We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maya Rose Phillips a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Maya Rose , 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 developed my confidence and self-esteem by establishing a great relationship with God, by affirming positivity into myself through self-efficacy, and by competing in beauty pageants. Throughout our life, we all may struggle with confidence at some point as we begin to realize that we are our own worse critics. By understanding how God creates us perfectly in his eyes and in his likeness, I began to love everything about myself. Building my self-esteem and confidence is a beautiful way to fall in love with who God called you to be. If we continue to realize how we are fearfully and wonderfully made, this attitude will transcend in our spirits forever.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m currently on the path of being an educator by working with elementary school students and finishing my Master’s Degree in Elementary Education at South Carolina State University. I’ve always had a genuine love for children and I’m blessed to be in a position where I’m able to inspire young minds for success in their futures. In order to be an educator, you have to love teaching, motivating, inspiring, and leading your students as a positive role model that will always be apart of their memories. I truly enjoy helping children with their education and strengthening their ability to believe they can achieve anything in life. When I was growing up in school, at times I struggled with being bullied or teased for various reasons. I promised myself that I will be the beacon of light in children’s lives that helps build their self efficacy, self-esteem, and confidence. I’ve always loved competing in beauty pageants since I was 4-years-old and this is a big part of what built my self-esteem growing up. My teachers, my family, and pageant judges continuously poured into me as a young girl throughout adulthood. I’m currently representing the state of South Carolina at the Miss Black International Pageant as Ms. Black South Carolina International Ambassador. Being apart of this pageant organization has been such a great experience and has been truly an honor to contribute my leadership to. I’m excited to be competing on the international stage this October in Atlanta, GA for the opportunity to become the next Ms. Black International Ambassador.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The three qualities that were most impactful on my journey will always be viewed as a blessing in my life and helped me navigate life’s journey throughout every chapter of my story. I’m a compassionate, ambitious, and innovative person whose tenacity helped my light shine bright regardless of any obstacle set forth on my path. I’ve learned to love and trust that God has carefully crafted this Rose to become the most unique flower in the garden of life. By being true to myself, having good morals, and believing in my own abilities, I’ve have the opportunity to experience a variety of amazing accomplishments. The advice that I would give for young people that are beginning their journey is to always believe in their abilities and have faith that you will be successful no matter the obstacle. In order to develop and improve yourself, you have to trust the process that everything you experience will be to build your character. I always like to say, “after the rain, always comes sunshine” and I would encourage children to remember this motto. We all have ups and downs in life, but we will remain victorious after we give it our all. The sky is truly the limit and regardless of how hard life gets, we should never give up on ourselves despite adversity. In order to inspire the next generation and leave a legacy of positivity, we have to continue to grow into the best version of who we know we can be.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
I have to first give credit and thanks to God for being the guiding force in my life to overcome any obstacle I’ve experience. God has created me to be the best version of myself and I truly believe that he made me perfect in his image. I’ve been fearfully and wonderfully made with the help of God’s everlasting love. I will always thank God for being so amazing and for allowing me to possess great qualities. God’s has equipped me with everything I’ve ever wanted to be successful in life and I trust in my faith enough to know how pleased he is with me fulfilling my purpose in life. My parents and grandparents have been a great blessing to my life. I’m so thankful for my family and I thank God for giving me the parents that I have. They’ve genuinely guided me the best way they knew how and they are always supporting everything I put my mind too. I’ve been able to experience amazing parents who’ve given me their all to help me overcome challenges in life. My parents are always encouraging me, pushing me, supporting me, helping me, guiding me, and loving me no matter what age I am. I thank God for allowing my parents to be a positive role model in my life who I’ve learned so much from. Again, my parents are such a blessing to me that I will always be so thankful for.
Contact Info:
- Instagram:www.instagram.com/mayarosephillips, www.instagram.com/mbiamssouthcarolina
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/maya.r.phillips
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@MayaRosePhillips
Image Credits
Photographer: Tyrus Davis Instagram: wwww.instagram.com/tdvisualarts Makeup Artist: Bre Instagram: wwww.instagram.com/beatzbybre
