Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Wendy Lewis. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Wendy , thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I experienced many hardships at a young age. By the time I was 13, my parents had divorced, and I was living with debilitating migraines, anxiety, depression, and acne, among other issues. While I attribute all of these to impacting my life, acne was one of the most challenging for me. For 15 years I lived with acne, and I will likely spend the rest of my life with acne scars. My skin issues played a significant role in my life and development, from exacerbating my social anxiety and depression, to causing issues with self-esteem and confidence, to feeling unworthy of dreams I would have otherwise gone after.

Sometime in my late 20s, I became more open with people about my struggles with acne and found that not only was it therapeutic for me to do so, but I realized that so many people struggle – mentally, physically, and emotionally – with their acne. I tinkered around with the idea of building on this, I just wasn’t sure how. So I shelved the idea for a later time.

In my early 30s, I began to revisit the idea of building a community, or perhaps tapping into an already existing community, about acne and its impact on mental health. Reflecting on my own experience with acne, I didn’t receive any emotional care for the struggles I was going through. My parents helped in surface ways, like scheduling dermatologist appointments or providing acne treatments for me, but I was never asked how my acne was affecting me emotionally. I knew that my story was not unique and that millions of people out there needed support. That’s kind of when a lightbulb went off. I believed I had something here and knew the importance of bringing awareness and education to the mental health side of acne.

Fortunately for me, the acne community already existed for a number of years prior to me starting The Acne Effect; I just didn’t know it until I had started my research. During my research, I had a brainstorming session about what this advocacy account was going to be about, topics to discuss, how I could connect with people, and what I was going to be called. The Acne Effect was one of the first names I had thought of and it just hit right for me, so I ran with it.

I verified that the domain was available and the name wasn’t taken on social media outlets, and I secured the name on all fronts. Once that was taken care of, I focused on the type of content I wanted to produce. I created lists and began writing, and accumulating potential posts for social media, then built a website using a WordPress theme. Everything felt very natural for me at this stage: opening up, sharing my story… I was ready to go public and in December of 2019, I created my first post on Instagram.

I knew before launching that I didn’t want this to be solely about my journey, though it would definitely be woven into posts here and there. I wanted to create an account that highlighted other peoples’ acne journeys and to raise awareness and educate the public about acne’s impact on mental health, backed by studies and real-life stories. I’ve had the privilege over the years of interviewing people, featuring them on my page, and communicating with a truly remarkable community of people who have grown tired of hiding behind their skin and are really stepping into their true selves, despite the condition of their skin.

To date, this has become the most meaningful project I’ve worked on because I am able to help so many people on their journey to healing from acne. And in return, I know those people are able to help others, and the cycle will continue as long as people continue to show up, tell their stories, and help others to understand that living with acne (and acne scars) is hard but they’re not alone. And together, we’re fighting for more inclusion and positive representation in the public eye. It’s really been an amazing journey.

Wendy , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I classify myself as an advocate of mental health and acne and scar representation. I use my voice and writing to raise awareness and educate the public about the impact acne has on mental health, and have been creating content in this area for about three years.

While I cannot heal anyone’s acne on the surface, I am dedicated to helping individuals heal *from* their acne; that is to say, I want to help empower people to reclaim their lives again after feeling like acne robbed them of their happiness and joy for so long. I will never say it’s going to be easy, and there is no set formula that works for every individual. It will be a lot of trial and error, and it will require a lot of work and dedication from the individual. It also won’t be linear and of course, one should expect setbacks. We’re human! But it is possible to live a fulfilling life despite having acne, and by putting in the work, over time, the individual will understand that they are stronger and more capable than they’ve been giving themselves credit.

Some of my favorite areas of what I do is interviewing individuals about their acne journey and featuring them on my page. I am always open to submissions and if anyone ever wants to be featured, I would be thrilled to connect with you and get this started. All you have to do is write me an email!

I am in the process of other exciting things that will be beneficial for those struggling with acne and recommend they follow me on Instagram to hear more about those updates in the coming months.

How did you build your audience on social media?

My account is a little unique in that I am a part of the acne community but I no longer have active acne myself. I also grew up in a time when we didn’t have camera phones and we weren’t recording every aspect of our lives, so I don’t have pictures of myself to share with my audience. For this reason, I believe it was somewhat of an uphill climb for me to grow my following, but I believe in what I’m doing and never felt like quitting was an option. That said, over time, as my content was gaining attention and my messages were resonating with people and they were sharing my posts, my page began to grow and I was able to see just how much my content is benefiting people.

My advice for anyone just starting out with building their social media is to know yourself, know your goal, and be prepared to encounter people who don’t believe in you or what you do.

I personally walk a pretty firm line in regards to how I show up on social media. Being authentic and honest in everything I do is of utmost importance to me. If something doesn’t sit right with me, it’s not going on my page. Additionally, I believe integrity is important when building an audience, and also being clear in my messages, and creating a warm and inviting space of understanding for people. For me, making the conscious decision to create a page that is more about the community and less about myself is the reason what I do is so fulfilling. And it’s a reason I believe I am able to build so many honest and beautiful connections with people. There are people I have “met” in this community whom I have no doubt will be my friends for life. That’s the power of showing up authentically, and living my truth and using my experiences to genuinely want to help people. People pick up on that, it’s what they want to surround themselves with, and that’s how communities are built.

That said, there will always be people who want to see you fail. Don’t let that deter you from your goal. Stand firmly in what you’re doing and, if it’s important enough to you, continue to push through the naysayers and really focus on the people who support you. Those are your people. You’re doing it for them and they’re grateful to have you around.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

This isn’t so much about me personally, but about the acne community and our mission as a whole. There are a lot of creators who get a ton of underserving hate and criticism for showing their bare skin online. A lot of people are still uncomfortable seeing real skin online because we’ve become so accustomed to seeing photoshopped skin and bodies for so long. As a collective, the acne community is working toward more inclusion in the beauty industry by dismantling beauty standards and redefining what beauty means as a whole.

One thing we know for certain is, representation is important to mental health. While people may not understand what this community is doing, and may not like seeing pictures of people with acne and scars, it is absolutely necessary for people to continue to show up and share their bare skin in order to end the stigma surrounding acne. It is so important that we humanize people with acne and stop treating them as people who need to be fixed or kept hidden.

Nobody asked to have acne. It doesn’t mean we don’t wash our face, have a poor diet, or any of the other myths people have heard and regurgitate without any fundamental understanding about acne. What we need is less criticism and more compassion.

If the sight of a picture of someone with acne makes you uncomfortable, then simply move along; it’s not for you. There is no excuse for bullying, criticism, or hateful comments. A human being lives on the other side of that screen, and words matter, words can hurt. If you are one of these individuals who feel compelled to leave negative comments on someone’s picture of their skin, I ask you to pause, reflect on why you are bothered, and really work on becoming more empathetic and showing more compassion to someone who is struggling. Because we are not the problem. Showing a picture of skin with acne is not the problem – bullies are.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theacneeffect.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theacneeffect/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendyrenealewis/