We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Hayley Herms. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Hayley below.
Hi Hayley, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
I think developing confidence and self-esteem is kind of like playing a sport – the more you practice, the better you get and it becomes muscle memory. We live in a society where we’re always being told we’re not good enough so companies and people can profit off of insecurities and low self-esteem so the best way to combat that is unlearn old thinking patterns and retrain your brain. With that said, I try to build my confidence and self-esteem with little tips and tricks such as… writing positive affirmations on sticky notes and putting them around my house, doing mirror work, surrounding myself with people who want me to grow and use effective communication, journaling, and other self growth tools.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a plus size model, entertainer and entrepreneur. Although I’m mostly known for modeling, I also act, run a blog for aspiring models, doing coaching and consultations for aspiring models, have a podcast about sexual wellness and cannabis for women, run a small management company for POC and LGBTQ+ content creators, and make music.
What’s special and exciting about all the companies I run and I am apart of, is that I am able to help amplify and grow voices for people who have historically and statistically been marginalized.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Three skills that were impactful in my journey are…
1. Investing in myself – through investing in myself in things such as courses and online resources, I was able to grow my business and quit my regular jobs to pursue my job as a full time entertainer and entrepreneur a few years ago. If you’re passionate about something (heck even if you’re not) investing in yourself to find out if something is for you is important and was key for me.
2. Effective communication – I always tell my friends and clients, it’s not about what you say, but how you say it!!! Learning how to communicate effectively has helped me secure modeling jobs and brand deals that may not have come otherwise if I didn’t know how to effectively communicate when reaching out, networking and/or pitching myself.
3. Be the student and the teacher – although we can develop great skill sets over time, there is always something new to learn or grow in and being able to intake and process feedback is important. Never stop learning.
The best way to develop or improve on these skills are to invest in yourself, go out of your way to study ways to effectively communicate think of it like you’re a PR person or a lawyer – there’s always a special way of conveying the message you’re trying to get across even if it’s hard one. And lastly, keep an open mind that you don’t always know everything and you can always learn something new.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
I think it’s better to go all in on our strengths rather then trying to strengthen your weakness. Not everyone can do everything and thats okay!!! Playing to your strengths will always help you become an asset in your field and come out on top! Playing to your weaknesses is defensive when you should be doubling down on your strengths.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hayleyherms.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hayleyhermsofficial/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HayleyHerms/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/hayleyherms
Image Credits
Anastasiya Sazhina Bonnie Nichoalds Lauren Naylor
