Overnight Fame and How It Can Impact Even The Most Confident Of Models
Introduction
Most women(and some men) dream of having a career like Alexis Ren. People want attention. They crave it, in fact. Alexis has the dream job. She has more than 13 million Instagram followers. She gets to travel the world. She gets fabulous clothes(for free!) That alone is something that most women and men would give their eye-teeth for.
However, there is a dark side to this fame that she achieved practically overnight. Alexis is harboring a secret that she wants all her fans and inspiring models to listen to .
Alexis Goes Public About Her Battle With Eating
The sad(and sometimes ironic twist) is that Alex’s story is not unique. A lot of models battle issues with eating. The reason is that their job sometimes depends on it.
“I felt as though people only like me for how I looked. I felt as though people only liked me for my body(including my then-boyfriend. That helped to lead me down this dangerous road of developing an eating disorder”.
Everyone has the misconception that all models are healthy. That they live healthy lives. That is not entirely true. Alexis went on further to talk about how she felt guilty for eating something.
“There were times I just wanted to have a hamburger and fries, but I did not do it. I felt as though my followers might judge me for eating something as simple as a burger and fries. Most people love to eat something like that. I could not. I felt as though it would impact my brand”.
Her friends began to worry and intervene. However, Alexis still met their worries with justification for doing what she was doing. It took her getting sick to finally start to wake up.
“I started suffering from overworking and malnutrition. I had many infections. I was not a happy person”.
Alexis suffered a major breakdown. She also was going through a breakup with her boyfriend(who is also a model). Her boyfriend was there when she first created her image and brand. They did it together. However, everything took a toll after awhile.
Some might be wondering if her relationship(with her ex-boyfriend) was part of the problem. Alexis is not really sure. All she knows is that she became much healthier once the breakup was official. She felt like another weight was lifted off.
“I started working with a personal trainer for exercise. I started to eat healthier. I finally got to a point where I could eat a meal without feeling guilty over it. It is easy to be jealous of someone who has fame, even online. However, they could be suffering (behind-the-scenes) and you do not know it. I can say that because I was that person. I learned that I had to let go of the things that were no longer serving a healthy purpose in my life(including my boyfriend)”.
Alex’s message(to all men and women) is simple.
Stop trying to please others. You have to do what pleases you. Living your life through “people-pleasing” is only going to have detrimental results.