LVRSustainable is proud to shine the spotlight on International Women’s Day. Women empowerment and equality is a close subject to us, being a major focus of our LVRSustainable section and our mission is to continue supporting women worldwide, as we did with our collaboration with Oxfam: Give Water, Sustain Women. Be it through our special humanitarian programs or through providing women with clothing to make them feel good. Our Women’s empowerment LVRSustainable icon highlights the brands that are engaged with this purpose.
This International Women’s Day we wanted to celebrate the beauty and strength of all women, to commend their accomplishments, talk about their struggles, and hear about their different walks of life. We have chosen to share the stories of three women that inspire us. Human rights, equality and perceptions of the beauty of women have shaped our editorial this year. We’re proud to introduce interviews with Ryle Tuvierra, Nilofar Yaqoubi and Lauren Wasser. Real stories from powerful and admirational women, each with their own journey of life, struggles and victories to share.
We aspire for the freedom for all women to change the world, one goal and success at a time. Equality is the one goal we strive for everyday.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your story, what major events shaped you into the person you are today?
My name is Rylé Kaleia Tuvierra I am a Filipino Lebanese-Syrian, Founder of The Fierce Walker Lab Agency and Baby Drama upcycle jewelry brand based in Barcelona, Spain. I’ve been an active advocate for sustainability and circularity in the fashion industry working with brands hand in hand with their strategies and projects related to Inclusivity and sustainability. I am working with freelance photographer, videographers and creative team to execute brand campaigns, projects, short narratives and storytelling for online and offline ads. All the trials and tribulations in life has mold me to become the fiercer version of myself today. I want to inspire my (our) community to be themselves and never let their past dictate their future. I always curate stories and updates in my life on social media but one thing that I will never forget is when I moved to Barcelona from Dubai to start from scratch during the COVID 19 Pandemic. I’ve worked as a nanny/helper in the house of a local family in Catalunya away from the city to earn money and live my new life in Spain. It taught me to be grounded, secure and independent with my personal choice and show to everyone that I am not afraid to build myself from scratch. Stories that will inspire others to fight through the odds and let the troubles empower them as a person no matter what.
Have you drawn professional inspiration from other women? Tell us about someone who has inspired you?
Marriam Mossalli is the founder of a Luxury Consulting Agency in Jeddah KSA. She was my former boss way back in 2014 when I was starting my career at 7 eleven convenience store. I was working for her part-time to cover her events, shows and meetings in Dubai while working with my full time job. I’ve learned so many things from her, such as being always ahead of the game, resiliency and knowing how to back up yourself for anything that you say and do. She was one of my favorite people in my life and she also showed me real life situations in fashion. It’s not all about the glitz and glamor but it’s the real work behind the camera and how you discipline yourself as a professional who delivers on time and flawlessly.
What would you tell young women who have similar stories to yours, what advice would you give them?
Be Fierce and bold enough to stand for your dreams. Make it happy and execute things that you love flawlessly. The world will not give you what you want but it will allow you to evolve, grow and prosper as long as you are putting the work/action on things that you love. Keep moving forward and slay life with a fierce heart. Let no one judgment or perception define who you are, you define who you are by making actions with calculated consequences — face it no matter what.
What is the main struggle or obstacle you face in your line of work as a woman?
People’s lack of education about Trans women. Getting rejected to get jobs and clients whenever they find out that I am a different kind of woman. I think education is the key to educating people on how they treat others. They need the proper knowledge on how to address people who they are and let them flourish without any judgment. I’ve got so many rejections and No’s from the community itself but that didn’t stop me from moving forward with enthusiasm. Even sometimes it hurts a lot and to get a judgment and bad eye from people, I don’t let it into my head. Instead I empathize with people on their lack of knowledge and way of thinking to deal with women like me.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your story, what major events shaped you into the person you are today?
I’m an Afghan Fashion creative currently living between The Netherlands and Dubai. I was born in Afghanistan and fled with my family to Europe when I was 4 years old. The reason my family and many other afghan families fled the country was because of the Taliban.
(The Taliban, an extremist militia, seized control over Afghanistan violently plunged Afghanistan into a brutal state of totalitarian dictatorship and gender apartheid in which women and girls were stripped of their basic human rights. Under Taliban rule women were stripped of all human rights – their work, visibility, opportunity for education, voice, healthcare, and mobility)
As a young 5years old, I’ve always had an interest in sports and started my gymnastic journey followed by football in The Netherlands. As a girl I could never have had the freedom to do these activities in Afghanistan back then until later on when Afghanistan started planning activities and sports for women but everything had always been risky for them. After a long time, Afghanistan has struggled to build a National women’s football team that I also joined in 2015. I had the opportunity to join the team which was a dream to me. I wanted to inspire other (Afghan) women to exercise even though it wasn’t possible for everyone. As an Afghan girl in Afghanistan most of the girls aren’t allowed to do these kinds of activities because it’s unsafe. Especially football because it’s considered a men’s sport. After seizing power in August, the Taliban rolled back the hard-won women’s rights gained in the past two decades in Afghanistan. They did so by imposing strict restrictions on women, including a ban on women’s sports.
Have you drawn professional inspiration from other women? Tell us about someone who has inspired you?
My mom has always been an inspiration to me because she left her house and family to an unknown destination to have a better future for us. We came as refugees to a completely new country with a completely different language and culture. It isn’t easy to start from zero. She always taught me to never give up even in the most difficult situations and also to be patient to overcome hardships. She always kept supporting us with everything we did.
What would you tell young women who have similar stories to yours, what advice would you give them?
I feel like the generation we live in, especially the young girls nowadays, are seeking perfection. Perfection is impossible. Instead work on yourself, be patient and give yourself plenty of time to develop yourself. Allow yourself enough time to learn new skills, to travel and to experience new adventures. Failure and mistakes are part of life. I want girls to know they can do anything they want as long ast they don’t stop. And last but not least, be a woman who supports other women.
What is the main struggle or obstacle you face in your line of work as a woman?
Social media and society as a whole tend to judge women based on their appearance, status, money and their cultural background which puts quite a lot of pressure on our shoulders as female creators. The feeling that we are never quite good enough whilst always striving for more can be quite tough to deal with at times.
It was definitely harder at the start of my career as a smaller influencer, the industry was much less diverse in terms of the type of influencers brands were working with. In recent years there has been a really strong shift in focusing on diversity and inclusion which has been a positive change that the industry needed to see.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your story, what major events shaped you into the person you are today?
At the age of 24, I almost lost my life to TSS (Toxic shock syndrome) caused by a tampon. I was using the product correctly as I had my entire life as any woman does when they are on their cycle—changing it every couple of hours. I started to feel flu-like symptoms, slowly getting weaker and weaker. Eventually, the toxins got into my bloodstream. I suffered two heart attacks, my kidney and organs were failing, I developed a 107 fever, and ultimately, I was rushed to the hospital after being found face down literally 10 minutes from death in my apartment.
Long story short, by the grace of God, I survived. I had a 1% chance of living. I ended up losing both of my legs and had to rebuild myself from the ground up. I realized TSS had been killing and injuring women for over 30 years before I was even born, and I was just the lucky one. I had a mission now; I had to be the voice for those women who didn’t have one or had lost their life. Now I use my platform to educate and bring awareness to women’s feminine hygiene and the need for safe products that we should have access to but don’t exist. I also have been trailblazing the fashion industry by introducing a new side of beauty that’s never been seen before.
Everything I’ve gone through has made me exactly who I’m supposed to be right now, at this moment.
Have you drawn professional inspiration from other women? Tell us about someone who has inspired you?
Women are incredible. We are superhumans. We create life! One woman I think I will always fan over is Rihanna. She embodies empowerment and owning who you are. She shows that nothing you have gone through defines the future you have; only you define the future you have. Everything we go through only prepares us for our future selves. Rihanna is an icon, a trailblazer, and a leader for women to believe in themselves and that they are beautiful just the way they are.
What would you tell young women who have similar stories to yours, what advice would you give them ?
I hope for anyone that sees me or my story can see that nothing is impossible. If I can overcome the darkness, so can you. The thing you may not like the most about yourself is your biggest strength. It makes you unique and special. We are all one of one. Be happy in your own skin and know that all the struggle & pain is only temporary. Keep fighting
What is the main struggle or obstacle you face in your line of work as a woman?
For me I think it’s fighting for us women to have the same rights as men. For our health to be just as a priority as theirs. My goal with awareness and women’s health and making these companies hold accountability may take my entire life, but it will be done. This needs to stop. I don’t want another life or generation to have to lose their life or lose limbs or suffer internal damage and have families have to deal with the aftermath of losing their daughter because of a tampon. It’s 2022!
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A very special thank you to Ryle Tuvierra, Nilofar Yaqoubi and Lauren Wasser.
