DENVER- Being a girl in 2018 has its challenges. They’re constantly bombarded by society's image of the perfect woman. So confidence can be lost on girls trying to be the same. But with the help of a Denver salon, confidence is starting to come from within.
Toby Adams lives to provide that confidence at her salon Do the Bang Thing. She hopes every snip, wash and blow-dry will let her clients walk out feeling that they set their own standards.
“You're really giving confidence to people. they feel better when they leave!” Adams said.
That's the vibe. You make the most of what you have and you wear “you” with pride. That’s much easier said than done. Especially if you're a 15-year-old with an Instagram account.
“I think about how I don't look like them and like what can I do to kind of look like them,” said Mikaila Phandone.
The 15-year-old admits she has good days and bad. She has days when she's proud of who she is and days when it's hard to meet the internet’s expectations. That’s something Toby has seen her own daughter experience.
“To hear at age 8, girls are already starting to have negative thoughts about their bodies and social media is affecting it, I felt like, well what could I do about it?” she said.
Toby's solution is money. She’s taking a portion of every service at her salon and giving it to Girls Inc. Denver.
“Our mission is to inspire all girls to be strong smart and bold,” said Sonya Ulibarri, president and CEO of Girls Inc. Denver.
These donations will continue their mission of helping girls become successful community leaders.
“That standard should be whatever a girl wants. So, I think for us at Girls Inc Metro Denver, the most important thing is to allow girls the space for them to feel confident and determine what their destinies are,” Ulibarri said.
At this salon the standard is not the front cover. The standard is being confident in everything that is you.
“Believing in yourself and believing in what you think is right I think is so much better confidence-wise than looking a certain way,” said Mikaila, now helping Toby spread a confident message.
