We were lucky to catch up with April Askew recently and have shared our conversation below.
April, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
As a Single BoyMom of 4, I’ve struggled with trying to hold on to my personal identity as a WOMAN first. I became the typical societal burned out mom, putting my children, work, everything and everybody before myself and it showed.
I was running back and forth to 3-different schools everyday, googling sports equipment that was needed, along with chauffeuring my sons back and forth to Baseball, Football and Boxing. I was also working full time and in school full time, obtaining my Bachelor’s in Psychology. Then my dad and mom got terminally ill, so I began rotating doctor appointments and overnight hospital stays. They ultimately passed within a couple of years of each other.
I was tired, overwhelmed, out of shape, miserable and depressed but I kept on pushing, with a smile on my face, while crying on the floor of my closet most nights, dying on the inside. The stress was soo bad that I thought I was having heart attacks but after several visits to the E.R, I learned that they were Panic Attacks. I also suffered from HORRIBLE on going acne and moon cylces caused by stress and neglecting my health.
I’m a private independent person, so I never let anyone in enough to share everything I was carrying, so I suffered alone, in silence. I just remember wishing and praying for help.
Then, one day I looked in the mirror and honestly didn’t recognize the person staring back at me. I cried and cried and cried but I also prayed and realized that I had to help myself and knew what I had to do…….PUT MYSELF FIRST!
I started prioritizing my mental, spiritual and physical health, started saying “No” and became unavailable to everything and everyone that wasn’t in alignment with the mental picture I held of me and my world.
And then, I started feeling and looking better and the better I looked, the better I felt and the better I felt, the better I managed all of my affairs. Now, I know that’s a lot of “betters” but baby I’m BETTER!!!
And it all began with putting myself first as a woman……..
And thus, Happy Healthy Naked Mom was born!
April, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
As a single mom who has suffered from and overcame self-doubt and low self-esteem, I understand that how I look affects they way I feel and act, therefore I love looking my best. But I can’t look my best without a health and fitness regime.
You can catch me in the gym 3-4 days a week, letting loose and just having a ball with myself. It’s my safe space. And when I’m not at the gym, I’m working from home and lounging. I practically live in active and lounge wear so, I know how important it is for moms to workout and lounge in clothes that are stylish, comfortable and sexy to keep them feeling good throughout the day.
Happy Healthy Naked Mom was created to be a one stop shop community to inspire moms to prioritize their health and provide guidance along the way so, they don’t have to do it alone. We even have full Weight-Loss Meal Prep Plans on our website that take the guess work out of clean healthy eating, along with a youtube channel to show how the meals are prepared, workout videos and helpful tips for moms to get and stay on track with their health and fitness journey.
Happy Healthy Naked Mom’s mission is to help moms feel empowered, comfortable, confident and sexy in their own skin, by providing them with stylish comfortable Active and Lounge Wear that fits their busy lifestyle.
Our clothing line is designed to inspire moms to get healthy, lose weight, build confidence, look and feel great naked. We believe that by putting yourself first, you can be the best version of yourself for YOU and your family.
Besides, when you feel great naked, you can conquer the world, even those little minions running around your house!
~Happy Healthy Naked Mom
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I’ve had to unlearn negative self-talk. I honestly don’t know where I picked this habit up from, but it has kept me behind in life. I’d want to go somewhere, talk to someone or start a business venture and shut myself down BEFORE even starting….
I’ve wanted to start a clothing company for quite some time now, but I would just have these consistent negative failing conversations within myself. I initially asked a friend to start a clothing company with me but they said they were too shy, along with some other things so, that dampened my spirit and I left it alone for a while. I ended up venturing into something else but the clothing store was still in my heart.
Then, I began hearing my mom’s voice in my head saying, “nothing beats a failure but a try.” I was scared but I began putting one foot in front of the other (deciding who I wanted to serve, learning to build a website, choosing wholesalers, etc).
It’s not easy jumping into something you’ve never done before, especially by yourself, with no support system. But if you commit, the way will show itself to you. As I began to pray more and be more positive, things just kind of started to flow.
It was then that I realized that my own negative self-talk, doubts and beliefs were the only things holding me back. Sometimes, life gets in the way and things get a little bumpy but I’ve learned to be patient with myself and the process, stay positive and keep going.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I’m connecting with my peers on social media by sharing relevant content of my life, that correlates with the mission of my business, Happy Healthy Naked Mom. My life and business are basically intertwined so, the flow is nice.
However, most of the content I share is through my personal IG @april_askew instead of my business page @HappyHealthyNakedMom because my content is more on the edutainment scale.
Though I primarily post on IG, I’m connected with the majority of my peers on the Facebook and YouTube platform.
One lesson I’ve learned is that while you may not be connecting as much on one platform, pay attention to the platform that you are connecting more on, give it your attention and be grateful for those connections. Also, don’t try to master all social platforms at once. Stick to learning and growing one platform at a time before moving to the next.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.HappyHealthyNakedMom.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/happyhealthynakedmom
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/happyhealthynakedmom
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HappyHealthyNakedMom