Keeping it Real: Love your body, love your life

Description

A call to action for all women to value themselves for who they are, not what they look like. 'I want to create a ripple effect - a wave of body positivity.' Inspirational blogger Makaia Carr left school at 16 and was pregnant with her first child a year later. In her own words, she was a 'Maori teen mum from the 'Naki' who others expected to end up on the DPB. Instead she worked her way up through the fashion industry, launched her own online fitness community and clothing brand, and is now in demand as a motivational speaker and social media influencer. She has overcome depression and what she now recognises was an unhealthy relationship with her body, to promote a message of self-love and empowerment. In Keeping it Real, Makaia openly shares her struggles and the strategies that help her to maintain a positive body image and outlook. Her story is a reminder that physical and emotional well-being starts with self-acceptance. As she says, 'self-loathing is imprisonment; self-love is liberation'.

Makaia Carr is the founder of online business success Motivate Me NZ, a members-only community for like-minded Kiwi women seeking positive support during their journey of living a healthier lifestyle, and M Fit Ltd, an online active wear and accessory retailer. She has recently sold both businesses. Makaia founded Motivate Me in 2012 while working full-time in a senior management role, using Facebook as her key tool to develop, grow and promote her start-up business. In just two years the business grew exponentially, allowing Makaia to leave her full-time job and employ three staff, quickly hitting $500,000 in turnover and growing multiple revenue streams. She now works as a blogger, public speaker and social media influencer, and supports charities and provides business mentoring. She has her own Youtube channel and online talk show, Biz Chats, presented every week on her Facebook page.