June Sarpong: “I’m living proof that you can turn your life around”
After going through personal heartache and surviving a near-fatal car accident, presenter June Sarpong, 40, tells us how she’s pulled herself through some of her darkest times
I’M GRATEFUL FOR EXPERIENCING REJECTION
When I was modelling in my early twenties, I was always told that black girls wouldn’t sell magazines. I’d agree to pose for numerous front covers only to discover I’d been dropped at the last minute. I remember bursting into tears and feeling very rejected. When I was younger, I wasn’t too confident in myself and I took it quite personally. Times have changed, and I feel lucky to have experienced rejection early on, because it toughened me up.
PAIN IS ONLY TEMPORARY
I’ve experienced loss [June’s brother Sam, 40, committed suicide in 2015] and I’ve learned that you have to take every day as it comes, because you never know what the future holds. When you have the good times, cherish them and don’t take it for granted. When you experience bad times, know that it doesn’t last forever. That’s one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned.
YOU CAN ALWAYS GET BACK ON YOUR FEET
When I was 14, I was hit by a car while walking to school. Doctors said I had a crack in my spine and didn’t know if I’d ever walk again. Even though I had surgery, I still spent 18 months in hospital and wore a neck brace for two years. I focused on small goals, like being able to wear high heels and go out with my friends, and that faith kept me going. It was a long road to recovery, but I’m proof that you can turn your life around. Experiencing something so traumatic made me extremely resilient and it meant that I became the kind of person who doesn’t sweat the small stuff.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO PUSH YOURSELF
The bravest thing I did was move to America. I packed up and left a cushy life not knowing anyone out there, but I was 29 and wanted to feel scared again. For the first year I was out of sorts, I wasn’t myself and lost a lot of confidence because no one knew who I was. It took a lot of networking and auditioning again before I got work as a presenter, but it was worth it in the end.
TURNING 40 WAS EMPOWERING
As women, we need to take ownership of the way society looks at older women. Cat Deeley and Edith Bowman turned 40 around the same time as me, yet we still seem as young as we did at 30. In my twenties I was a nervous wreck, I was insecure and always second guessing myself. Now I see that was madness because they were my best years. I’ve learned to let go of my hang-ups, but they leave you when you grow older anyway.