Kelly Rowland has been on our radar a lot lately with her great collaborations. Her latest one with T.J.Maxx's Maxx You Project has left us more than inspired. T.J. Maxx’s latest project focuses on inspiring women to embrace their individuality — something Rowland has had to learn to do herself.
In a recent interview with Elite Daily, Rowland shared how Beyonce’s mom, Tina Knowles, taught her about beauty and self-love. She recalled a trip to Jamaica in which she tried covering her face before heading out into the sun and Ms. Tina stopped her and taught her a lesson that she remembers to this day,
"(Ms. Tina) said, 'Baby, oh my gosh do you know how lucky you are? Think about the art in my house, embrace everything about being black because it is a beautiful thing. We are so blessed to be black. There are so many variations and colors of us, and that’s what makes us so beautiful, baby. You represent for all the brown girls out there, so you gotta trust that and be proud of it,'" Rowland shared.
The 37-year-old singer-songwriter appreciates individuality and hopes to continue inspiring other women to love themselves the way she was taught to.
"I think the best way you can think about that is something as simple as your fingerprint. There's only one you, and I think that we have to celebrate that and be comfortable in that. Because the world would be so freaking boring if we all looked alike, all sounded the same, all did the same thing," Rowland said to Elite Daily.
In a past interview with 21Ninety, she mentioned instilling this message in her son’s mind as well. She hopes to raise him to be confident enough within himself and the things he enjoys that it won’t matter what’s going on around him. While it took her a while to get to this point in her journey of self-love, she encounters fans who remind her how much representation matters. "I felt a responsibility, like 'I'm repping for the brown girls, and I gotta do this right,'" Rowland confessed to Elite Daily.
As part of her partnership with T.J.Maxx, Rowland will host an in-person self-love workshop in New York City on September 20th for the T.J.Maxx You Project. This is the second year that T.J.Maxx has held this project and they’re working to make it more accessible to those who are interested in participating by creating an open online community on Facebook. For those who would like to partake in this year’s event, you can enter for a chance to be a part of the workshop by heading to maxxyouproject.com.
While the mother-of-one has traveled far in her self-love journey, she still encounters struggle days like we all do. She has begun embracing her natural hair and nails by gradually removing any additions to both. On her 'struggle days' she adds a red lip, enhances her brows and adds a bit of concealer and she’s back to feeling like her gorgeous self.
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