaker B: I'm getting so mad the hairs are.
• 24:17
  Speaker A: Standing up that it's not my story to share, it's theirs.
• 24:21
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 24:21
  Speaker A: So I mean those are, those are three. Exactly. So those are three different things. And I, and I. And again, I have the mindset and awareness enough to know everyone, everyone's attacked. Like no one in this world is going to be negate of like conflict like this. But when it happens to you, you're just like, really? Honestly. But yeah, I mean that's the biggest. Constantly is always. Why do you show their faces? You should not be pawning your children off to create your advocacy firm. And I'm like, well, that's why I'm an advocate.
• 24:48
  Speaker B: That's why you're an advocate and an activist.
• 24:50
  Speaker A: Like that's. They, they, they are. Their lived experience with an inability to speak with their vocal box has allowed me the privilege to not only be their voice, but to also share what the incredible angles of neurodiversity are. Yeah. And if that bothers you so much, unfollow.
• 25:10
  Speaker B: And also, you don't know. You have no. Like. Like you said earlier, if you're not in the ring with me.
• 25:15
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 25:15
  Speaker B: You don't even know what it's like.
• 25:17
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 25:17
  Speaker B: How could they ever know what that's like? Going through that. Yeah. So if this is what. This makes me very angry. If this is what. Sorry. But I think.
• 25:26
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 25:27
  Speaker B: Horrific. If this is the thing that gets you out of bed and can make you be a good mom because you're pouring yourself into this, then awesome.
• 25:37
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 25:37
  Speaker B: Like. Like, screw you.
• 25:39
  Speaker A: I mean, all we all want, like, is the internal cheerleader and all of us to go. I know that my purpose and the boiling up of all the good juju that I have because my children have shown to your point that each one of us are worthy from the second we are born to be who we are. Why am I not allowed to do that, too? And being rough, like, I always. You know, the biggest, smallest tattoo I have is why, oh, why can't I? Which is the last line of Somewhere over the Rainbow, which is one of the first phrases Millie said, like, why, why can't I?
• 26:09
  Speaker B: Well, but it's also, like, we're doing similar things, Right. I'm doing a mission about, you know, body image and the stuff I went through. You're doing something about what you went through. I'm healing myself, doing my mission. Why can't you do that? Why wouldn't the people be happy for you?
• 26:25
  Speaker A: That.
• 26:26
  Speaker B: God, she gets to take this situation that she was given that's. And she gets to turn it into a positive and help other people, like, if they can't see that that is a them problem. Well, yeah, it's not a you problem, which I know you know, but.
• 26:41
  Speaker A: Yeah, it is so hard. It is so hard to, like, rein in that mentality sometimes because you're just. It's so.
• 26:47
  Speaker B: No, I know.
• 26:48
  Speaker A: Jarring. It is so jarring. But at the end of the day, I always think, like, I'm so glad that I am who I am to be able to say thank you next, you know?
• 26:57
  Speaker B: Well, and I think becoming an entrepreneur really changes. Changes the people you surround her with. I know. Like, I've cleaned out, I've brought in, and I mean, I just got a horrible message from this old makeup artist. I mean, it was, like, pages and pages and pages. My God, just about how, like, I benefited off of my beauty and blah, blah, blah, and I got My husband, I mean, he just tore me apart. And how I looked like I was trying to go after, like, lesbians and work at home.
• 27:26
  Speaker A: Oh, my God.
• 27:27
  Speaker B: It was just, like, ridiculous. And I was just like. And it was so ridiculous that I'm like, I'm not gonna think about it. I thought about it for three days because I'm human. You're human. People just, like, have time to do stuff. I don't know. I just think so. I have this. I have another thing.
• 27:43
  Speaker A: It's a dopamine hit, though. I think that has to be a dopamine hit for people, because if you can't create that for yourself, the only other way you can create a dopamine hit is by you. Like, you.
• 27:53
  Speaker B: Yes. That's what it is.
• 27:54
  Speaker A: It's like, are you. When you're like, me, like, I didn't do anything to you? But they have to. They have to. There's no other way. They get a dope meeting.
• 28:02
  Speaker B: That's it. That is definitely part of it, you know? Well, I have another saying for everybody.
• 28:06
  Speaker A: Let's do it. Yep.
• 28:07
  Speaker B: So this came from one of my mentors. She always says, when you do what's right for you, even if you don't understand it, it's always right for everyone else. I mean. Sorry. When you do what's right for you, it's always right for everyone else, even if you don't understand why it could be right for them. So.
• 28:25
  Speaker A: Yes, right.
• 28:27
  Speaker B: So, like, if you're really, like, checking in and being true to, like, what your heart says, you know what you need in your life, and you do that thing, obviously, without harming people, it is right for everyone else. And if we could all start living our life like that, and you can see, you know, you can even just, like, imagine this collective, like, the world, and it's sort of that, like, Mel Robbins, like, let them be.
• 28:52
  Speaker A: Let them.
• 28:53
  Speaker B: Just let them be. Like, if I'm doing something that's healing me and, like, so many people are getting a benefit out of it. Just you do you.
• 29:00
  Speaker A: You do you. Yeah. Because in accepting that mentality of it, you can also beautifully analyze. Without hopefully overthinking it, you can beautifully analyze the choice we have. There's a choice to live like that and to live into your freedom of who you are and to promote stories and missions that you hope will latch onto certain other women and humans and then the naysayers and sort of the, you know, like I say, like the popcorn seat critics, I firmly. Like. I can't say this like, with enough emphasis. The amount of energy it takes to, like, pull up a name and then to write that all out to someone and then press send. Like, that is such a darkness. That is such a lack of light. And it makes me. I mean, I. Maybe we're empaths, but, like, it does. I feel so sad for the person that presses send on those things.
• 29:49
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 29:49
  Speaker A: Because that is. That is such a spot that they have to be in that the only light they can create is to throw as far as they can and to shatter something that's bright and light. I mean, it's just like, I. I don't want to have empathy for them, but, like, they must. There's such sadness.
• 30:06
  Speaker B: No, I do too. It's funny because my husband's like, aren't you pissed? I'm like, I'm not really. I mean, I'm like, I just. That's sad.
• 30:14
  Speaker A: You know what? They're paying attention. I always say they're paying attention.
• 30:17
  Speaker B: That's what I said too. I'm like, they're paying attention. There's something going on that's like deeper, like, stirring them. We know.
• 30:25
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 30:25
  Speaker B: So.
• 30:26
  Speaker A: Well, we could talk for 45,000 hours. So let's just before as we wrap up, because I have a two o' clock call, give me one or two of your most recent inch zone wins as Bridget and then maybe one or two for your mission that have recently come to fruition.
• 30:42
  Speaker B: Okay. I love that. Okay. So for myself, I would say, you know, I think I had a rough time after I lost the twins with, like, you know, I felt like I lost my body, I lost my, like, groove. I went through a lot of hormone issues. I'm in, like, they call it, like, trauma menopause. And I had lines, all this stuff. So I feel like I'm, like, getting my groove back. I told my husband, I'm like, I'm getting my hot back this year.
• 31:09
  Speaker A: Yeah, I get that.
• 31:11
  Speaker B: People will say like, oh, but you, like, don't care about, like, what you look like, right?
• 31:15
  Speaker A: And I'm like, it's not that. Yeah.
• 31:19
  Speaker B: Like, you're allowed to, like, care what you look like.
• 31:21
  Speaker A: You're juju.
• 31:22
  Speaker B: Like, I feel like I'm like, back to the gym. I feel like I'm getting my strength back. So that's a huge win because just that is so connected to my mental health. I feel like things are grooving with my daughter. She, like, got into this competition school, which is like, competition dance school. It was like a big thing for her. So I'm really proud of her. And.
• 31:44
  Speaker A: Give me one second, Suzanne. Thanks. I love that she came in early.
• 31:48
  Speaker B: Hey, it's good. And then I would say, with Beyond Beauty Project, just have gathered this beautiful team. So I think that's a huge win because it's, like, who you surround yourself with. And just this feedback I get from, like, all of my workshops I'm doing is just invaluable. I just. I love it. I love the girl. The little girls, when I work with them, I had a. I'll tell a quick story. And then a little girl, we were talking about what makes a good friend, and we had, obviously, art already gone through, like, appreciating what our bodies do for us and that we're more than our appearance and all that kind of stuff that I teach. And she stood up. She was, like, doodling on this paper plate, and she holds it up. She goes up in front of all her friends, and it's a girl. And one side, her hair's all messy and crazy, and, like, she has this frown face, and then the other one's smiley, and her hair's perfect. And she said, a good friend is someone that accepts both sides of me. My messy, sad side and also my happy, perfect side.
• 32:53
  Speaker A: You did it. You did it, you did it, you did it.
• 32:57
  Speaker B: So, yeah. Or like, when moms will text me and be like, my daughter's meditating, or they're journaling, so I teach them this, like, just body check in. Like, what's your body check in with your intuition? So all those little ones, I think it's like, again, it's little in stone.
• 33:11
  Speaker A: It is. It's just, like, you have to keep doing it. You just have to keep doing it. And I'm probably the one that. But again, like, you do your mission because it's healing you as well. I'm the same. I have to remind myself this every damn day. Every damn day. I have to say yes to this and have to go, okay, I can't do that big thing. And what is one small thing that I can do to get me to that goal?
• 33:28
  Speaker B: Yeah. And you know what? Remember all those things, because it's like the guy that gets out of his bed and puts his slippers on.
• 33:34
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 33:35
  Speaker B: Yeah, I put my slippers on.
• 33:36
  Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
• 33:38
  Speaker B: Anytime people give you encouragement and stuff, because entrepreneurial life is hard, too. And, like, you get those popcorn critics and all that stuff, and you just have to keep staying focused on what you're doing. What you're doing is beautiful. It is needed. Well, back at you friend, it's needed for everybody, but it's probably needed for you too, and that's okay. That's a very self loving thing to do for yourself and for your children. And I think just having these little nuggets of conversation you can give to other parents is just awesome.
• 34:11
  Speaker A: And just reminding that we're all worthy. It doesn't matter what, who, how, it all shows up when we are born.
• 34:17
  Speaker B: There is not one person in the world that looks at a baby and says, that baby's not worthy.
• 34:22
  Speaker A: Exactly.
• 34:23
  Speaker B: That baby. No, it's not going to have.
• 34:25
  Speaker A: I hate that baby.
• 34:26
  Speaker B: It's not going to have good ability.
• 34:28
  Speaker A: Right.
• 34:29
  Speaker B: It's not going to have the right skin tone.
• 34:31
  Speaker A: No.
• 34:31
  Speaker B: Everybody's worthy. And we just. Society sort of conditions us and teaches us.
• 34:36
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 34:36
  Speaker B: A lot of the heartache we go through is we have these like, ideals of what it's supposed to be like. So we can shift away from that. Okay, so we'll talk forever.
• 34:45
  Speaker A: See, we'll talk forever. This is part one of 92 and we'll have Bridget back next time on the Inches podcast. I love it, but no, thank you so much. We really will talk about this again. And I am so thankful for your mission. I'm all about giving and you are a giver. And it's not things, it's purpose and it's health and it's self love and self reflection. So thank you for all that you do.
• 35:07
  Speaker B: Thank you so much for having me. Thank you for what you do and thank you. I can't wait to continue talking.
• 35:11
  Speaker A: All right, until next time on the Inch Jones podcast.