Break the Internet with mind, not body

Editor’s Note: Sonia Jackson Myles is the founder of the Sister Accord Foundation, which focuses on improving the lives of women, and author of “The Sister Accord: 51 Ways to LOVE Your Sister.” The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

Story highlights

Kim Kardashian, who posed nude for Paper Magazine, received many mean comments

Sonia Myles: It's important not to judge others; we have all made unwise decisions

Let's encourage women to use their minds instead of their bodies in seeking success

Myles: Two role models for women are Sara Blakely and Elizabeth Holmes

CNN  — 

Chances are you’ve either heard about or seen the photos of Kim Kardashian posing nude for Paper Magazine. The intention was to “break the Internet” with the provocative photos of Kardashian baring it all. While I was disappointed that Kardashian chose to use nude photos of herself for the occasion, I was even more disappointed to hear all the mean comments and disparaging articles written about her.

Those who know Kardashian personally speak well of her and tell me how kind and sweet she is. So, it is painful to see how quickly we are willing to come down hard on each other as women. It’s as if we give no space or room for any margin of error.

It’s important to not judge others and to recognize that we have all made decisions that in hindsight (no pun intended) we wish we could take back. The movie “Groundhog Day” comes to mind. Haven’t we all wanted a second chance at getting something right?

Sonia Jackson Myles

Let’s encourage all women to seek powerful, sustainable and fulfilling ways to break the Internet and the bank by using our minds instead of our bodies.

I remember being an executive in corporate America and being mindful to cover up my curves so the men I worked with would focus on my creative and innovative ideas instead of how I looked. I was probably overly obsessed with it, but I always wanted to be rewarded for my merits and accomplishments versus anything that had to do with my physical attributes.

For women in the corporate world, how you dress and speak, how passionate you are about what you do, how you persevere, and how you operate day-to-day all help establish your brand.

Think for a moment: What are people saying about you when you are not in the room? Do you know what your personal brand is? Does your brand convey that you are using your body or your mind to achieve your goals and aspirations?

There are two amazing women – Sara Blakely and Elizabeth Holmes – who are examples of sisters who are using their minds to not only create wealth but also using their gifts and talents to make a difference in the lives of others.

Blakely, founder of Spanx, has helped women feel beautiful and confident in their clothes without having to wear full feet-in pantyhose. She did three things that I believe all successful entrepreneurs must do: 1) She cared deeply about what she was trying to do – namely, how to help women look great even if they don’t have perfect bodies, 2) She was confident in her ability to provide a solution, 3) She was courageous enough to discuss her ideas with others, knowing that they could write her off. Even though she experienced rejections at first, she never gave up. Oprah named Spanx one of her favorite things in 2000 – and the rest is history.

Another woman we can all admire is self-made billionaire Elizabeth Holmes, who founded Theranos, a medical diagnostics company, which is revolutionizing the blood testing process. She leveraged her fear of needles to develop a way to use a small amount of blood for multiple tests instead of the usual two to four vials that we are accustomed to having drawn at the doctor’s office.

Holmes studied chemistry at Stanford University but dropped out in her sophomore year to pursue her business. She spent years working on her idea. During that time, she didn’t give up; she stayed focused in the right way, in what I call the 3 Cs: care, confidence and courage.

So, how will you break the bank using your mind? We want to hear from you.

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