Meet our featured beauty with brains Lua Jones, an entrepreneur based in Bristol, United Kingdom. She recently launched a website to empower teenage girls:
Here is an interview with her.
- Tell us a bit about yourself and what you do.
I’m a Writer, Empowerer and now the Editor of a new online magazine called Dear Teenage Me, which we recently launched for teenage girls. I moved to Sydney around a year ago and I live here with my partner and our 4yo boy. I’ve been a DJ and Fashion Designer for most of my life, and when I moved to Sydney I decided it was time for a change. I have always been committed to empowering women since I can remember. I ran an all-female music collective and a clothing brand throughout my 20’s and 30s, very much based on that ethos. A few years ago I set up an organisation around ‘Women Empowering Women’ and put on events for skills and knowledge sharing in the music/creative industries.
- Who or what inspired you to start a venture which is about empowering teenage girls?
I was inspired to make a difference to teenage girls, as I myself found those years extremely challenging, with; periods, friendships breaking up, bullying and all sorts, which can be so hard to navigate through. I heard that 75% of mental illness already occurs by the time we are 24, 50% by age 14 and I thought if we could make a difference to younger women, perhaps then we can prevent just some of the pain and struggling from having to happen. Of course, I am all for people discovering ‘life’s lessons’ for themselves, but there has to be a point where we don’t just leave them to flounder around on their own with this stuff! Young people can thrive with mentorship, guidance and intergenerational support. If our experiences and advice can help some teenagers, then perhaps it might mean the difference between an eating disorder taking hold or not, an abusive relationship being endured or not, it may even be the difference between life or death. Self Harm is now the 2nd biggest cause of death for adolescent girls.
- What according to you, are the most important issues teenage girls face these days?
I think mental health is a huge factor for teens Obviously given the statistics mentioned above. There are so many influences coming at our young people from every angle and it’s such a lot to deal with, especially given that their prefrontal cortex haven’t fully developed yet. What I see possible is for teens to get into the world of self-development work much earlier on. There is a huge movement going on where self-development/self education/personal growth/mindset work or whatever you may prefer to call it, is on the rise, and i think it’s becoming much more the ‘norm’ to ‘work on ourselves’. I really don’t think it’s ideal for people to wait until they are in their 30s/40s/50s… Why not start young, and undo some of your limiting beliefs before it sets in so deeply into your psyche. The term ‘Mental health’ covers a huge amount of the issues we will be covering on the site. However, we also want the site to be really eclectic and inclusive. So there will be articles on all kinds of things.
- What are your goals in life? Have you achieved them?
I want to make a global difference to young women, and to women overall. Obviously I don’t have anything against men. I want everyone to be in the conversation towards achieving equality because it affects us all. But I also know from my experiences that women can first thrive by empowering each other. Some of us really need a safe space
to express ourselves and feel safe. The patriarchy doesn’t often afford women that experience in common spaces, so I believe we should nurture that kind of environment from the start, with a view to achieving equality in the longer term. I’m under no illusion that equality will happen tomorrow sadly. And until these spaces are equal, until everybody is calling out ‘everyday sexism’ then spaces like this will be needed. I believe ‘women empowering women’ will be a huge factor for change and I’m sure men will join the conversation more and more as we are starting to see.
- As for achieving my own goals, I’m blessed to have an amazing life. I have achieved some big goals in my life, like Djing to thousands in Glastonbury, and having celebrities/musicians wear my clothing brand. However, the way those goals looked in my mind was not always the way they turned out in reality, and I found it hard to celebrate my wins in the past because I was so ambitious, that really nothing ever was good enough. I have realised now that it is all about the journey, there is nowhere to get to. When you are trying to get over ‘there’ somewhere, you always experience the grass being greener on the other side. You forget to take in the present moment and be grateful for the now. All I know now is that the path I am on now, feels like exactly where I should be.
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