We were lucky to catch up with Shannon Sessomes recently and have shared our conversation below.

Shannon, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My mission has always been to be the representation I didn’t have when I was younger.

The story behind my mission is that growing up, especially as a preteen, there was never anyone who really looked like me or had the same issues as me in the public eye. Fat, struggling with mental health, sensitive creatives. No one like that was being celebrated. I was made to feel like I would never be able to dress the way I wanted to dress, feel confident, show up fully, or be loved. Not unless I changed myself first. But all that ever led to was me being miserable.

So now, everything I do, whether it’s creating content, showing up as I am, or sharing my self love journey, is in the hopes that it inspires other people to do the same. To go on their own journey, take up space and to honor the younger versions of themselves who needed someone like them to look up to.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi, I’m Shannon. I’m a content creator. I originally got into social media through YouTube as a kid. But I didn’t start taking it seriously until the pandemic, when I created a roller skating instagram during COVID. That was really my first deep dive into body positivity. For the first time, I experienced fat joy. That account started to grow, but just as things were taking off, my personal life was hit hard.

My dad was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and passed away just a month later. That loss completely wrecked me. I already had pre existing mental health conditions, and the grief pushed me into a really dark place. For the next couple of years, I was off the grid, just focusing on surviving. I went through some pretty intense medical and emotional challenges during that time. It’s strange how grief and trauma can trigger health issues, and that was very much my reality.

Eventually, I started to come out of that fog. I wasn’t 100% healed, I’m still working through a lot, but I wasn’t in crisis anymore. And the first thing I thought when I started to feel like myself again was: I need to create. I didn’t want to wait anymore. Within a few weeks, I launched my current Instagram account, this time with full intention and purpose. I told myself, “I’m going to take this seriously, and nothing is going to stop me.”

That was in late 2024. Now, in July 2025, I have nearly 13k on my main Instagram, 4.6k on TikTok, and 4.3k on Threads.

My main niche is body positivity, but I also talk openly about mental health, plus size fashion, beauty, and lifestyle. I try not to tie myself down to one thing. I believe people are multifaceted, and our content should reflect that. When I was active on my skating account, I felt boxed in, like I couldn’t share anything outside that one niche. So this time, I gave myself permission to show up how I wanted to.

At its core, my account is a comfort space. People come to my page for confidence boosts, relatability, or just to feel less alone. The messages I’ve received from people saying I’ve helped them feel surreal: not because I didn’t believe in what I was doing, but because it’s wild to see that intention actually work.

I want people to know that my page is a safe space. Whether you’re deep in your self love journey or just starting to think about it, I’d love to have you here. This is a place where everyone is welcome.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

One story that really illustrates my resilience in social media is the first time I went viral on my current Instagram account. I had gone semi viral before on my old roller skating account, but this was completely different. It was just a random vulnerability post, something authentic: and out of nowhere, it blew up. It ended up getting over 300,000 views. At first, it felt amazing. But then, it reached the wrong side of the internet. The comments turned ugly, hundreds of them, and most were straight up bullying.

What made it harder was that despite all the hate, I was also reaching my people, the audience I actually wanted to build. That post became the launchpad for my community. And I knew that if I turned off the comments, the algorithm would stop pushing it, and I’d lose that momentum. So I had to make a really tough choice: protect my peace or let the post keep circulating and reach more people who did need to see it.

In the end, I decided to leave the comments up and just stop reading them. I was actually on vacation with my boyfriend when it all started, and it was overwhelming at first. Some of the comments were truly awful: one even threatened my safety, and Instagram didn’t do anything about it. But I pushed through. Because I knew the bigger picture: that post helped me build the community I have now, and I don’t regret it.

I faced relentless bullying growing up for years. So, those few weeks of online hate didn’t break me. It just reminded me how important my message is. Resilience isn’t just about brushing things off, it’s about choosing to keep showing up anyway.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the biggest lessons I had to unlearn was that I needed to earn love and acceptance by changing who I was.

For most of my life, I truly believed that if I just lost weight, fixed my mental health, or toned myself down, that I’d be worthy.

That belief really shaped how I moved through the world. I didn’t fully express myself. I hid parts of me that were too “different.” And it didn’t bring me happiness, it brought me shame.

It wasn’t until I hit a breaking point, after my dad passed and my health crashed, that I realized the version of me I’d been trying to “fix” didn’t actually need fixing. She needed to be loved as she was.

So now, everything I create is rooted in that unlearning. I show up as myself, because I finally know I don’t have to wait until I’m perfect to take up space. And neither does anyone else.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannon.sessomes/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@shannon.sessomeshttps://www.threads.com/@shannon.sessomes?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Image Credits

Michael Holmes Jr.