<h1>Intro</h1> <p>When Natalya was a little girl, she couldn’t forget the reaction of her grandmother upon visiting her. After a long time of not being able to see her, her grandmother was shocked and almost griefed that Natalya had grown a head full of curly hair.</p> <p>This is because growing up in the apartheid regime in South Africa, having straight hair meant that you can get better educational opportunities and better treatment from society in general.</p> <p>At such a tender age, Natalya learned that even something as personal as your own hair can be the measurement of one's worthiness.</p> <p>Later on, Natalya would redeem her identity through the one many things that the apartheid regime denied her of – enjoying her own natural, curly, dark hair.</p> <p>In this episode, Natalya talks about her experience as a child coming out of the apartheid regime in South Africa and then migrating to Australia. She also opens up about her struggles with self-acceptance and how you can help yourself be more comfortable in your own skin, no matter what community you find yourself in.</p> <p><br> <strong>Guest Bio</strong></p> <p>Natalya Moosa is an educator and digital marketing consultant currently based in England. She helps business owners connect with, understand and empower their community by creating effective content marketing strategies.</p> <h1>Key Takeaways</h1> <ul> <li>From trying to fit in to finding confidence in your identity &nbsp;[14:45]<br> </li> <li>How Natalya’s natural hair journey helped in her self-acceptance &nbsp;[18:18]<br> </li> <li>Loving yourself inspires others to love themselves as well &nbsp;[25:06]<br> </li> <li>Advice to black women who find themselves immigrating to places where people are openly hostile to them &nbsp;[28:18]<br> </li> </ul> <h1>Quotes</h1> <p>“What I found is that oftentimes you put a lot of effort into fitting into a community and building values and belief systems that deny who you are, but in the end, the people who you are trying to please still don’t accept you.” [Anya, 17:09]</p> <p>“I gave myself permission to be an ambassador for myself and for what I believe I want to be and how I want people to be able to express themselves. I saw it as my duty to stand up and hold my head up high and take up the space that I was meant to fill.” [Natalya, 25:52]</p> <h1>Live Your Best Life!</h1> <p>Want to learn how to self-validate, let go of self-doubt, and figure out what a successful life looks like for you (not your parents)? Then download our complimentary audio guide <a href="http://www.navigatingculture.co/liveyourbestlife"><u>here</u></a>.</p> <p>Take the first step to living your own life beyond anyone else's expectations!</p>