Ambassadors Share Their Stories (April '22 Edition)
Happy April, besties!! We're back with a NEW Ambassadors Share Their Stories (April '22 Edition)! This month we're highlighting the amazing stories of Gabriela Bonilla-Gauthier, Georgia Fletcher, and Julia Spagnolia.
Let’s meet some of the incredible women who are part of the #VitaeBabe community and learn how they overcame and continue to overcome feeling unconfident, dealing with anxiety, and living with depression.
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Gabriela Bonilla-Gauthier
@growthwithgabriela
Montréal, QC
@growthwithgabriela
Montréal, QC
"From when I was very young to the age of 17, I felt like I was average. Always felt not so bad, but not at the top of the game. I felt this way because of my physique, my body shape, and my weight.
I learned how to feel comfortable and accept my body no matter how it is. At the age of 17, I began to train 6 times a week and then I had a body transformation (I lost weight). I became more confident in my body and I truly feel now that I am on top of the game, and I truly feel that I radiate 100% of my magic, shine and power to the world! I learned to never give up, to always live by "just do it" and embody confidence with a healthy lifestyle that I choose every day. And that makes me more passionate about life than I was before."
I learned how to feel comfortable and accept my body no matter how it is. At the age of 17, I began to train 6 times a week and then I had a body transformation (I lost weight). I became more confident in my body and I truly feel now that I am on top of the game, and I truly feel that I radiate 100% of my magic, shine and power to the world! I learned to never give up, to always live by "just do it" and embody confidence with a healthy lifestyle that I choose every day. And that makes me more passionate about life than I was before."
Georgia Fletcher
@gveefletcher
Vancouver, BC
@gveefletcher
Vancouver, BC
"I have what is now called Illness anxiety (formerly know as hypochondria) which is characterized as a persistent fear of a serious or life-threatening illness.
A few years back, I was working a serving job and my legs became weak, like they could give out at any moment. I panicked and went straight to my chiropractor, as I had been working out regularly and thought I could have tweaked something. After being examined and awaiting the answer of what may have caused my legs to suddenly feel weak, it turned out I had slipped my L4L5 S1 disc in my lumbar spine. As a precaution I was advised to rest, elevate my legs, and rotate hot and colds on my back, but watch out for any numbness, tingling, or sudden loss of bladder control.
With illness anxiety, a person will map out the worst case scenario and become fixated on a negative outcome - this is what was happening to me mentally along with physical muscle weakness, occasion tingling and sharp shooting pain down the back of my legs (sciatic nerve pain).
This was a time where I mentally and physically struggled. I sought out therapy, naturopathic doctors, nature remedies, books, etc all in an effort to simply feel better because my mind would race and I wasn’t physically capable of being back at the gym with this type of injury.
Needless to say, I did prevail and learned an exceptional amount about the power of a positive mindset, meditation and coping mechanisms to manage negative thought patterns in times of mental and physical distress."
Julia Spagnolia
@juliaspagnolia
Pennsylvania, USA
@juliaspagnolia
Pennsylvania, USA
"I grew up with the idea that education was the most important thing to finding success. Being great in high school and even greater in college. I found a love for photography after I learned all the ins and outs of it in high school.
I had these huge goals that were wildly influenced by the people around me. "You'll look better with a degree", "You need a degree". The word degree was drilled in my mind since a young age. I knew it had to be done no matter what. I had a goal to go to this huge university, and become this amazing photographer.
I joined the college community in 2020, smack in the middle of the pandemic. Everything was online, from my gen ed classes to my hands on photography classes. All of it. I started to become depressed because I realized that to me a degree wasn't worth it. I could be a photographer, I could do all of this stuff on my own, and I knew that, and I wanted to prove to everyone that I knew that.
No one supported my decision. Everyone begged me to finish my degree, move on to a four year school and get two degrees. TWO. I finally made my decision in summer 2021. I would end with my associates degree and that would be the end of it. It wasn't anyone's favorite answer, but it had the word degree in it so it didn't matter.
Fall semester 2021 was the worst time of my life. I was failing left and right, it was my last semester, as long as I passed what did it matter? But it did matter, all the failing and the stress made me very depressed. I was in the worst spot of my life. I wasn't happy and no one around me was allowed to be happy. I was a mess.
But in the end, I powered through, I counted down the weeks and maybe skipped a few... but in the end, I now have a degree in Digital Photography and I am glad to have learned what I have."
I had these huge goals that were wildly influenced by the people around me. "You'll look better with a degree", "You need a degree". The word degree was drilled in my mind since a young age. I knew it had to be done no matter what. I had a goal to go to this huge university, and become this amazing photographer.
I joined the college community in 2020, smack in the middle of the pandemic. Everything was online, from my gen ed classes to my hands on photography classes. All of it. I started to become depressed because I realized that to me a degree wasn't worth it. I could be a photographer, I could do all of this stuff on my own, and I knew that, and I wanted to prove to everyone that I knew that.
No one supported my decision. Everyone begged me to finish my degree, move on to a four year school and get two degrees. TWO. I finally made my decision in summer 2021. I would end with my associates degree and that would be the end of it. It wasn't anyone's favorite answer, but it had the word degree in it so it didn't matter.
Fall semester 2021 was the worst time of my life. I was failing left and right, it was my last semester, as long as I passed what did it matter? But it did matter, all the failing and the stress made me very depressed. I was in the worst spot of my life. I wasn't happy and no one around me was allowed to be happy. I was a mess.
But in the end, I powered through, I counted down the weeks and maybe skipped a few... but in the end, I now have a degree in Digital Photography and I am glad to have learned what I have."
Whether you're trying to navigate through your self-love journey or you get hit with an unlucky life obstacle - if you can relate to any of these ladies above, just remember that everything is going to be okay.
We are so honoured to have such these women as our VITAE ambassadors, who are able to share their story to let others know they are not alone.
Thank you to these strong ladies & see you next month, babe!
We are so honoured to have such these women as our VITAE ambassadors, who are able to share their story to let others know they are not alone.
Thank you to these strong ladies & see you next month, babe!
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If you have a story you would like to share, we'd love to hear it!
Please email us at media@vitaeapparel.com with your name, IG handle, location, a photo of yourself in Vitae, along with your story and your favourite Vitae set/pieces. Make the subject line "Share your story" so we don't miss it!
With love, Vitae Apparel xx
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