President & Co-Founder
Meriam Bouarrouj
[email protected]
@meriamb
Meriam Bouarrouj - President/Co-Founder/ Journalist (National Examiner)
I grew up Arlington, VA, which you may think of as the closest city to our nation's capital; while true, growing up I knew it as the hometown toOscar winners Sandra Bullock, Shirley McClaine, Warren Beatty, and network journalist Katie Couric. High school for me was full of great stories about those notable people and how they made their way. I guess it always gave us an extra boost of motivation during those classes that never felt like they would end! For some time I think caught some of that passion for acting that Sandra must have sprinkled across the halls of Washington-Lee high school because spent a lot of my free time on the stage and became heavily involved with the theater department. Which I think has helped me now when interviewing actors and understanding them talking about their concepts of getting into character. I then attended the University of Maryland, and spent part of my Junior year studying in Paris, which was one of the most remarkable and memorable experience's of my life. I love to travel and have been fortunate to have had the great opportunities to visit many wonderful places around the world. I love exploring the history of countries, their cultures, and their people. Spending time in other countries has contributed so much to my life that I still take with me today. I have been blessed to learn from iconic journalists when I studied under the NBC News Broadcast journalism program in 2009 in New York City. Incredible learning experience that has brought wonderful mentors to my life.
I am a part of Team True Beauty because I believe what our campaign is about is a REAL issue that affects all women and if my involvement with this can help even just one person, I'm satisfied. I have always wanted to be a part of something that can lead to making a difference in people's lives. I'm always thinking of ways for my work and my life to have a positive impact on someone. The best part and absolute most rewarding part of my work is when something that was said in an interview I did inspires or reaches someone. Since I was young and knew I wanted to be a journalist, a major part of my desire had to do with how my journalism can influence people's lives. The ability to conduct interviews is what mostly led me to journalism. An interview has the ability to inspire, to educate, to light a spark of curiosity. I believe everyone has a story to tell. Interviews are what bring those stories to life. There are so many interesting people that need to be heard. I love getting to know people through interviews. It's been incredibly enriching to my life and has led me to know great people who have affected me both professionally and personally. I love being exposed to so many different personalities, perspectives, experiences, backgrounds. It's truly fascinating to me. I have ideas. I have curiosity. I have an intense desire to explore and do identify. I have a need to learn. A need to question. I have a purpose and it is to be an influential journalist.
I am a part of Team True Beauty because I believe what our campaign is about is a REAL issue that affects all women and if my involvement with this can help even just one person, I'm satisfied. I have always wanted to be a part of something that can lead to making a difference in people's lives. I'm always thinking of ways for my work and my life to have a positive impact on someone. The best part and absolute most rewarding part of my work is when something that was said in an interview I did inspires or reaches someone. Since I was young and knew I wanted to be a journalist, a major part of my desire had to do with how my journalism can influence people's lives. The ability to conduct interviews is what mostly led me to journalism. An interview has the ability to inspire, to educate, to light a spark of curiosity. I believe everyone has a story to tell. Interviews are what bring those stories to life. There are so many interesting people that need to be heard. I love getting to know people through interviews. It's been incredibly enriching to my life and has led me to know great people who have affected me both professionally and personally. I love being exposed to so many different personalities, perspectives, experiences, backgrounds. It's truly fascinating to me. I have ideas. I have curiosity. I have an intense desire to explore and do identify. I have a need to learn. A need to question. I have a purpose and it is to be an influential journalist.
SPOTLIGHT ON MERIAM
Meriam has been hugely instrumental in the campaign since it's beginning. She started writing a series of articles on celebrities talking about how to love yourself and find your own beauty, to give the girls and supporters of Team True Beauty something to read other than articles telling them how to be "perfect."
If you are to meet Meriam, and listen to her speak, she is just as you imagine her to be, extremely sweet and kind. She loves to make a difference and to help people. Though, she probably wouldn't tell you that she is extremely gifted as a journalist and was asked to cover the royal events in LA, and she also wouldn't tell you that she'd love to see Ryan Gosling in person someday, she will tell you that you are beautiful and it doesn't matter what you look like, it's all about the person within!
There is a sincerity in Meriam, that is rare to find in many people. She goes above and beyond in the line of friendship and she has such a passion for her friends, and for people she's never even met!
We asked her to answer our "celebrity spotlight" questions so you could get to know her in her own words, and here is what she had to say.
1. Why did you decide to start Team True Beauty?
I helped to start Team True Beauty because way too many girls are struggling and feeling as if they're not good enough due to society's obsession with being 'perfect' or 'thin'. Too many lives are lost and too many people suffer because of society's emphasis and obsession with the outward appearances. And that's devastating. Either we all have at one point or know those who have struggled with eating disorders or the feeling of not being good enough, and I wanted to help build a support system for girls and women of all ages to let girls know that they are beautiful just the way they are and that the size of your heart matters more than the size of your jeans. Nobody should ever have to feel like they're not good enough. If we emphasize on the importance of inner beauty and get girls to focus more on their passions and goals and less on their looks, then hopefully the number of girls going to unhealthy measures to look a certain way will begin to decrease. Currently over 65% of girls in this country alone suffer from an eating disorder. That number needs to shrink and myself along with all of the Team True Beauty founders, speakers and supporters are going to help do that!
2. What is one piece of advice you would give to people who are struggling to see THEIR true beauty?
I would say ask yourself why are you struggling to see your beauty? Is it because of someone in your life? Or the media? Remember it's YOUR beauty. Not anyone else's. So don't let anyone else define what beauty is for you. Beauty is who YOU are. I say 'who' because true beauty has everything to do with who you are and nothing with what you look like. And remember that your inner beauty always reflects on your outer beauty. And if it's just in your head, just know that you are beautiful exactly the way you are because it's unique to you. You have traits that no one else has so cherish and embrace those. There's a reason why you are here. You're worthy just by being born. So FEEL worthy. Also, the most important advice I can give is when you're having those days of insecurities(and I know we all have them) go out and do something for someone else. Give back in anyway you can. It doesn't have to be on a large scale. This is something you can always do. Encourage someone, volunteer in your community, be there to listen to a friend in need. Life is so much more meaningful when you live it outside of just yourself. The best thing you can do is be a blessing to somebody!
3. How do YOU describe Beauty? True Beauty? Is there a difference?
True beauty to me is beauty that isn't defined to us by a scale or a mirror, but by our hearts and minds. TRUE beauty is inner beauty. The kind of person you are, the words you speak, your actions with others, what you achieve; these are things that define true beauty I believe. They are what will last while make up can be washed away and gravity will eventually take away everything else. True beauty is what leaves a real imprint after we're long gone. People won't remember or care about what you looked like if you didn't treat them with respect and kindness. I described how I define 'beauty' on our Team True Beauty speaker Daphne's Zuniga's site with an acronym that I wrote and want to include it here as well.
B-Brave
E-Earnest
A-Admirable
U-Unique
T-True
I-Intelligent
F-Funny
U-Uniting
L-Loving
4. How do you handle interviewing different celebrities? Do you ever get starstruck? Do you get nervous?
Well I wouldn't say I 'handle' anyone! I treat everyone with respect and always keep an open mind. It's important to me that they feel comfortable with me and that we hopefully can engage in a good conversation. Maintaining my integrity with the people I interview is also something I highly value. I no longer get nervous like I did when I first started two years ago. I used to get nervous right before the interview. I used to worry whether they would like my questions or if the conversation would go well or not. Nobody wants that dead silence! I LOVE interviewing though because I learn something from pretty much every person that I talk to. It could be something major or something small, or something funny or serious; there's always a thought or lesson left with me afterwards. Everyone has a different background and an interesting and important voice. Every interview is an experience and a gift.
As for starstruck...people ask me all the time 'who's the biggest celebrity you've ever interviewed?' I don't really like that question because it's not about who the 'biggest' is. The fame level doesn't matter to me. It's about the person and what they talk about, how they respond to the questions; that's what makes for an interview that still stands out to me months later. While I have enjoyed speaking with every person that I've been fortunate to interview, when I look back on some of my top favorite interviews they aren't with people who are on magazine covers every week. Yet to me they are some of the most amazing people and I feel blessed to have had them enrich my work and my life.
5. If there is ONE thing that you can leave this spotlight with, concerning ANYTHING (funny or serious) what would it be?
Live your life with a dedicated purpose. Do something you love and that you're passionate about. Life is too short not to. And make sure you help other people along the way as well. Life is too short to not do that either.
Everyone has a special light and the ability to shine it on the world! Even if you're going through something difficult and struggling to see it right now, it's there and will eventually resurface even brighter. There's a quote by Leonard Cohen that pertains to this: “In the broken places the light shines through.” I believe we learn from every experience we go through, and sometimes I think more from the negative than the positive. It's like life's way of helping us to make sense of the bad things that happen to us. Something good can always come out of something bad if you allow yourself to choose how you want to react to it and not let it react for you and determine your life. Think about all the charities and organizations that were started by people because they were able to connect on a personal level to the cause. Unfortunate situations can lead us to live our lives in a way that will positively impact others and that's the most fulfilling thing. During the tough times the hope and cure is in caring about other people.
Also know that there's no such thing as too much kindness. You never know how much one kind word can impact someone's day and no matter how busy we all are there's always a second to show your true beauty. Use your heart until it stops beating!
And THANK YOU to everyone who supports Team True Beauty! Thank you to everyone who has shared their story and advice, thanks to everyone who follows us on Twitter, or tweets about it, or has dedicated any moment of their time to the campaign. So grateful to take this journey with all of you!