Self care seems to have become something of a buzz word. Chloe Pierre is making sure it’s more than just that. The founder of thy.self, a wellbeing, self care and self love movement inspired by her own struggles, Chloe held the launch at our Style Studio last month and had Faye Williams present the Q&A. We grabbed five with the girls to get to know them and dig a little deeper about self love…
Tell us a bit about yourselves…
Chloe: My name is Chloe Pierre, I’m a fashion and lifestyle blogger and work as a marketing manager for festivals.
Faye: My name is Faye Williams and I work at in the music industry too. We actually met at a Kurupt FM party and I clocked Chloe and commented on her jeans – it turned out her Nan had made them!
Tell us the back story of thy.self…
Chloe: It’s important to get people together and actualise self care, I’ve read a million magazine articles that reference it in passing but I wanted to open the conversation around it. I wanted people to open up their fears about issues they have, what that voice in their head says and give it a new lease of life. I wanted to make it real and more of a big deal in our everyday lives.
Faye: It’s seen as a trendy thing at the minute and it’s not.
Chloe: It’s not about doing your hair and saying it’s self care, it should be turning off your phone for example. Or imagine a Friday night going to yoga and coming home – how sick would that be?
Who should join and what’s going to happen if they do?
Chloe: Anyone who identifies as female - young or older, religious or non-religious. I want this to be something with longevity, I want to be able to go into schools and build more of a community. It’s for everyone and anyone and it isn’t career specific.
What is self care?
Chloe: It’s how you relate to yourself, how you speak to yourself and how you treat yourself, it’s all those components rolled into one – that’s what it means to me. There’s no right or wrong answer, it’s whatever makes people feel good. I’ve spoken to a few girls about coming to the event and they were hesitant because they didn’t know what self care was or felt like they practiced it but I said to them that’s exactly the point. The more you look into yourself you might realise you want to meet up with new people and share experiences. The more you look into yourself you might realise you want to meet up with new people and share experiences. That's what thy.self is here for.
What’s the most important thing we should know about you?
Chloe: I like to give back, that’s why thy.self has been created. It’s something I needed for myself at some point in my journey and thought other women would need it as well. I wanted to create something that women can turn to for support at any time.
How would you like others to describe you?
Chloe: She’s so funny, she’s really down to earth, hardworking, creative and really cool. Look her up on Instagram @thy.self, right now [laughs]
As a woman do you find it hard or easy to accept compliments?
Chloe: I find it super hard, even as a blogger it’s really hard. I’m just like “okay thanks” but move on quickly because it’s a lot. I’ve learnt to say thank you, at one point I would just talk badly of myself out loud. thy.self is here to actualise self care and self love, it’s not just saying women do this a lot, it’s how do we stop ourselves from doing that - it’s making steps. It sounds so simple but we need to actualise it to get over it.
Chloe: People. Women in particular. I went through a bit of a bad time over the past two years which is why I started thy.self. Over the course, I’ve met some amazing women and the fact I move through so many different spaces means I get to meet such inspirational women.
Who is your role model?
Chloe: My nan is my biggest role model - she’s done so much. She came to the country when she was sixteen and had my mum and my aunt by the time she was eighteen. She owns her own house and always gives me hard sound advice. She’s going to be at the events, we’ll get her a little chair and she’s going to cook for everyone too.
Faye: I can’t really choose between my aunties and my mum – they come as a collective. They’re all amazing single ladies; I’ve taken something from them all!
Tell us three things you love about yourselves?
Faye: I like my positive attitude because I work very hard to keep it, I like my smile and I like what I’ve achieved so far.
Chloe: This is really hard. I also like my smile, I like the fact I think of others even if that’s sometimes my downfall, I like the fact that, through accomplishments I don’t necessarily see as accomplishments, I’m able to inspire other women. If I post a picture on Instagram, it inspires others to do something, whether it’s posting a bikini picture or taking a leap and changing careers.
What three emojis that best describe you…
Faye: I love the sparkles, I’m always using that when something special happens. The dancing girl because I’m always like “yayyy” and the laughing cry face.
Chloe: My top one is the jazz hands, the one with the massive grin whether it’s for excitement or something awkward and the sparkles too!
Talk us through your look…
Chloe: When I saw the pieces I knew I needed to have them and wear them together. I love the trousers and can see myself wearing the shoes all the time too.
Faye: I chose the cami because I’ve been looking for something like that for ages, it’s an investment piece for nights out over Christmas. And the boots – I love them!
Self Love Tips...
“Self love isn’t meaningful unless you do it when you least want to do it. When you feel like you don’t deserve self love is when it’s most important” @scarrednotscared
“Every day I like to look at myself and really appreciate the things that make me, me and that I used to be insecure about. And make sure you have no less than six and no more than eight hours sleep a day!” @byvanessarussel
“Don’t look in the mirror too many times. There are times when you have to make the mirror your best friend but I think it’s also about trusting your instincts and being transparent with your own goals.”@enamasiama
