[Episode #13] Thanking The Bullies – How Lizzie Valesquez Used A Cruel Bully To Fuel Worldwide Fame and Success

Lizzie Valesquez

“We don’t have to allow ourselves to be defined by the labels imposed on us. We get to define ourselves.”

I first heard about Lizzie Velasquez when I watched her viral Ted Talk in 2013. To date, it remains one of my favourite TedTalks. Lizzie was born with an extremely rare congenital disease, and as a result, dealt with relentless bullying. When she was 17 years old something happened that changed the trajectory of her life.  

Lizzie, 30, is now a global motivational speaker, YouTube personality, anti-bullying activist and author. In December 2013, she took the stage at the inaugural TEDxAustinWomen event and gave a talk titled “How Do You Define Yourself?” that has garnered over 13 million views across the Web. Her story has been featured on Katie Couric, The Today Show, The View, Huffington Post, Associated Press, AOL, MSN and Yahoo!, among many other national and international media. She is an Executive Producer of the award-winning documentary based on her life, A BRAVE HEART: The Lizzie Velasquez Story, which chronicles her journey from cyber-bullying victim to global anti-bullying activist. The film was released by Cinedigm in the U.S. in Fall 2015 and began its international release in 2016. Her latest book DARE TO BE KIND was released in June 2017.

In today’s episode she shares her courageous story with me, and its one that everyone should listen to! If you enjoy the episode please leave us a 5 star review on iTunes. Your support is greatly appreciated!

You can find Lizzie on instagram & Twitter @littlelizziev

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