Nourishing & Flourishing - Paige Riebel

Happy Friday! I am beyond stoked to introduce a new segment on the blog called 'Femme Friday'. Every week, I will be featuring boss babes who our doing their own thang.

To start us off, I asked my good friend Paige to answer some questions that I hope will be inspiring to you and your own endeavors.

What inspired you to create your own brand?

My brand, Nourishing & Flourishing, stemmed from the sole concept of self-respect and self-love. I feel like we as a people have tampered with the intended definition of health. For a very long time, I became caught up with societal expectations, and during this time I began to believe that health equated to being a slave to the scale, punishing yourself in the gym, and restricting your appetite. I truly feel as thought I lost myself during this period in my life. I was in a constant tug-a-war with the contradictory cultural messages to "be myself" but also fit into society's ideals. I became weighed down by the pressure to fit in, but also find my own voice in that process of conforming. I hope that through Nourishing & Flourishing, my readers will realize that health is not a penalty, but instead it is a gift that we get to give our bodies. We too often forget that in our struggle to find contentment with our appearances, our bodies are actually our friends. As we nourish our bodies, they will flourish -- physically, mentally, and spiritually. Our bodies are not meant to fit societal ideals. Our bodies are not meant to be harmed. Our bodies are meant to grow wherever they feel most at home. Our bodies need to be treated kindly, and in response, they will begin to show kind results. Health is so much more than a diet, or a mentality, or a ritual; health is a lifestyle that should invade our every thought and push us to want more goodness.

What message are you trying to put out into the world with what you create?

I believe that health is about knowing our place and taking up space in this world. I think it takes courage to become health oriented. It is hard to face and upheave certain things within us that we have taught ourselves are true. I think health forces us to become vulnerable with ourselves, and that is often times very uncomfortable. I also believe that we are a people of worth, possibility, and intention. As we heal ourselves and find health, we can realize that we have not been created to abuse or hurt ourselves. We have to allow ourselves to be kind. While we have the capacity to be kind, we also owe it to ourselves to learn to shower that kindness upon ourselves -- just as much as the world we dwell in. We can't show others love if we ourselves are void of it. Self-love has to come first. If we give ourselves the permission to break confines, I believe that we will begin to view our bodies as valuable gifts, and vessels of good.

What advice do you have for girls who are starting out?

Don't wait, just go for it. Honestly, it took me FOREVER to finally go ahead and start my brand. I didn't feel like it was going to be good enough, I didn't know if people would actually read my posts, etc, etc, etc. At the end of the day I told myself, WHO CARES. Who cares if no one likes my content? Who cares if I don't get 82 thousand likes and Justin Bieber doesn't see my posts? (still waiting btw) If you are passionate about what you're posting and what you're putting out there, then does it actually matter if anyone else likes it? NO. NO, NO, NO. You do you, girl! If you want to start a blog, do it. If you want to start a Etsy shop, do it. If you want to start a vlog, do it. If you want to start an independent business, by all means, freaking do it. No one ever regretted trying. If your brand, blog, shop, or business flops? Okay, no biggie, shake it off and begin again. You passions are meant to be heard. You have not been given a voice to be silent. You have not been given talents to keep them covered. If you want to do something, I say absolutely go for it. Don't overthink it, don't wait, listen to Nike "just do it."

What has been the greatest reward of all your hard work so far?

The community. I have met so. many. amazing women because of my brand. It's crazy to think that if I didn't ever start my brand, if I didn't take that step and just do it, then I never would have come in contact with the people I have. Technology is a wonderful thing, and I am so thankful we live in an age where technology is so advanced and safely accessible to us. I've met individuals from all around the globe because of technology that I never would have met without. There's no way I would have ever talked to someone in Switzerland without the means of technology.

Another thing that goes hand in hand with community is the responses of those individuals from the community I have encountered. The comments, questions, and support I have gotten from my followers have blown me away. My followers not only cheer me on, but they also push me to learn more, dig deeper, and become more and more authentically me.

Why is it important for girls to find their own voice and share it with the world?

Each and every individual on this earth is unique. No two people are alike, and I think that is reason enough to encourage girls to find their own voice. No one will be able to explain, to share, or to talk about something the way you are able to. You are exclusively yours, and no one can take that away from you. Your voice, your mind, your thoughts, your insight, you. Even in the moments you feel most small and insufficient, the truth still remains that there is NO ONE LIKE YOU. Isn't that empowering? To know that there is no one on this earth that is the same as you. We are placed on this earth for a reason, we aren't just here to live a mundane, uneventful lives. We are here to impact. We are here to be heard. We are here to speak the things we feel inclined to speak. We are here to spark passion and overall we are here to live originally as ourselves. What good is it to masquerade as someone we weren't created to be. Don't force yourself into a place or position you were not intended or do not feel comfortable being in. If you're a square peg in a triangle-holed world, then heck, don't try to fit in with the other triangles -- go find others like you, go someplace that enunciates your spirit instead of suppressing it. Don't live your whole life trying to be like the other ones, go be you, because you are preciously your own, and that is so, so enough.

#empowerment