I am a 53-year-old mother of two teenagers. I was born and raised on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and although I’ve lived interstate and overseas, my Kiwi husband and I settled back there to raise our children. Having said that, as of this year, they are now both attending boarding school in New Zealand so we live a crazy life to-ing and fro-ing between the two countries.
I went back to University when my children were young and spent the next eight years studying part-time completing an undergraduate and post graduate degree. I now work as a high school English/humanities teacher.
I grew up opposite the beach and my entire childhood was spent there so in essence, it’s my happy place. I also love to exercise and drag myself out of bed 5-6 mornings a week at insanely early hours to get that wonderful rush of endorphins when my session is finished.
One of the driving forces behind my application to join the Cossie Confidence Crew is my absolute belief that women are entitled to see true representations of women in advertising, mainstream media and social media. The average Australian woman is not a size 8 and yet we are inundated with images to the contrary. We need to connect and support rather than compare and judge.
While I am not a plus size girl, I am short and have a boyish figure – very broad shoulders and chest a short waist, big boobs - an extremely difficult figure to find suitable swimwear I can assure you.
Like so many women, I’ve struggled with body confidence my whole life and continue to do so – I hate my broad shoulders, my tummy isn’t flat, I have cellulite on my legs, and on and on and on. I’ve made inroads but I’m still a work in progress.
We have long way to go but the fundamental message behind this group is another important step in the right direction and I’m thrilled to part of this crew.
Thank you Melinda for bringing your beautiful, positive self to the Crew and to all of the women that come across you, whether in person or on social media. You are such an inspiration!
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