We sat down with Sarah Nicole Landry, or The Birds Papaya, as she’s known to her 2.5 million Instagram followers, to talk body image, investing in yourself and her Sharknado confidence hack.

Sarah Nicole Landry has been sharing her life online for 17 years. From photo shoots with Canadian intimates brand Knix to strutting down the runway for Sports Illustrated, you’d never know this dynamic mother, wife and full-time content creator struggles with body image and confidence.

Through her uplifting captions on social media and her weekly podcast, The Papaya Podcast, Sarah opens up the conversation for people who don’t feel like their bodies are represented in traditional media. She bares her heart, soul and stretch marks in order to push the boundaries of what’s considered socially acceptable, so we can all feel a sense of belonging.

We sat down with Sarah to chat about overcoming insecurities, pushing through the feeling of fear and finding the real meaning of confidence.

CL: Was there a specific moment that prompted your interest in body positivity?

At the tail end of a weight-loss journey, I realized that losing weight didn’t bring me the happiness or confidence I was expecting it to. I thought weight was the roadblock that was keeping me from being happy with my body, and not having that happen was jarring. It was then that I knew I’d have to start working on some self-acceptance.

I started by posting a photo on social media that revealed a tiny bit of loose skin and stretch marks, which seemed to be the biggest pocket of shame that I had. I tagged Knix, the bra brand I was wearing, in my caption, and the founder ended up asking me if would model for the brand. I assumed I’d be put in high-rise underwear, but when I got to the photoshoot, I was given a pair of low-rise undies and I was terrified. But after the photos went live and people responded, I found out for the very first time that there are a lot of people like me.

I finally felt validated because I’m not alone, and no one should have to hold on to feelings of shame about their body. It made me think, What if I could do something to help other people get unstuck from that place?

We’ve seen you repeat the phrase, “Your body carries life and carries your life.” What does that mean to you?

There are a lot of women who have bodies that have carried babies, but there are many women who haven’t had that experience and still have stretch marks and loose skin. If I show my body and my only message is, “This body is amazing because it brought these beautiful children into being,” it can make some people feel like they aren’t allowed to be part of the conversation. So I always try to remind people that, regardless of why your body has changed, it still carries a life—it carries you.

How do you remind other women that life is more than what your body looks like?

One of the guarantees of life is that we’re going to change—we’ll go through menopause, our weight will fluctuate, our bodies will age. Attaching your worth to a single size, look, purpose, weight or any of it, really, is a losing game. Everything changes as time goes on, but my ‘why’ remains the same. I want to show people that these changes are not a reason for you to feel like you can't live your life fully and completely.

It’s difficult to be confident all the time. How do you handle the moments when you’re just not feeling it?

I used to think confidence was something that I was missing out on. I was still taking on speaking engagements and career opportunities, but I was terrified doing all of it. I was second-guessing myself, changing my outfit five times before an appearance, my knees would literally be shaking while I held the microphone. But somewhere along the line I realized that confidence is doing it scared, it’s doing it even with that fear. Confidence is the way we choose to keep stepping forward when we’re uncomfortable.

When I had the amazing opportunity to walk the Sports Illustrated runway, I was so frightened. But I went out there in a bikini! I knew if it meant some- thing for one other person to see themselves represented in me, I didn’t care about the rest.

I have yet to meet anyone who is inherently built with confidence. They’re all scared. We’re all a little bit insecure. We’re all trying to figure it out. Some people have just gotten into the practice of flexing that muscle over and over again, and then they learn to act a little bit quicker and a little bit better.

People have seen my belly, they’ve seen my cellulite. I’ve lost the terror around my self-image because I acknowledged the fear, and I follow my path anyway. I flex the muscle.

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