Thriving through life’s challenges and living fully takes intention and a bit of rebellion. Jeanelly Concepcion, from the Fashion Lotus, is doing that and doing it with style! Listen in to this one!
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Jeanelly is a Texas influencer and has been a freelance fashion contributor for Style Lush TV for several years. She believes in empowering women through fashion and helping them feel beautiful no matter what their financial situation, body shape, age or where they live or work. You can find Jeanelly on Instagram and on her blog TheFashionLotus.com
Experiencing Loss Through Miscarriage
Jeanelly discussed her journey of going through two miscarriages. One of those occurred during the pandemic. Jeanelly first shared her experience with her family and friends. She then realized that there were others who had gone through the same difficult situation. However, they had done so in silence. That motivated her to share her story of going through a miscarriage with her audience on social media. The response went beyond what she had expected. Jeanelly mentioned that so many women and men reached out to her to let her know that they appreciated her openness. Jeanelly also discussed how taking care of her mental health was part of her story.
We go into the importance of seeking support through counseling and reducing the stigma attached to mental health. Jeanelly mentioned that after the second miscarriage, she knew that she needed support. We discussed mental health in another episode here.
Finding and Embracing an Afrolatina Identity
Another conversation we had was regarding Jeanelly’s journey of embracing being Afrolatina. We discussed how as Dominican-Americans, it is not unusual to find a wide range of skin tones and hair textures in one family. Jeanelly shared that her grandfather, who has a darker complexion, is the reason that she shifted to identifying as Afrolatina. We got into how self-identifying as Afrolatinx can vary within a family. Here more about being Afrolatina here.
Sustainable Fashion that is Affordable
Then, we talked about Jeanelly’s passion for sustainable fashion. We chatted about how sustainable fashion was expensive and inaccessible in the past. Then she discovered thrifting and the Goodwill. Thrifting became a bridge between sustainability and accessibility. Additionally, we talked about how thrifting is for everyone and that we need to move away from perceiving it as something for individuals with low resources.
A Curly Hair Journey
Finally, we chatted about how Jeanelly embarked on her curly hair journey. We traded stories regarding the Dominican emphasis on straightening your hair and the idea of pelo malo. Pelo malo, bad hair in English, is a term often used in the Latinx community to describe hair that is textured, kinky or curly. Jeanelly shared that she began to experiment with her curly hair in high school. We both shared the comments that we heard prior to the current curly hair acceptance era.
Where you can find Jeanelly Concepcion
You can find Jeanelly on Instagram and on her blog TheFashionLotus.com.
