How do you define yourself? | Lizzie Velasquez | TEDxAustinWomen

Summary

Lizzie Velasquez, born with a rare syndrome that prevents weight gain, shares her inspiring journey of overcoming bullying and societal expectations. Despite being labeled 'the world's ugliest woman' online, she focuses on her goals, achievements, and the positive aspects of her life. With humor and resilience, she encourages others to define themselves by their successes, not their challenges, and to use negativity as a catalyst for personal growth.

Takeaways

• 🌟 The speaker, Lizzie, was born with a rare syndrome that prevents her from gaining weight and has faced significant challenges in her life.
• 🍩 Despite her condition, Lizzie highlights the unexpected benefits, such as eating freely without gaining weight and the humorous aspects of her unique situation.
• 👀 Lizzie is visually impaired, which she turns into a positive by joking about the advantages of not needing full-priced contact lenses and glasses.
• 💪 Raised by supportive parents who encouraged her to live life fully despite doctors' grim predictions, Lizzie credits them for her resilience and achievements.
• 🤗 Lizzie's family, especially her mother, has been a pillar of strength, instilling a fighting spirit in her to overcome adversities.
• 😡 Lizzie faced bullying due to her appearance but learned to rise above it by focusing on her strengths and not letting others' opinions define her.
• 🧐 She challenges the audience to consider what defines them, encouraging introspection on personal identity beyond physical appearance or background.
• 🚫 After being labeled the 'world's ugliest woman' online, Lizzie chose not to retaliate and instead used the negativity as fuel to achieve her goals.
• 📚 Lizzie's aspirations include becoming a motivational speaker, writing books, graduating from college, and building a family and career, showing her determination to succeed.
• 🎓 She has made significant progress towards her goals, having become a motivational speaker, nearly completing her third book, and graduating from college with a degree in Communication Studies.
• 🔥 Lizzie emphasizes the power of using negativity to propel oneself forward, turning obstacles into stepping stones on the path to success.

Q & A

What is the rare syndrome that Lizzie was born with?

Lizzie was born with a very rare syndrome that prevents her from gaining weight, and as far as she knows, only two other people in the world have it.

What is the unique benefit of Lizzie's syndrome in terms of eating habits?

The unique benefit of Lizzie's syndrome is that she can eat whatever she wants, whenever she wants, without gaining weight.

How much weight has Lizzie never weighed in her life?

Lizzie has never weighed over about 64 pounds in her entire life.

What did Lizzie keep under her bed in college?

In college, Lizzie kept a giant tub of Twinkies, donuts, chips, and Skittles under her bed.

What are some of the benefits Lizzie mentions about being visually impaired?

Lizzie mentions that being visually impaired has benefits such as getting half-off on contact lenses and prescription glasses, and being able to ignore people by standing on her right side.

How did Lizzie's parents respond when they were told about her syndrome and its potential impacts?

Lizzie's parents decided to take her home and love her, raising her to the best of their abilities, despite the doctors' warnings about her potential inability to perform basic functions.

What was Lizzie's first experience with bullying?

Lizzie's first experience with bullying was in kindergarten when a little girl looked at her like she was a monster, and many other children wanted nothing to do with her.

What advice did Lizzie's parents give her to deal with her syndrome and bullying?

Lizzie's parents advised her to go to school, pick her head up, smile, continue to be herself, and that people would see she's just like them.

What did Lizzie decide to do after being bullied and called the world's ugliest woman in a video?

After being bullied and called the world's ugliest woman, Lizzie decided to work hard to make herself better and use the negativity as motivation to achieve her goals.

What are some of Lizzie's accomplishments that she mentions in the script?

Lizzie mentions that she has become a motivational speaker, is about to submit her manuscript for her third book, has graduated college with a degree in Communication Studies and a minor in English, and is working towards having her own family and career.

What is the main message Lizzie wants her audience to take away from her talk?

Lizzie wants her audience to understand that they should not let their challenges or the negativity of others define them, but instead use those experiences to fuel their own success and personal growth.