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EMPOWERED WOMEN WE LOVE: CLEMENTINE DESSEAUX
At barre3, we’re on a mission to help people feel empowered from within—but what does that mean, and how do you get there? Just like our class, there’s not a one-size-fits-all answer. Discovering your inherent strength can happen in a million different ways, but no matter how you get there, the end result is the same: When you’re empowered from within, you look inside for answers and trust that you are your own best teacher.
In our Empowered Women We Love series, we talk to inspiring women from our diverse community who have tapped into their inherent strength to lead a life that’s empowered from within.
If Clémentine Desseaux looks familiar, that’s because she’s everywhere these days, appearing in everything from Vogue to J. Crew to, we’re thrilled to say, barre3. The French-born model is undeniably stunning (those incredible freckles!), but what drew us to her has nothing to do with the way she looks. Instead, it’s her mission to empower women of all sizes and shapes that caught our attention.
We sat down with Clémentine to talk about her journey to empowerment, why she practices being “consciously uncomfortable,” and the organization she co-founded to help all girls and women feel represented. Watch her video, read the interview, and join the empowerment conversation by posting on Instagram with the caption: “I feel empowered from within when _________.” (Be sure to use the hashtags #barre3 and #bempowered to enter to win our weekly giveaways!)
Barre3: What do you think society defines as the ideal woman?
Clémentine: White, tall, skinny, blonde, cisgender. It’s been the same ideal forever—at least for as long as I can remember fashion being a part of my life. There’s a lot of movement in the indie space about seeing beauty in a very different way and embracing diversity, but generally the ideal is still very much the same as it’s been for generations. It’s kind of scary for me. Right now, diversity is a tool, a buzzword. Every company wants the token plus woman, the token woman of color, but it’s just marketing. It’s a bit stressful to think that it could be a trend that goes away when the next big thing arrives.
Barre3: What pressures have you experienced as a woman?
Clémentine: The biggest pressure was pressure to fit in. I was always bigger, taller, “more of a woman,” than most girls. I had freckles, which was tough as a kid. It’s amazing—you can be in a room full of different women and every one of them has suffered for not fitting in—one feels too skinny, one feels too brown, one feels too big. We all have different reasons, but we all go through the same pain.
Barre3: How have those pressures affected you?
Clémentine: I had weight-management issues for most of my life. People around me would say things like, “Oh it’s too bad. You’re so pretty—you could be a model if you were skinnier.” We internalize all of it. We see and hear all of that and we think we’re not good enough. A lot of women hit 30 and understand that it’s all bullshit.
Barre3: Was there a point at which you made a conscious decision to reject external pressures to be the “ideal” woman?
Clémentine: I’ve told myself that it’s bullshit many times, from my teenager years to now. I started realizing that society is the issue, not me. I should be ok with how I am. However, I still went through hell and mistreated my body even when I came to that conclusion. It’s very recent for me that I actually don’t care.
Barre3: How did you reach that point?
Clémentine: Moving to America for me was the biggest step. Growing up in France I often got comments about my size, even from strangers. I moved to Miami when I was 23, and that’s when I started being a model full-time. It’s interesting—yesterday I got on the scale, and it read 230 pounds. For half a second I felt so bad, but then I didn’t anymore.
It’s never easy, and it’s a long journey. I practice positive thinking and positive speaking. In a group we recently asked the question: What do you say or do to make yourself feel ok? My answer was that I’m practicing being consciously uncomfortable. For example, when I sit, my belly goes over, my pants. Usually I’d suck in, but now I consciously don’t. It’s a practice letting myself do that and feeling ok with it.
Barre3: What does it feel like to live your truth?
Clémentine: It feels empowering. It also feels like there are no more excuses. As long as you have excuses, you have a reason not to get to where you want. When you don’t have excuses, you have to get shit done. The sky’s the limit, but there’s also a pressure you didn’t have before. But it’s good pressure: It’s better to have pressure to move forward than pressure to hold you down.
Barre3: When do you feel like your most authentic self?
Clémentine: When I’m in nature—at the beach, in the water, where I can be free, where I don’t have to wear shoes. Mentally, I feel like my most authentic self when I’m doing a lot. I love that feeling of being in the middle of creating something. It’s similar with work. I love it when I’m doing something interesting, in the process of creating.
Barre3: What’s a time in your life when you felt the proudest of your body?
Clémentine: For me it’s more about being able to represent women with my body. That’s why I started the All Womxn Project. It was emotional for me, but I was thinking about all the other women who were seeing this, and how because of it, they were put in a position of value and power. To be able to use my body and my work to do that feels really amazing.
Barre3: When do you feel most proud of yourself?
Clémentine: I’m more often proud of myself than of my body. I do a lot with my brain, and that’s incredibly fulfilling. And then sometimes it’s just the regular moments in life. Making someone happy makes me feel proud.
Barre3: How do you define empowerment?
Clémentine: Putting the power back in someone’s hands, giving them the tools of being the master of their own life, their own destiny. With the All Womxn Project, we’re always thinking about how to empower our community. We believe all body shapes, genders, abilities, ages, and shades deserve to be represented in fashion and the media, and we work to make that a reality.
Barre3: How would you fill in the blank: “I feel empowered from within when _______________________.”
Clémentine: I feel empowered from within when I empower others. I do that by running the foundation, being in the public eye, using my platform for good. When I say something and someone tells me, oh my God, I needed to hear that today—that’s empowering. That’s the only reason I’m doing everything I’m doing right now.
Thank you, Clementine, for sharing your story and for your incredible work! To join the empowerment conversation, post a photo on Instagram with the caption: “I feel empowered from within when _________.” #barre3 #bempowered
And don’t forget to join us for our revolutionary January Challenge, designed to help you feel balanced in body and empowered from within. Get all the details and sign up here.
At barre3, we’re on a mission to help people feel empowered from within—but what does that mean, and how do you get there? Just like our class, there’s not a one-size-fits-all answer. Discovering your inherent strength can happen in a million different ways, but no matter how you get there, the end result is the same: When you’re empowered from within, you look inside for answers and trust that you are your own best teacher.
In our Empowered Women We Love series, we talk to inspiring women from our diverse community who have tapped into their inherent strength to lead a life that’s empowered from within.
If Clémentine Desseaux looks familiar, that’s because she’s everywhere these days, appearing in everything from Vogue to J. Crew to, we’re thrilled to say, barre3. The French-born model is undeniably stunning (those incredible freckles!), but what drew us to her has nothing to do with the way she looks. Instead, it’s her mission to empower women of all sizes and shapes that caught our attention.
We sat down with Clémentine to talk about her journey to empowerment, why she practices being “consciously uncomfortable,” and the organization she co-founded to help all girls and women feel represented. Watch her video, read the interview, and join the empowerment conversation by posting on Instagram with the caption: “I feel empowered from within when _________.” (Be sure to use the hashtags #barre3 and #bempowered to enter to win our weekly giveaways!)
Barre3: What do you think society defines as the ideal woman?
Clémentine: White, tall, skinny, blonde, cisgender. It’s been the same ideal forever—at least for as long as I can remember fashion being a part of my life. There’s a lot of movement in the indie space about seeing beauty in a very different way and embracing diversity, but generally the ideal is still very much the same as it’s been for generations. It’s kind of scary for me. Right now, diversity is a tool, a buzzword. Every company wants the token plus woman, the token woman of color, but it’s just marketing. It’s a bit stressful to think that it could be a trend that goes away when the next big thing arrives.
Barre3: What pressures have you experienced as a woman?
Clémentine: The biggest pressure was pressure to fit in. I was always bigger, taller, “more of a woman,” than most girls. I had freckles, which was tough as a kid. It’s amazing—you can be in a room full of different women and every one of them has suffered for not fitting in—one feels too skinny, one feels too brown, one feels too big. We all have different reasons, but we all go through the same pain.
Barre3: How have those pressures affected you?
Clémentine: I had weight-management issues for most of my life. People around me would say things like, “Oh it’s too bad. You’re so pretty—you could be a model if you were skinnier.” We internalize all of it. We see and hear all of that and we think we’re not good enough. A lot of women hit 30 and understand that it’s all bullshit.
Barre3: Was there a point at which you made a conscious decision to reject external pressures to be the “ideal” woman?
Clémentine: I’ve told myself that it’s bullshit many times, from my teenager years to now. I started realizing that society is the issue, not me. I should be ok with how I am. However, I still went through hell and mistreated my body even when I came to that conclusion. It’s very recent for me that I actually don’t care.
Barre3: How did you reach that point?
Clémentine: Moving to America for me was the biggest step. Growing up in France I often got comments about my size, even from strangers. I moved to Miami when I was 23, and that’s when I started being a model full-time. It’s interesting—yesterday I got on the scale, and it read 230 pounds. For half a second I felt so bad, but then I didn’t anymore.
It’s never easy, and it’s a long journey. I practice positive thinking and positive speaking. In a group we recently asked the question: What do you say or do to make yourself feel ok? My answer was that I’m practicing being consciously uncomfortable. For example, when I sit, my belly goes over, my pants. Usually I’d suck in, but now I consciously don’t. It’s a practice letting myself do that and feeling ok with it.
Barre3: What does it feel like to live your truth?
Clémentine: It feels empowering. It also feels like there are no more excuses. As long as you have excuses, you have a reason not to get to where you want. When you don’t have excuses, you have to get shit done. The sky’s the limit, but there’s also a pressure you didn’t have before. But it’s good pressure: It’s better to have pressure to move forward than pressure to hold you down.
Barre3: When do you feel like your most authentic self?
Clémentine: When I’m in nature—at the beach, in the water, where I can be free, where I don’t have to wear shoes. Mentally, I feel like my most authentic self when I’m doing a lot. I love that feeling of being in the middle of creating something. It’s similar with work. I love it when I’m doing something interesting, in the process of creating.
Barre3: What’s a time in your life when you felt the proudest of your body?
Clémentine: For me it’s more about being able to represent women with my body. That’s why I started the All Womxn Project. It was emotional for me, but I was thinking about all the other women who were seeing this, and how because of it, they were put in a position of value and power. To be able to use my body and my work to do that feels really amazing.
Barre3: When do you feel most proud of yourself?
Clémentine: I’m more often proud of myself than of my body. I do a lot with my brain, and that’s incredibly fulfilling. And then sometimes it’s just the regular moments in life. Making someone happy makes me feel proud.
Barre3: How do you define empowerment?
Clémentine: Putting the power back in someone’s hands, giving them the tools of being the master of their own life, their own destiny. With the All Womxn Project, we’re always thinking about how to empower our community. We believe all body shapes, genders, abilities, ages, and shades deserve to be represented in fashion and the media, and we work to make that a reality.
Barre3: How would you fill in the blank: “I feel empowered from within when _______________________.”
Clémentine: I feel empowered from within when I empower others. I do that by running the foundation, being in the public eye, using my platform for good. When I say something and someone tells me, oh my God, I needed to hear that today—that’s empowering. That’s the only reason I’m doing everything I’m doing right now.
Thank you, Clementine, for sharing your story and for your incredible work! To join the empowerment conversation, post a photo on Instagram with the caption: “I feel empowered from within when _________.” #barre3 #bempowered
And don’t forget to join us for our revolutionary January Challenge, designed to help you feel balanced in body and empowered from within. Get all the details and sign up here.
