Interview with Debra Gano

We recently had the pleasure of giving away a copy of Debra Gano’s book, Beauty’s Secret, A Girl’s Discovery of Inner Beauty. Debra is an internationally known model and actress, and also the founder and CEO of Heartlight Girls, an organization that teaches empowerment, self-esteem principles, awareness of inner beauty and strength, and motivation to connect to one’s true self. Her first book in the Heartlight Girls series, Beauty’s Secret, integrates her passion for empowering young girls and spiritual awareness.

I loved the concept behind this book so much that I asked Debra if she could answer a few questions for the readers of Blisstree. I know you are going to love hearing about the positive message she writes about!

Congratulations on your award-winning book. Tell me how you came to write Beauty’s Secret, A Girl’s Discovery of Inner Beauty.

I worked for many years in the very externally-focused “glamour” industry as a professional model and actress, and witnessed so many people (including myself!) being so consumed with what was going on with the outside, yet paying little attention to what was inside. The ironic thing was that these people had so much- great looks, money, and often fame – yet something was missing and they were not necessarily happy. I know I wasn’t.

A near-death car accident, as well as other “tragedies” (I now call them gifts), caused me to turn within, to abandon the “false” self I was portraying, and become connected to what I call my “true” self. The real me, where my inner beauty lies. As I discovered living from this perspective, my self-esteem increased, I was so much happier, and I felt a freedom I had never felt before. I then knew it was my purpose and my passion to teach this to girls, teaching them “What I know now, but wish I had back then.” I wanted young girls to be able to learn this at an earlier age than I did to avoid being trapped by their misconceptions of themselves so they could live a life fully empowered and free.

Why is self-esteem an important thing for girl’s to develop? What are some common reasons young women today may have a low self-esteem?

Without a strong sense of self-worth, girls are so much more susceptible when making the transition into the “big girl” stage, whenever that might be for that particular girl. Low-self esteem is the cause for just about every issue in society, and with girls, this results in making poor choices when it comes to boys, body image, and peer pressure. These unhealthy choices are what is contributing to the staggering numbers of teen eating disorders, depression, pregnancies, substance abuse, plastic surgery, and even suicides.

Many factors contribute to a young woman’s low self-esteem, the layers start building over the years…remember, we are not born with low self-esteem! Parents of both genders play an important role in developing a young girl’s sense of self-worth, that’s why I like to work with the parents as much as the girls, for often it’s the parents who will plant the initial seeds of insecurity. Teachers, friends, and peer pressure add additional layers, but I feel our media is the biggest culprit. Girls today have access to so many vehicles of media, and are bombarded by unrealistic images that they compare themselves to. Without a strong sense of self-esteem, a girl will believe the untruths others say about her, and then will repeat these untruths to herself on a daily basis, becoming her own worst enemy. As much as I would love our media to change overnight to be more empowering for girls, we all know this will take time, so my goal is to empower girls so the layers of insecurity never build and they can discern for themselves in a healthy way the things that are coming at them so fast.

Thank you, Debra.  We’ve got Part 2 of our interview tomorrow, so be sure to check back to hear the rest of Debra’s amazing story.

Images: Debra Gano