To Daughters
The irony of launching StyleCamp while pregnant with my daughter is just… something my diction can’t accurately describe.
While so many have said, would say, might say and rightfully so:
“Avoid change in year one of marriage.”
“Don’t start a business year one of marriage.”
“You really like to pack it all in!”
“You want a little stress as possible when pregnant or learning to be a mom!”
“Is THIS the right time to start a business?”
With all do respect, YES, there has never been a better time than NOW.
Why? Because a tiny little image bearer of Christ, a daughter of the King, is arriving in May! And as her mother, I get to be the first and most influential person, the closest role model in her life when it comes to what she sees when she looks in the mirror, whether she knows and believes what her Creator says about her, what she thinks about her body, how kind she is to that girl in the mirror, how confident she is but too— how and what she models for every little girl and woman she comes in contact with…
For. The. Rest. Of. Her. Life.
It hit me on November 6th when we learned we were having a daughter… that it’s both an insane pressure and privilege to get to lay that foundation for her.
There is the world outside of our home, that we know all too well… the battle of being a women, where we self-deprecate, judge, compare, care about name brands, think satisfaction can be found in clothes, never have enough money to keep up, forget He calls us “Daughters”, buy dupes to fit in, follow trends to stay relevant, try to lose weight to find joy, always seeking confidence. My motherly instinct wants to do everything in my power to protect her from ALL.OF.IT.
The truth is, I won’t and I can’t. But what I can will do is change the world she will grow up in by building and teaching a community of women who know how to dress themselves, that walk in confidence and empower other women.
And at home…there is the ever-changing, growing, miraculous gift of a body that comes with pregnancy. I’ll be honest, I was sure I knew it all and I couldn’t have been more wrong. Every single day, it is a new body to get to know, a new opportunity to love that body, a new challenge to dress that body, and a new fight to speak confidence into myself! But y’all—she can already hear me and before long, she will be watching! And how I speak to myself is how she will speak to herself. And to other daughters!
We look to our mamas! We hear every word they say around us, we watch them get ready, we watch them look in the mirror, we pay attention to how they dress, we listen to how they talk to and about themselves.
While I may be a “professional stylist”, please know that I too, am a StyleCamp Member learning to dress myself in new ways daily! Some may call it irony but I say it’s divine timing that I get the honor of using my knowledge and experience to teach and model confidence for YOU and my daughter while also learning for myself!
Whatever phase of life you’re in, whether a size 00 or 100, single or married, young or old, longing-for or already mothering, whatever foundation was laid for you, however you speak to yourself in the mirror, whatever is in your closet….
StyleCamp is for daughters. Mine, you, and yours.
- Shelby Camp
