Influencer | Motivational Speaker Lizzie Velasquez

Lizzie Velasquez 1

Lizzie Velasquez, motivational and anti-bullying speaker


Imagine finding a YouTube video calling you out as the ugliest woman in the world. Lizzie Velasquez did when she was just 17. Velasquez, now 25, was born with a syndrome so rare that it doesn’t have a name. The condition prevents her from gaining weight no matter how much she eats. (Only two other people in the world share the disease.) By the time Velasquez discovered the 8-second video, there were already 4 million views and a flood of nasty comments and criticism. Her parents allowed her time to grieve and then encouraged her to retaliate by drawing power from that negativity.

Lizzie Velasquez 2Since then Velasquez graduated from college, authored three books and is an impassioned motivational and anti-bullying speaker. Velasquez gained celebrity status after she gave a 2013 TEDxAustinWomen talk titled ‘How Do You Define Yourself,’ which is one of the highest viewed TedTalk videos of all time. Her message and impact will continue to multiply with the release of High Road, an anti-bullying documentary that explores her physical and emotional journey and releases this spring. Ultimately, Velasquez wants to use the documentary as a call for people to unite and make the online world a more positive place as well as show people that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to bullying.

Follow Lizzie Velasquez on social media: Instagram/Twitter

Click here to read the full article in the February/March issue.

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2 Comments

  • What a wonderful and “visionary” magazine. Having interviewed women who are” Catalysts for Consciousness” who doing amazing good in the world, it is delightful to see this magazine emerge in Palm Beach County. We need this new force to bring to the surface the wonderful women leading the world in creativity and inspiring the next generation. Congratulations and thank you !!

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