Confidence Ambassadors

Former model and presenter Yvonne Conolly and her daughter Ali have become self-esteem ambassadors to help girls and young women become more confident about their appearance.

Self-esteem is a particular problem for young women with global studies repeatedly demonstrating that it is confidence not competence that holds girls back. Girls in Ireland have significant self-esteem issues according to a recent study by personal care brand Dove. The overwhelming majority of 10-17 year olds who took part reported negative body image issues and scored above the global average making Ireland amongst the lowest levels of self-esteem for girls in the world.

Yvonne Connolly and her 15 year old daughter Ali Keating are ambassadors for the Dove Self-Esteem Project in Ireland and have taken up the challenge of fighting for young girls who struggle with self-image and confidence.

“As a mother of two daughters, I can see first-hand how a lack of confidence can affect young girls in all aspects of their lives,” says Yvonne. The presenter is a keen horse rider and had a serious accident in 2019 that badly affected her self-esteem. “I now have three plates in my face and have had extensive surgery to rebuild my nose. I was shocked when I first read the stats from the research and found it especially sad to see how it all starts at such a young age,” she explains.

It has been widely reported that sites like Instagram can have a detrimental effect on young girls, especially with digital distortion playing a heavy role in beauty norms today. Yvonne believes that: “Social media can put too much pressure on young people to look picture perfect”.

“I like accounts where people are real and honest about using filters and editing pictures. I prefer when influencers or well known people are brave enough to show their flaws too, showing their followers that no one is perfect,” she says.

As a former model, Yvonne is familiar with the pressure around body image. Although she was generally confident as a young girl she did experience that self-doubt at one point in her life. “Ironically when I first started modelling, my confidence was hit for the first time. Was I tall enough, was I skinny enough, was I as pretty as the other girls. I quickly got over it and learnt that being professional, friendly and easy to work with often secured jobs for me. I focused on my strengths and tried to not let it affect me.”

Some six out of ten girls in Ireland reported that they did not attend school related events because of the way they felt about their appearance. Yvonne believes this is one reason why the Dove Self-Esteem Project is so important: “It provides the tools and resources to help not only young girls but also their parents, teachers and coaches”.

When asked what one piece of wisdom she would instil in all teenage girls, Yvonne comments: “Like many women as I’ve grown older I’ve become more confident in my own skin, accepting and actually embracing my imperfections. I really wish I could make young girls feel like this. It’s such a pity it takes so long to figure this out”.

At some stage in our lives, we have all struggled with confidence issues and low self-esteem, it’s natural to do so. When Yvonne struggles with her own self-confidence she has a good support structure in place. “I’m lucky to have an amazing partner, family, and good friends who on days like that lift me and make me feel great.” Having a great support system is so important for young girls, so they can recognise that feeling low in confidence is normal and something a lot of their peers go through.

Yvonne has some advice to other mothers of young girls who are struggling to find their own confidence. “Focus on your strengths and on what makes you, you. Make sure that you and your daughter follow accounts on Instagram that are real and make you feel better about yourselves” she says.

“Also, the resources are not just for young people, there is something in there that anyone of any age can relate to. Finally, don’t put pressure on yourself to feel perfect. It’s normal to not feel confident every day, and we all have our imperfections so let’s embrace our true selves along the way to feeling confident and not let a lack of confidence hold us back from fully participating in life. Life is too short!”

Yvonne’s 15-year old daughter Ali, is in the age bracket where young girls struggle the most with their self-esteem. “I think my generation needs a huge push to be confident as everything is on social media and it’s always in your face how you should look,” she says. Surrounding herself with a great support system helped her with any confidence issues she may have had growing up. “I felt that surrounding myself with people who supported and encouraged me was a huge help.”

So how important is it to Ali that young girls have role models to look up too? “It’s always great to have someone to idolise and look up to once it’s for the right reason,” she says. And on someone she herself admires Ali chooses a national hero and great role model. “With the time we are in, jockey Rachael Blackmore is an amazing woman and has made history being the first woman to win the Grand National, becoming a great idol for lots of young girls.” Having her mum and older sister in her support system made it easier for her, she says, to talk about how she was feeling. “My Mom and I are very close so it made everything very easy to talk about if I was ever feeling down or had problems. Also having a big sister like Missy who’s gone through it all in the past few years and knows exactly how hard it can be for girls my age.”

She believes that having hobbies and interests outside of school and social media is crucial for young girls to avoid feeling a constant pressure when it comes to looking a certain way or comparing themselves to a beauty standard. “You don’t want to have your head stuck on social media the whole time, you want to be able to go off and not have to think about it and do what you love to do. I’m lucky to have the horses to keep my mind off it! It’s something I love to give my all to.”

For more on the Dove Self-Esteem Project, visit the online learning hub at dove.com.