We recently connected with Love Atiya and have shared our conversation below.
Love, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I am extremely lucky when it comes to knowing my purpose as I know this is something a lot of people struggle with and I am even luckier to have learned my purpose when I was a little girl.
I have always known, from the day that I could formulate a thought, that I was placed on this earth to save animals.
When I was younger I made a petition against deforestation and poaching and wanted to get the president to sign off on it. I went around my neighborhood and was able to get 99 signatures and was so proud of myself.
Eventually I realized people listened to people with a platform, so I began to use my talents to help me gain that platform. I used to say “I just want to be famous so I can talk about animal rights and have people actually listen.”
I made many mistakes while learning about my purpose and had to give myself A LOT of grace. I used to support zoos, aquariums were my favorite place and although the circus made me extremely anxious because of their cruel animal acts I would still go to support the willing human performers.
Now that I’ve learned more about my purpose a lot changed when it came to my lifestyle, including going vegan, not supporting institutions with wild animals in captivity and so much more.
I began using my voice on Tiktok once I was invited into a partnership with the app and gained millions of views on my animal activist content. It taught me that my voice mattered and all I needed was to be introduced to people who cared.
Around the age of 13 I realized I had another purpose and that was making people feel good about themselves.
When I moved to Atlanta at the age of 22 my dad purchased a camera for me which helped me launch my photography company The Lens Goddess where I specialized in taking photos of people while complimenting them throughout their entire shoot.
As a model, I used to be so in my head and experienced so much trauma from certain photographers.
If only I had someone encouraging me and uplifting me during my photoshoots. I decided to become that safe space for others and eventually shot with people who originally HATED how they looked on camera but felt a new sense of self love after my shoots.
This then transformed into my hair and skin care business Ethereal By Love Atiya where I created vegan and cruelty free products that not only helped ME feel better about myself but also boosted the self love and self esteem within those who used it.
Finally I found an even greater purpose and a way to incorporate ALL of those great attributes above when I started my pleasure positive podcast The Love Atiya Experience.
Tiktok was great for my animal activism content but when it came to content uplifting women and removing the shame and stigma surrounding sex, pleasure, masturbation and all things self love, the censorship was REAL.
I know my purpose is to make this world a better place, by helping people see the beauty inside themselves and within nature and I think my podcast was a perfect way to bring ALL of my purposes into one full, safe space.
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?
Today is actually a special day because I learned I have 10,000 downloads on my pleasure positive podcast The Love Atiya Experience and this was transformational for me as I had to jump through HOOPS to get my podcast started.
I remember the day I recorded my first episode and there were so many obstacles. My mic wasn’t working, I broke out and was supposed to be on film, my neighbor was outside talking loudly and you could hear it in the audio, the landscapers came out and were using loud machines and weed whackers and last but not least I got a bad case of the hiccups.
I decided I wasn’t going to let any of that stop me.
I knew I needed to create this safe space for myself on my podcast because social media was severely stifling my voice and that was utterly discouraging.
In my first podcast episode I talked about my first sexual experiences after working through some major trauma and it was SUCH a healing episode for me.
In my second episode I spoke for 2 hours about one of the most traumatic experiences in my life and ended up deleting the entire episode before it ever got posted.
One of the reasons I like sharing this story is because I believe that sometimes there are going to be trials and tribulations but remembering the goal and having the courage to keep going and not being scared to start over has always gotten me so far in life, it’s no different when it comes to my podcast.
Now my podcast has reached thousands of people and I feel like I have stayed true to my goal of removing the shame and stigma surrounding all things self love, sex & pleasure.
My imposter syndrome was REAL and it took a lot of positive self talk to help me actually SEE myself and see the worth in all of my creations.
I think the censorship on social media helped me become even more vocal about the causes I care about the most. You wanna shut me up? I’m gonna scream a lot louder now.
My podcast talks about everything taboo from mental health to sex and always incorporates a WILD story time about my past. I’m grateful to have not only created this safe space for myself but to have created this safe space for others as well.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
My favorite three qualities about myself that I’ve always had within me but needed to develop over time are Self compassion and compassion for others, a lack of judgement for myself and for others and patience for myself and for others.
I think these three qualities took A LOT of time to develop because of certain things that I was growing through but being on the other side now that i’ve created an intention to be kinder to myself, has helped expand my quality of life as a whole.
Therapy is always my #1 suggestion for anyone on this earth. People like to say money is a problem when it comes to therapy but don’t mind dropping a thousand dollars on clothes, a bag, a night of partying or shoes.
There are so many resources out there for people who are struggling in all aspects (mentally, financially, emotionally) and all you have to do is take the leap and put yourself first.
I also mention a lot of these resources on my podcast The Love Atiya Experience.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
The biggest area of growth for me in the past 12 months has truly been my confidence and being able to see myself and love myself for ALL that I am.
My entire life people have tried to tell me I’m too much, too loud, too bossy, too emotional, too sensitive and I finally realized these are the things that made me beautiful and the people who were saying these things weren’t MY people.
I am learning how to become my own biggest fan, my biggest support system and my own best friend.
I’ve done a lot of inner child work, throughout my journey with therapy which has really helped me with this.
I remember the last time I was told I was too sensitive I was finally able to stand up for myself and share just how beautiful my sensitivity made me.
There was a time in my life when I was so numb, trying to protect myself from the pain and I think tapping into my sensitivity helped me begin to have healthier relationships around people who made me feel safe.
My sensitivity also reminded me how courageous I am because being “A sensitive” in this world is NOT easy.
My podcast is a place where I can be myself with absolutely NO judgement, I can speak freely, I can share my trauma, I can share my energy, I can share my joy and excitement for things and I can share stories I’ve kept with me for YEARS.
My podcast has definitely become the safe space that little me needed to be able to flourish.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.loveatiya.com/
- Instagram: loveatiya
- Youtube: iloveatiya
- Podcast: https://theloveatiyaexperience.buzzsprout.com/
Image Credits
The Lens Goddess Photography MTBlackPhotography StilljustPJ Photography
