Ballarat mum of three Kate Proud is on a mission to empower women to feel comfortable with their own body.
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Her funny social media posts have helped spread the message through international news media.
Mrs Proud was interviewed by New York’s Wall Street Journal in August to share her experience using a waist trainer, a corset worn by Kim Kardashian that is designed to create a slimming hourglass look.
It began with an Instagram post of a picture of herself busting out of the corset, beside a photo of Kim Kardashian wearing it to highlight her curves.
Mrs Proud originally bought the waist trainer to wear at a wedding under a tight fitting dress, but felt like her ‘insides were crushed’ from the moment she put it on.
She has since been interviewed on The Project and 3BA and gained almost 10,000 followers on the Instagram account for her home based personal products business GatorMEDIA.
“With all this media coverage, which has been great I think that my original message has been lost about the original photo, which was that not every women is a size eight or 10 and they are still beautiful regardless of there size,” she said.
I want to show women that size doesn't matter.
- Kate Proud
#Empowher is Mrs Proud’s new tagline. She has created a range of products for the campaign through GatorMEDIA.
The idea came about after an experience as a victim of online bullying which prompted a desire to encourage women to support each other.
“I grew up with the image that if you were thin you were automatically pretty which is so not the case. We put so much pressure on ourselves to be thin because we think we have to be to be accepted by society,” Mrs Proud said.
“I want to portray that if you are healthy and happy then that is way more beautiful or attractive than anything else, because the number on our clothes doesn't mean a thing. No one can see it anyway.
“I want to show women that size doesn't matter and that healthy is the new attractive.”
Mrs Proud’s message was spread to other mums in business at the AusMumpreneur Awards on August 31.
She won the award for the Most Creative People’s Choice Campaign.
“A lot of people look up to celebrities like the Kardashians. It’s unrealistic for young girls to think what they do is going to work,” she said.
“It is important there are people out there countering these messages... I think we have come a long way but we have a long way to go.”
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