In a world where teens are constantly told they’re ‘not good enough’, Dawn Osborne has the tools and strategies to overcome low self esteem, negative self image, self harm and trauma of abuse, to build, shape and refine resilient, confident young women.

The last thing any mother wants to see is their teenage daughter or any young woman, objectify herself on social media to validate her self worth; and it was this rude awakening which prompted Dawn Osborne to fight back.

“I started seeing half-naked girls in bikinis on social media and I know some of these kids, they’re 13 and 14, what are they doing?” Dawn says.

“I started researching and found we’re over sexualising young girls – they might look like a woman but they’re still a young girl inside.

“My question was, why are they doing this? Why do they feel the need to be doing this to get attention and it came back to low self esteem, they want you to find value in them.”

With a successful business background in the health, fitness and beauty industries and drawing on her life coaching and counselling qualifications, Dawn is on a mission to help young women overcome low self esteem.

“Self esteem are two words that are thrown around a lot out there, ‘She’s got low self esteem’, but what exactly is it? How did they get it and can we get out of low self esteem into a higher self esteem?” Dawn says.

“First, you’ve got to know your enemy and know how you got it, which usually comes out of a traumatic experience. I wrote a program that identifies what it is, how it operates in your life and how you can overcome it, how you can change yourself, it’s about value and self worth.”

I started seeing half-naked girls in bikinis on social media and I know some of these kids, they’re 13 and 14, what are they doing?”

Dawn, who founded adolescent cosmetics brand Teen Skin, has helped thousands of young girls turn their lives around through The Seeing Beauty Foundation.

“They come because they want to learn about self care, grooming and make-up, but my message to them is about their identity and their value and their worth and about how they see themselves – it’s about seeing beauty,” she says.

“But not on the outside, it’s about seeing how beautiful they are on the inside and identifying their qualities and talking about fear.

“These young girls who are growing up now, live in a very different world. Everything’s on their phones and it’s a constant message of ‘You’re not good enough’, ‘You’ve got to look like this’, ‘You’ve got to be like this’, and then you’ll be accepted – it broke my heart.”

Over the past year, Dawn has been visiting Sunshine Coast schools and community centres, educating young girls, but says she was shocked at how bad some situations had become.

“Some parents may not realise the implications, they don’t know the consequences of their kids seeing this stuff, but there are major consequences,” she says.

“I went out to a state high school and when I got there they had security and were in lockdown because there had been a major scrap between two groups of girls fighting over a guy on the internet, whom they had never met.

“When I walked in they started getting the tables out because they might start throwing them around. That’s what’s going on in these schools! The girls are angry, they’re insecure, and when you’re fearful you’re in attack mode and you react to everything.

“If I can help just one girl, my job is done.”

Girls love beauty, hair, make-up and fashion – but often they are given the wrong message that they may not ever measure up. The Seeing Beauty program is designed to be informative, teaching girls new skills, increasing their value and showing them it’s ok be themselves, they are already beautiful, unique and wonderful.

WANT TO HELP?
Visit seeingbeauty.com.au to sign up to an online course or host a Seeing Beauty workshop.