▼ COLLETTE CORR
‘Being me is... being true to myself and my family. It’s working hard and making the best of what you have. As women, we need to celebrate and be kinder to ourselves.’
‘What I love about this campaign is that it’s celebrating all women, all shapes, sizes and ages,’ the brand’s long-time marketing manager says. ‘For so long we looked at magazines and social media and thought we had to conform. I was lucky beause I grew up in an era before social media so every picture and night out wasn’t scrutinised but like most women, I’ve struggled. It has taken me a long time to get to where I am.’
As a mother she’s passionate about the importance of self-love and self-acceptance in every aspect of life and is inspired by the advice she gives her daughter to push
herself out of her comfort zone. ‘We all struggle with thinking we’re not good enough but where does that get us?’ she asks. ‘That mentality needs to change. Can’t means won’t, we need to teach our kids that.’
Coaxed by the CEO to take part because she is, in her own words, ‘the definition of a real woman’, she hopes to see more diversity and inclusion in fashion and beauty for permanent change not so brands can ‘tick a box’.
‘Now I think it’s becoming more the norm and it’s what is expected,’ she says. ‘Diversity shouldn’t be seen as something different, it should be seen as the norm.’
‘Being me is... showing up and feeling the best I can in the body I have. It’s accepting that your body has done incredible things and it’s capable of incredible things. It’s worthy of love and at some point to show it some. If you don’t, then you’re being your own worst enemy.’
‘There are so many inspirational women in this campaign. Every shape, age, ethnicity, with every kind of problem you can think off. That made me take a grip of my own life and remind myself that, you know what, you got it good,’ Leona O’ Malley says. An accountant and fulltime carer for her husband, who suffers with cerebral palsy, the wife, mother and professional life juggler was thrilled to be chosen to take part along with her daughter.
‘I thought it could be the perfect opportunity to take some time for myself and completely be myself. I’m always looking after everyone else and I’ve had a really tough time over the past few years. I lost a bit of myself along the way.’
No stranger to the pressure
women feel to look a certain way, Leona is positive about the changes happening and the attitude being cultivated by brands to include and diversify. But it’s an ongoing challenge peronsally. ‘I still struggle,’ she admits. ‘It’s hard not to look in front of the mirror and pick ten things you’d like to change. I’m working on that for myself and my daughters.’
A milestone for her has been manifestation and putting that process into action. ‘ I think now so many people talk about manifesting how you feel,’ she says. ‘That can be triggering because you can’t just manifest to be a certain way. You can’t manifest going from a dark into a bright place. But if you set a goal for yourself and work for it, that’s actioning it.’
‘Being me is... having gratitude for everything I have. I thank God for every day he sends me and I try to make the most of it and do something good. Even the smallest wee thing, because it always comes back to you.’
‘My granddaughter applied for the campaign and entered us both. She didn’t get accepted but they said we ‘‘we want your nanny,’’, Irene McKee muses. A semi-retired nurse who lost her husband a few years ago, the oldest member of the campaign says it’s been a hard and lonely road at times.
‘But, I’m still very outgoing,’ she says. ‘I love to be out and about especially during the summer months. During the pandemic I went back to work in a hospital and that was great. I keep leaving but they keep me taking me back’, she laughs.
‘Now I’m realising that at my age you can still get out, talk to people and have a good time. As soon I met all the girls and got chatting it felt like I had known them all my life. They are such a great bunch of women – what most of them have been through is inspirational,’ she says.