Love Yourself, The Interview, With Sabrina Barnett And Her Empowerment Clothing For Women
LOVE YOURSELF, THE INTERVIEW, WITH SABRINA BARNETT AND HER EMPOWERMENT CLOTHING FOR WOMEN (Issue 37)
By Diane Gold
Sabrina Barnett, best known for being a high fashion model, a musician and philanthropist, is an evangelist for women’s self-esteem and has designed women’s empowerment clothing for that purpose. This article is based on our interview. (Check out Sabrina’s T-shirt coupon, too.)
Sabrina begins by talking about her “slow progression” from model to designer.
Sabrina
I realized that there [were] a lot of models that are getting paid a lot of money, that don’t really feel good about themselves [or] feel comfortable in their own skin. And I thought to myself, well after all these years of modeling, if there [are] women that are getting paid money for the way that they look that aren’t feeling good about the way that they look, I can’t even imagine what it would be like in the population at large. And, so when I started really doing some research, I realized that it’s a real problem for us, our self-esteem, our self-worth and our self-image.
I’ve been very blessed to work with some of the best designers. And, so, I’ve sort of taken that information from colors and fabrics, and the look of things.
And then understanding, wow, we’ve got a real problem with self-esteem issues with women, no matter whether they are professional models or whether they are what society says is not attractive, which is really the reason why I decided to come up with this empowerment line for women.
Diane
One of the things I saw in your line was that your sizes went up to triple X. I immediately appreciated that.
Sabrina
The most important thing in life is to embrace ourselves for who we are and what we represent. And, that really has very little to do with the way that you look. And, I know society puts such a huge importance on it. And, when I was modeling, I always said, somehow I want to give back to women. And, I thought it was going to be in a self-help book of behind the scenes modeling, to show them that there’s so many …
… gorgeous pictures that you see – there’s a makeup artist that works on you an hour, a hairdresser that works on you an hour, best photographers, best assistants, best lighting. They take five hundred pictures, if not more. So, it’s really an illusion.
And, yes, these women are absolutely gorgeous, but so are you.
Diane Narrative
After all her years in front of the camera, Sabrina has become a great photographer, too. She took many incredible photos of me.
Sabrina
The T-shirt collection is an empowering collection because instead of having skull and bones, or instead of having nothing on a [T-]shirt, I have certain messages such as, ‘I am worthy, I admire kind people, I‘m a soulful spirit, ‘I am powerful.’ Beautiful messages that are very short, that are very to the point, and anybody that reads you can read your inner beauty, your inner expressions.
So, that’s why it’s clothing with a purpose. But, more importantly with the sizing, we start out small, medium, and instead of calling a woman large…we say ‘love.’
… We say, small, medium, love, extra love, double love, and yes, ladies, we have triple love!
…For all those women who have been called triple large, we say triple love. And it’s just love yourself. It’s such an important message. And, that is really the message that goes into your other question.
Diane Narrative
I had asked Sabrina if she had the power, how she would have girls think about themselves.
Sabrina
The most important thing I would tell … everybody that I can out there – and I do on a daily basis and every shirt that gets shipped is another reminder of loving yourself – learn to love yourself for who you are right now, because now is all we have and this ain’t no dress rehearsal. This is life.
And, every moment counts. We’ve got to make every moment count. So really, the clothing line is a reminder. The T-shirt collection, they’re called Lovable Tees. I’m the designer, Sabrina Barnett. But, the bottom line is, loveable tees, loving sizes, lovable collection, love yourself.
Diane
I love the love, double love, extra love.
Sabrina
Well … how dare people call us large? And, great, let’s embrace the fact that we’re large! … And, I want to tell all of you ladies out there that you are fabulous! You’re amazing. You’re wonderful. And once you know that, once you own your greatness, which is the name of another shirt. It’s just simply, ‘own your greatness’…
Diane
I love it.
INNER VOICE
Sabrina
…and on the back it says, ‘Never let other people bring you down.’ Now, other people can mean us. We’re sometimes our worst critic. That inner voice that we have in our heads….
It’s vicious! It could be so mean and so nasty.
So, how are we going to learn to love ourselves unless we can check our inner voice on a moment to moment basis? And, sometimes it’s hard to do, but once you start getting used to it, it really alters and shifts your life. So, the Lovable Collection can really help create that space for people out there.
Diane Narrative
If we don’t change the inside, it’s hard to change the outside. Yet, if we start to change the outside, we WILL change the inside.
It’s the “fake it to make it” scenario, which is practice it to be it. We must pretend to believe in ourselves enough to move, exercise, dance, which, in turn, will make us feel better about ourselves, all of which will reduce weight. Putting on awesome clothing is one way to start the process.
<<<Remember to check out Sabrina’s T-Shirt Collection. Make sure to use code sb10 at checkout.>>>
THE RIGHT WEIGHT IS THE RIGHT WAY
Diane Narrative
I had asked Sabrina to comment on the right weight.
Sabrina
There’s no such thing as right. The right weight is the right way. You are the right weight if you know the right way to following your heart and owning your beauty.
THE RIGHT STATE OF MIND
Sabrina
You’ve got to eat right, you’ve got to exercise, and you have to be in a right state of mind to create that. Because, if you’re feeling down about yourself, then you’re not going to want to exercise. … The only reason I say to lose weight … [is] for health.… I am an advocate for weight loss due to the fact that I feel that it’s a healthier space for us all to live in.…
CHEMICALS ON LABELS
Please don’t drink soda … If you can’t read the ingredient on the label, then it shouldn’t go in your body.
INNER CHI
… When you can create and find that balance, then you’ve found your inner ‘chi,’ your inner peace.… It’s the same thing with your diet.
CLOTHING TIPS
Diane
When girls are overweight, what one clothing tip could you give, or dressing technique, that would make them look more curvy and less thick, or bottom line, make them love themselves more?
Sabrina
There you go. Now you’re talking my talk. I’m tired of the more curvy, the less curvy, the waif look, the this, the that, the other. I’ve seen it for years. And, I’ve seen the dysfunction.
… If you want me to answer your question more specifically, I think black is always flattering. Black hides a multitude of whatever it is that you’re not feeling comfortable with. And, the bottom line is, I want you to feel comfortable.
So, you know, a belted tee, like a Lovable Tee with a great message – It’s all about reminders. We must remind ourselves. This is not what society has taught us. This is not what school has taught us, or the media has taught us. [We need] just to love ourselves for who we are right now, because that’s the only way that we’re going to create inner peace. And, that’s the only way that we’re going to shift the way that we are, if, in fact, we want to shift the way that we are right now.
We’ve got to accept ourselves because love is acceptance. So, black is always flattering … we’ve got some Palazzo pants in our collection that look very classy. They’re edgy. They’re stylish. And, again, they’re not too form fitting so if you want to have something that’s a little bit more comfortable, a little bit looser, that’s really what I would recommend, just off hand, right now.
Diane
What would you say to girls who are struggling with too much weight, when they see a slender figure … they see models who look like they’re totally happy … and they don’t see the inner heart of these models?
NAME CALLING LASTS FOREVER
Sabrina
They don’t see the inner workings of a lot of these models. … I was one of them that struggled with self-esteem issues.… I was called ‘brownie’ as a kid because my skin is very brown, my hair is brown, my eyes are brown. So, you know, again, one person can say something to you when you’re a little kid and that can stay with you for the rest of your life. And really, you allow it to tarnish yourself.
… you put on a T-shirt, a Lovable Tee that says, ‘I am worthy,’ ‘I’m the star in my life and love’s got my back.’ Well, love’s got my back because I have to know that I’m worthy. And I’m not talking from an egotistical standpoint. I’m simply talking, you know what? Own who you are because the sexiest thing on the planet is not what you look like; it’s how you feel.
Diane
… And being able to shine, and let that shine out and let everybody see.…
Sabrina
That’s exactly right.
CHARITY
Diane
Can you talk about your beliefs in charity? Who should give and how much should people give?
Sabrina
Okay. So, again, I hope you’re understanding a little bit from me. I tried not to live in the box of who should. The word ‘should,’ ‘would’ or ‘could’ for me is like a little bit … controlling. Like you should do this. You should do that.
So, I would say … I love giving for the simple fact of giving. Sometimes people put such an importance on the financial aspect of charity, as opposed to what about all these people that have dedicated so much time, so many hours of their lives, which time is the most important thing. It’s something you can never get back, right? Money, you can lose, you can get back, but time you can never get back. And, sometimes people lose the sight of, ‘Oh, charity. I just donated whatever amount of money to such and such a charity.’
Well, what about donating of your heart, of your time, of yourself, of your essence of gorgeousness? What about saying, you know what? Let me give for my energy. It’s vital to one’s well-being. For me, I feel great when I can give … We’re always busy … That’s life, right? … But we create and make time for what we want to do.
Diane
Yes….
Sabrina
One of the things I’m asking your audience to do is create time to be charitable, to give back … And, if you don’t have a dollar to do so, then maybe you may want to think about giving back of your energy, like hopefully something that you and I are doing inside this conversation might help somebody in some way.
Diane Narrative
(Watch WarriorsOfWeight.com magazine for the feature: Charity for Weight Loss.)
Sabrina’s Mission can be summed up as follows:
“To be a good mother, … a great friend, … to give back and to teach people or remind people to love themselves … It’s really the only path towards true joy. If you love yourself, you can love another.”
There are lots of one-step action steps. They are simple if we allow them to be.
1) Love ourselves.
If we are struggling with this concept, it takes small, consistent steps to achieve it. Even a smile at ourselves in the mirror can make a difference if we do it often enough.
2) We’ve got to make every moment count.
Choosing to let go of the meaningless fights in our lives or our own minds gives us more time to flourish, share and give.
3) Embrace our weight today.
Whatever we weigh today, we should embrace it. If our bodies or minds are some way that we would prefer to change, we must embrace who we are now so that we have the vitality and motivation to create the change.
4) Own our greatness.
Be sure and secure of how great we are. We can all think of one great thing we bring to this world. Even if this ownership is practicing to make it our truth; the sooner we start, the more experienced we will be.
5) Check our inner voice (possibly our worst critic) on a moment to moment basis.
We need to have conversations with ourselves regularly and purge old limiting goop we might tell ourselves.
6) Wear black, which is always flattering (and don’t drink soda).
7) Be charitable with our own energy.
We can always help someone less fortunate than we. It’s also a great way to focus away from ourselves.
CONCLUSION
When we love ourselves, we are more useful to the world, our families and our community. It might take some time to realize our position. But there are inspirational people such as Sabrina Barnett out there, so there is hope and help.
We can put on empowerment clothing and feel better instantly. We can help someone else and feel better, too. We might have to dig deeply for it, but we can find the good that others see in us. We are worthy, and we are worth it. Start now. And go get a T-shirt from Sabrina at http://warriorsofweight.com/sabrina.
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SABRINA BARNETT
Sabrina Barnett is a world renowned super model who has been on runways and magazine covers the world over. She is a talented singer, recording artist and clothing designer who is passionate about helping women and their self-esteem. Her Women’s Empowerment Clothing uses positive affirming statements to promote self-love.
DIANE GOLD, AUTHOR
Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Moms For Healthy Daughters, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert and a dedicated mom.
She is thrilled to team up with others who believe in believing in yourself. Diane says,
“Every time we think a good thought about ourselves, it goes into a little vault for safekeeping. Eventually, when the vault is full, it results in overflowing joy.!”
