Turning a lemon into lemonade. Converting a weakness into a strength. Making the best out of what you have. People do it, including these four whose full stories will appear in my book, “Facing the World.”
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When Susan Suruda was 14, she was six-feet tall, weighted less than 100 pounds, had braces and wore glasses. By the time she was a junior in high school, she was a fashion model. Now a successful singer and songwriter, she still models from time to time. Susan in a Betsey Johnson dress.
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Food made Ed “Cookie” Jarvis famous, but not as a chef. He weighed 385 pounds in high school, but he never played football. He entered eating contests, and today he holds more than 30 world eating records. He has a success business and a happy marriage. “Cookie” with Jay Leno.
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Stephanie Sack was always a big girl. She lost weight from time to time, but gained it back. She loved fashion, but could never find anything at any of the chic stores that fit her. So, at 28, she opened Vive la Femme, a clothing store in Chicago specializing in stylish clothes in sizes 12 to 24. She tells customers that accepting their weight is less frightening and energy consuming than denying it.
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At 14, an accident burned Kylie Williams, leaving embarrassing scars on her face. She was teased and ridiculed all through high school, but it didn’t stop her from pursing and becoming valedictorian. Her scars healed, and she eventually became Miss Florida 2007 and traveled the country giving inspirational speeches to burn victims and their families.
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If you have teenage daughters, I recommend they read “My feet aren’t ugly” by Debra Beck, a book about building self-esteem, making friends, doing the right thing despite peer pressure, dealing with depression and sex and drugs, and other survival tips. It has been decades since I was a teenager, and I’ve never been a girl, but I could have benefited from reading a book like this. In fact, perusing several chapters was a refresher course in the importance of being nice to others and accepting them. Making people feel good about themselves makes you feel good about yourself.
Author Debra Beck points out that someone might not like your looks, but someone else will consider you attractive. In her case, a boy told her she had the ugliest feet he had ever seen. She didn’t start wearing boots to the beach, but she stopped wearing sandals–until another boy told her she had really pretty feet. That explains the book title.
“My feet aren’t ugly” was published in 2007, but it is timeless, easy to read, has illustrations, and pages for readers to journal. A helpful section on relationships presents hypotethical situations and lists optional actions to take. If the reader’s choice is not the recommended answer, she will reflect on her own behavior. 
Check out http://myfeetarentugly.com
