722: Self Esteem Comes From Within With Rajee Aerie

Rajee Aerie was born in India and contracted polio at a young age. Fortunately, she was adopted by a loving American family. Growing up she never let anything get in her way and this can do attitude has stuck with her. As a teen she started to notice that there was no one that looked like her in TV shows, movies or when she was flipping through magazines. The lack of South Asians and disability representation in media is an issue that is very important for Rajee and something she’s been working hard to change.  Rajee went to college and got her degree in broadcast journalism in hopes of being part of the change to include South Asians and people with disabilities. After she graduated from college, Rajee signed with a talent agency and landed a nationwide commercial a couple weeks later. The response was overwhelming because people across the country could finally relate to somebody that they saw on TV. Rajee has continued to appear in print and television commercials as well as represent various companies at trade shows and events. Her biggest accomplishments thus far has been to appear in a national campaign for Aerie in which she was featured on a billboard in Times Square and her op-ed in Teen Vogue, as well as USA Today and she did an interview for CBS national news. Rajee shares how writing an article on self esteem helped her realize and recognize that she has to look inward to find what the qualities and features that she loves and appreciates about herself. Check out https://thetaoofselfconfidence.com for show notes of Rajee's episode, Rajee's website, resources, gifts and so much more.