DYNS Chat to Non Profit Org, Girls Out Loud
How lucky are you! 2 Instagram Live's in 1 week!
This time, we had a chat to the founder of our chosen Charity, Girls Out Loud, Jane. In this live we talked all about what they do, how they support young women through some of the most difficult years of their lives and how we can help them. We also discussed and gave some inspiring tips on how to get through some of our own self doubt, anxiety and lack of self confidence.
Don't panic if you missed it, we have saved it in our IGTV page on our Instagram @be_dyns, check it out if you'd like to watch the whole thing and be completely motivated and inspired.
Let's start it off with a bit about Girl's Out Loud, what their mission is and what they do on a day to day basis to help and support young women.
Girls Out Loud is a non profit, social enterprise which has been running for 12 years; Jane set up the charity in 2009.
They are all about raising the aspirations of teenage girls, which sounds simple, but we all know, aspirations without belief, without resilience, without confidence, just doesn't happen.
Girl's Out Loud do a lot of work within schools, mainly with girls ages 12-16, working around intervention, confidence, resilience, body confidence, social media, mental health, relationships, friendships, and more! They do this by recruiting and training women from all walks of life to be mentors and role models to the girls.
Jane believes it's more important now more than ever that these girls have these role models, because of COVID-19, we have all been through a 14 month lockdown. During this time these young girls have literally lost months and months of their education. They have lost not only reading and writing skills, but also their emotional development, which we have never seen before.
We asked Jane, if there was one thing you could tell a young woman of today, what instant advice would you give them?
Jane says, she is no good at giving just one thing! So here's three for you:
1. Know your value
Know that your value isn't stuck in your appearance, it's much bigger than that.
2. Dump the concept of being "little miss perfect"
She doesn't exist, she's a cartoon, she's fake. She will give you a lifetime of pain, because you will never be perfect. Know that you are already good enough as you are.
3. Take more risks
It's only when you take risks, that you learn. The good part starts at the end of your comfort zone.
What is the worst that can happen? You fail. That's great, failure is fuel. You learn so much about yourself when you fail.
Do you have any tips on self confidence that we can use on a day to day basis?
Jane feels that self confidence and self belief go hand in hand. Both are habits that you should practice daily.
You can't get self confidence, or self belief out of a book, or in the classroom.
You must decide every day, every moment, that you are going to believe in you.
It's all about stepping out of your comfort zone. Each time you step out, you become more confident. This may start off as baby steps, but every little helps.
The most important thing, is to be you, be authentic. It's no good being the "good version of you", you need to be you, warts and all! Your authentic self isn't just the good bits, it's the full story, it's the full you.
"Perfect girls aren't real, and real girls aren't perfect."
We believe from being your true authentic self, you will attract the right friends, jobs, opportunities, everything that is good for you and that is meant to be, will fall into place, but it all starts with you.
If any of our viewers were to have a friend who was suffering with low self confidence, what could they do to help and support them? #girlssupportinggirls
- The first thing to do is listen, but REALLY listen
Sometimes we hear, but we don't listen. Don't feel pressured to come up with an immediate response to what they have just told you. Listening = not talking.
- Don't judge them
- Don't try to fix whatever it is that they are going through
A lot of the time, when someone expresses their feelings, they cry, and what we tend to do as listeners is try to stop them crying, as this can be uncomfortable. But the most important thing to do, is let them cry. Allow them to cry and allow them to feel.
- Be their cheerleader, tell them all the amazing things about them
- Have some fun with them, give them an escape from it
"Be someone who makes everybody feel like a somebody."
Can you give some top tips on how to stay motivated to achieve your dreams?
At DYNS we truly believe it's so important for young women to have dreams, and to strive to achieve them every day.
Many girls have their dreams driven out of them at a young age because those around them say 'you will never make a living doing that'.
Another factor towards this is that careers advice within schools is so limited. Generally, the people they meet at school may be a teacher, nurse, social worker and a councillor. Girls Out Loud aim to change this by brining the most incredible role models into schools, so that these girls meet women they may never have met before, for example barristers, forensic scientists, influencers, BBC broadcasters, vets and midwives.
Jane believes it's important to think of your life as a story, and your dreams become the chapter headings. This separates the dreams from becoming materialistic things, and more about how your life becomes. For example, connection, community, sisterhood, making a difference, wellness, mindfulness, transformation. That is REALLY dreaming.
E.g. If one of Jane's chapter headings were about transformation, think about the transformation of what and who? This will bring you closer to achieving those dreams.
Lastly, how can we support your mission?
The most important thing is to be a role model. Be the woman that you wanted to guide and support you when you were younger. If we all do that, that's how we make a difference.
- be a role model
- do the right thing
- spread the word
- support and be kind to each other
- if you live in the North/West, you can become a volunteer
- donate at https://girlsoutloud.org.uk/
We would like to say a huge thank you to Jane for taking the time out to speak to us and truly inspire us and also our viewers, we learned so much and we cannot thank you enough. We can't wait to work with you in the future.
We'd also like to thank our viewers for watching and also asking questions.
If you'd like to help Jane and Girls Out Loud, please head to their website and donate, every penny counts.
Lots of love,
The DYNS Team xx