Legally Pretty

your mind is your greatest asset, thank you Elle Woods

Dear Pretty Girl,

In today’s letter, we honor the Pretty Girl blueprint. While she’s not the reason I started Dear Pretty Girl and the Pretty Girl Committee, her storyline is one I deeply relate to and want to encourage girls to follow

I learned a lot this year, but one of the most important things I learned is that your greatest asset is your mind. To truly understand that, you have to fall in love with it. Fall in love with how your mind works, how you solve problems, and how you tackle adversity. Fall in love with your mind.

As a young business owner, freelancer, and someone building a personal brand, my literal job is to be on social media. I have to pay attention to what’s going on, what’s trending, and ensure my clients are aligning with their personal brands. My agency’s job is to create the stories that make people fall in love with brands, businesses, and creatives, and then align the content accordingly.

Because I have to use my brain so often, I’ve fallen in love with how it works. I’m constantly amazed by it. I once read that starting a business is one of the most intimate things you can do, and it’s true. Your business is literally your brain. It’s your ideas, your thoughts, and your vision brought to life.

In business, there are people who, especially when you’re new, think you don’t know anything. They’ll try to play you, make you feel small, or make it seem like you don’t really understand what you’re doing. Because I’ve fallen in love with my mind and truly understand that I get paid for the way it works, combined with being in tune with my intuition, I’m very mindful when people try to lowball me.

As I shared earlier, Elle Woods is very much a character I look up to and someone who is near and dear to my heart. I’ve always been girly and cutesy, but what I observed in my younger years was that because of that, people often thought I was too cute to function.

I also have what is probably undiagnosed ADHD, so traditional school was a bit of a whirlwind for me. It was always, “Well, you’re pretty!” or “It’s okay because you’ll marry a rich man.” During my formative years, those comments really bothered me because in an area where I simply learned differently and needed more help and attention, it felt like that struggle was dismissed because I was cute enough not to worry about it. That did something to me. Even when it was said as a joke, it didn’t feel good.

Any time I wanted to build something, I didn’t feel like I could trust the people around me because it didn’t feel like my goals were being taken seriously. Regardless to the words they were saying.

Eventually, I decided to make being pretty my whole brand. The beauty of this era is that we have the world at our fingertips, and I’m a hustler. I’m not doing it like a man, and I may not even do it your way, but I’m doing it pretty and creating my own lane.

Back to the topic at hand: your mind is your greatest asset.

Later, I became a business owner and a freelancer, and I’ve had to trust my mind. It really does feel good when you get paid to use it, or even get paid to have your brain picked. I don’t want this to be received as using other people to validate your feelings about your mind. Instead, I want you to recognize that if you are bringing something valuable to the table, to the point where people are willing to pay good money to hear your opinion and benefit from your thinking, it’s because you have a skill set. If other people can value your mind enough to trust it with their greatest work, why can’t you?

The turning point in Legally Blonde was when Elle said to Warner, “I’m never going to be good enough for you, am I?” Let’s be real. We’ve all had that moment. We’ve all had that realization that no matter what we do, it won’t be enough for someone. And at some point, you decide that you’re no longer going to prove your worth to them. You’re no longer going to prove that your mind is worthy.

For the girls out there who are animated, expressive, and a little different, like myself, remember that Elle’s girliness and her unique way of thinking are what helped her win her case. Her brain allowed her to see something the other lawyers didn’t.

And that’s why I say your mind is your greatest asset.

The way you see the world, your experiences, and your perspective bring something valuable to the table. Don’t ever allow anyone to make you feel small, like you’re not smart enough, or like you’re too cute to function.

Live, love, Elle Woods.

With love and light,

The Pretty Girl CEO