(Re-) Introducing Myself: 8 Random Facts About Me
Hi! I’m Olaiya 👋🏽
There are a lot of new faces around here lately so wanted to (re-) introduce myself. And of course me being me, I thought I’d take advantage of this moment to share some weird facts about myself!
I’m a certified pleasure & empowerment coach. I’m also the founder & editor of Lionesse and the host of the Lionesse podcast. (Yes! We have a podcast! You can check it out here.)
I ran a food & travel blog and lead culinary & photography retreats for 6 years before starting Lionesse. I’m still in love with film photography. And Lionesse retreats will be starting back up this fall!
I’m obsessed with perfume and scent. I collect perfumes and my favorite is probably Rose Atlantic by D.S. & Durga. One of my favorite books is Perfume by Patrick Suskind.
I’m an only child. I think the notion that only children are spoiled is a myth. (Or at least that’s what my Momma told me!) The byproduct of having no siblings is that I can entertain myself for days. I never get bored.
When I was little, my mom couldn’t take me anywhere without me stopping to make mini “commercials”—basically just me grabbing random products from the shelves and turning to talk into an imaginary camera about how good they were. I had a pretty strong Kibbles & Bits repertoire.
I’m an introvert. (INFJ for all my people into Myers-Briggs!) Which means I love to be around people. And that I need to go home and sleep for like 12 hours after socializing.
To this day I cannot feel the difference between right and left and have to think very hard before giving directions. (Does anyone else have this???)
I share a birthday with Jesus and Sir Isaac Newton. Christmas babies shaking shit up! 🙌🏽
I’m also a recovered perfectionist who’s passionate about helping other women love themselves more so they can do big things.
I spent years doubting myself and attempting to hide my lack of inner confidence under a facade of perfection.
For most of my life, I was consumed by disordered eating, extreme dieting and over-exercising. Endlessly gaining and losing weight and never feeling satisfied with how I looked.
In my quest for external validation, I pushed myself waaaaaay past my boundaries physically and emotionally, over-achieving my way to total burnout.
Until I finally decided I couldn’t go on living that way.
So I got to work learning as much as I could about how to love and accept myself exactly as I am.
Today I’ve healed my relationship with my body and am able to embrace myself with love and compassion.
I no longer need external validation or hyper-functioning to feel my inherent worth. I feel beautiful, sexy & strong.
This is what I want for you.
