Keeping it Real

'I want to create a ripple effect - a wave of body positivity.' Inspirational blogger Makaia Carr left school at 16 and was pregnant with her first child a year later. In her own words, she was a 'Maori teen mum from the 'Naki' who others expected to end up on the DPB. Instead she worked her way up through the fashion industry, launched her own online fitness community and clothing brand, and is now in demand as a motivational speaker and social media influencer. She has overcome depression and what she now recognises was an unhealthy relationship with her body, to promote a message of self-love and empowerment. In Keeping it Real, Makaia openly shares her struggles and the strategies that help her to maintain a positive body image and outlook. Her story is a reminder that physical and emotional well-being starts with self-acceptance. As she says, 'self-loathing is imprisonment; self-love is liberation'.