Cami was the first woman to participate in my Colors of Your Heart photography project. Please check out this previous blog post to find out the whole story behind this project.

The cliff notes version is that I want to help women empower other women, to show their true colors and their inner beauty. Read on to learn about Cami!

Q: What color do you feel like represents who you are on the inside?

A: As of right now I feel like the color that represents me the best is Mint. It’s a very trendy color, it’s bright, it’s fun, and its unique because its not one of the “common” colors…it’s blue and green at the same time..but yet it’s still it’s own color which I love because I feel like it shows that even though it has those other colors that influence it, it still is different and beautiful in its own way! That’s why I feel as though it represents me best.

Q:  What do you love most about yourself?

A: I’ve honestly never been the type of person who was just plain confident and I can’t really tell you why. When my husband and I were dating he would tell me “just have confidence in yourself” when I would struggle with something. I would always think, yeah it’s easy for you to say because confidence is not something you lack! But what I’ve come to realize, is that even though you may not see yourself as “good enough”, God does and so do a lot of other people who care about you. Confidence is something I’ve struggled with in life especially growing up, but as I continued to dive deeper into Gods word and talk with Him, it’s helped me see myself as He does. So that to me is something I love about myself!

Q: Do you feel like others see you for who you really are?

A: Yes and no. I feel like those who are close to me, see me for me. But I feel like those who don’t know me vary well or don’t spend a lot of time with me, don’t really see me for who I truly am because they don’t take the time to get to know me better. They just see me as Cami, a Preschool Teacher, or someone on my church’s worship team, or Caleb’s wife. While I am all those things, there’s also so much more to me than that if you just get to know me! That’s why I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, because you never really know what someone may be going through unless you spend time with them and ask them questions to get to know them more personally.

Q: What stops you from completely opening up to people?

A: The fear of being judged…and aftaid of what they will think of me. Will they think I don’t know anything, or that I’m just some dumb young girl who thinks she knows all about life.

Q: What piece of advice can you give to other girls and women who struggle with just being themselves and letting who they are be enough?

A: My best advice would be to tell them to take it to God. Tell Him why you feel that way and ask Him to help you change your view of yourself. He already knows how you feel but that’s ok, do it anyway because He wants you to come to Him when your upset or hurt or whatever your feeling. I would tell them that God made them beautifully, just the way they are for a reason. And not to compare themself to someone else because we shouldn’t care what the world thinks is “perfect” or “beautiful”, we should only care what God thinks of us and how beautiful we are on the inside. True beauty comes from within, not looks or a specific body type.

Q: Do you have any women role models? If so, who and why?

A: My mom is my biggest role model because she’s been through so much in life and never gave up or quit because it was hard. She wasn’t able to have kids for 16 years due to several factors, but she never stopped believing she would be a mom some day. Then when she did get pregnant and was about to deliver my oldest brother, she almost died and had to be rushed into surgery immediately after he was born. She also had serious complications with my youngest brother when she was pregnant with him. Also in the summer of ’08 she was diagnosed with stage 3 Brest cancer (stage 4 is the worst) and had to undergo chemotherapy and have her breast removed. Even after all that she went through, she didn’t give up. She kept on fighting because she knew God had a plan and purpose for her life and she never once doubted that. So when life gets hard, I just think about what all my mom has been through. How strong, loving, determined, faithful, and God fearing she is and was through it all, and I know everything will be ok because God is in control!

Q: Is there a mantra, verse, or saying that you use in your daily life that empowers you?

A: “Whenever you feel unloved, unimportant, or insecure, remember to whom you belong.” Ephesians 2:19-22 I also love the mantras “Choose Joy” and “Be who you are, not who the world wants you to be”.

Q: How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

A: Compassionate, trustworthy, and driven.

Q: What would you do differently in your life if you knew nobody would judge you?

A: If I knew no one would judge me, honestly I’d probably be more likely to go up to random people and especially those that look like they need help. I’d just talk with them about God and ask if there was anything they needed prayer for.

Q: What do you feel is the number one thing that makes women in today’s society feel inadequate? What is something we can do to work towards reversing this?

A: I think a big thing that makes women feel inadequate in today’s society is social media. Yes it can be good, but when it’s used to compare yourself to someone else because they maybe have better hair, cuter clothes, are skinnier than you, etc., then it definitely can be vary harmful. I think women just need to remember that 99% of those pictures we see on Instagram or Facebook are people’s “good” days, what we don’t see however, is what’s really going on behind the camera and what they are struggling with or going through. In fact some of those women I guarantee, would love to have just one of our so called “bad” days. So don’t always assume that from what you see, those women have it all, or are perfect. Just remember, the grass usually isn’t always greener.

Make up: Keren Salsgiver
Dress: Free People
Shoes: Wild Diva

If you are interested in participating in this project, please contact me here!