No matter your size, loving yourself is vital to maintaining emotional, mental and even physical health. Izzy Spears has made it her personal mission to help women love the skin they’re in unapologetically. From her love for fashion, acting and all things creative, Spears is a woman of many talents and roles. CEOMOM caught up with this busy mom to learn how she practices self-care and teaches others to do the same.
You are a woman of many roles. Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.
My name is Izzy Spears. I am a writer, author, entrepreneur and entertainer. I wear many hats. As a writer, I love to blog and I guest blog on various platforms as well as my own platforms, www.izzyspears.com and www.redpashmag.com. I promote body positivity, self-love and self-care. I also run @curvygalsrock on Facebook. As an author, I focus on writing material that tears down the walls of stereotypes and builds representation for minorities such as people of color and people with bodies that are not thin, blonde and white.
What is the Southern PaSH Company. Who do you serve?
As an entrepreneur, I run a business with three divisions, PaSH Merch, PaSH Publishing and Southern PaSH.
PaSH Merch designs and manufactures body positive clothing. PaSH publishing is an imprint that publishes children’s books, coloring books and short works. Southern PaSH is a public relations firm that helps small business owners with branding, digital marketing, public relations and marketing. We specialize in grass root campaigns, digital marketing and building brands via content generation, creating logos and laying a solid foundation via consistent messaging.
PaSH Publishing has published “The Adventures of Jaylen Newman”, “Diary of a Curvy Gal”, “The Day Dreamer”, “My Dirty Little Secrets” and “Letters To a Loved One”. A few can be pictured here.
Tell us the story behind the name Izzy Spears.
Izzy Spears is my pen name as well as my stage name. Izzy is a go-getter, a plus-size model, vivacious body positive advocate and doesn’t care about what the world expects of her. She focuses on living-out-loud.
You promote self-love and healthy body image. Tell us about your journey to get to a place of self-love. What advice do you have for a woman who is struggling with negative body image?
My journey with self-love has come 360 at least three times. Each time my journey has helped me realize different things about myself, taking me to a new level of self-realization each time. I had a serious conversation with myself. I realized that if I continued to wait until I grew my hair longer to buy that new wardrobe, or until I lost 20 pounds to have new head shots or until I got a new job to feel I was “making it” as a professional, that I would forever be waiting and not living. At that moment, I decided that my time is now, I may not have tomorrow.
I walk around every day in this body. Why do I have to live up to the beauty standards of others to start enjoying it? Nothing in life is perfect but you, just the way you are, today.
What are some ways you practice self-love?
Wow, this is a great question. You may be surprised that my golden rule for practicing self-love is simple. I am motivated to treat myself like a Queen, meaning I deserve the best, because if I don’t think I am deserving enough to fight for myself, how can I expect others to fight for me. Success does not fall from the sky. Success is earned off of the backs of individuals that feel bold enough to stand up and get it. So to answer your question as simply as possible, I practice self-love by reminding myself that I am worthy, I matter and I am deserving because I am me. I don’t require any explanation because if I don’t claim my throne, someone else will take it.
Where do you see Southern PaSH Company in five years?
In five years I see Southern PaSH being a multi-media hub. I want us to expand via building several digital platforms that include a YouTube page filled with content and a mini-series that highlights the everyday struggles of women. I want us to produce short works such as documentaries and films, all in which we support our goals of breaking down stereotypes, starting thought-provoking conversations and providing positive representation for minorities all while giving opportunities to people of color.
You are a woman who knows how to defy the odds from being a young mom in college to a young entrepreneur. What has been the key to your success?
I wish I could pinpoint one key to my success. I would have to attribute my success to a mixture of fear and hope. I have a fear of falling, a fear of dying without trying, a fear of experiencing regret and a fear of not performing at my maximum capacity. I am also driven by hope. I have hopes of building financial stability and freedom, I have hopes of making this world a better place for this generation and the next generation and I have hopes of experiencing all the wonderful challenges this world has to offer.
As a mother with a diverse career, what does work/life balance look like to you?
Maintaining work/life balance as a mother is very difficult. It requires setting hard boundaries and being brutally honest with myself and my child. I have to face the fact that on some days, I work too late. Balance is closing my computer and walking away. I have to tell myself that no matter what needs to be done or has not been done, I am getting off of work at x time because I owe it to myself and my family to make a conscious effort to be present and active. Without acknowledging my shortcomings I can’t correct them.
It is hard to look your child in the eye and tell them that this week mommy will be really busy with work. You may feel like I don’t love you but I do. But, to make it up to you, I will not open my computer or answer my phone on Saturday. The entire day will be for us, it will have zero interruptions. For us, this seems to work. My son understands that I love both my work and him. He knows that I think he is important enough to dedicate an entire day to just us. In fact, he loves the fact that the phone will ring and because I made a promise to him, I will not answer it.
The easiest way for me to maintain my work/life balance is to carve out time for work and commit to not work outside of those times. I set clear time for family and live up to the expectation of spending time with my family when I promised I would.