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OUR FOUNDER

 

RAQUEL WHITING GILMER

FOUNDER, CEO, MOM, FRIEND

What is your origin story? Every hero has one


The story of Perfectly Me started with my own journey to find self-love and self-acceptance. As a young girl and teen, I struggled with my self-esteem. I was chubby and was regularly teased by other children and adults. I felt ashamed of my size, and of myself. The struggles with my weight and self-esteem lasted well into my adulthood but I did a lot of personal development work including lots of therapy and came to the understanding that no matter my size or my weight, I am perfectly me. 

 

What are your superpowers?

 

My superpowers are perseverance and empathy. 

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Why did you start Perfectly Me?

 

Because of my own journey and struggles, I wanted to help other girls develop strong self-esteem so they would be best prepared for life’s challenges. I knew I couldn’t take away challenges such as peer pressure, bullies and most scary – the need to make tough personal choices, but I could give girls powerful tools they could use to help them overcome such challenges. In pursuit of my mission, in 2007 I developed the Perfectly Me Girls program, and delivered sessions in schools. I also started my own superhero universe in 2015 starting with the Awesome Perfectly Me Girls, superhero girls who fight the villains trying to squash girls’ self-esteem – anxiety, fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of not being liked, self-doubt, self-hate, and the dreaded naysayers. 

 

Over the years, I also expanded my own view of our superheroes and realized that they had to fight more than self-esteem challenges - self-love was only the beginning. The Awesome Perfectly Me Girls had to fight for and promote the supervalues that make kids superheroes – honesty, courage, kindness, compassion, perseverance, resilience, intelligence and more. Specifically, I wanted our superheroes to be tools that parents could use to help their kids become superheroes and the best humans. I also expanded our universe to include amazing boys with the introduction of Captain Kid Kindness in 2019 based on my son, Mikey. CKK is a kindergartener who works with his kindness crew to encourage kindness, empathy, and inclusion. And this year, we added the Perfectly Me Squad, a diverse group of elementary school heroes who fight AdversiT through STEAM, mindfulness, perseverance, and leadership. 

 

I am passionate about this work because I’m a mom and I want my son to be a superhero and great human. And I know this isn’t going to be easy but I feel more confident because I’ve got my Perfectly Me Team and my superhero crew fighting along-side me, the Perfectly Me SuperHeroes.

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