Some of you might know me from my roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie series “Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century” and as Ellen DeGeneres’s best friend, Holly, on the sitcom “Ellen.’’

Many would view this as success but my quest for Hollywood success proved quite destructive for me, including fueling an eating disorder. 

Still, it wasn’t until I had a daughter that I was able to say: Enough! The thought of Sasha, now a young woman, experiencing the level of insecurity about her looks that I did, catapulted me into action.

I created this digital platform, True Beauty Discovery, to engage anyone who connects with or identifies as a woman, girl or femme in honest conversations and reflections aimed at reframing the definition of beauty based on her courage, self-expression, and confidence – not her looks.

It’s an ongoing effort but we at True Beauty Discovery believe we can build an inclusive community around real, honest beauty ideals and help move forward with openness and self-confidence.

TBD Roots

My quest for True Beauty exploration began in 2012 with “Speaking of Beauty,” a web series and website, dedicated to opening up the conversation about beauty. Then, came my book, “Speaking of Beauty’s Inner Beauty Journal,” based on interviews with 16 women of different ages, races, and backgrounds. The result was a guide to help women recognize their individuality defined their beauty, not their hair, makeup, and body size.

This evolved into The Hollywood Beauty Detective web series in 2016, which was dedicated to shining a light on the illusion of beauty, and then to True Beauty Discovery, where we’re digging even deeper into our beauty ideals psyche.

Confidence is the most beautiful part of any girl, woman, or femme and TBD celebrates that across many platforms: reality television, retail “true beauty boxes,” frank, educational conversations and a library of Legendary women and girls recognized as beautiful because of their character. 

We have a lot of work to do because the statistics are daunting:

• By the time the average American girl reaches 17, she’s seen more than 250,000 commercial messages aimed at shaping her appearance. 

• More than 80 percent of 10-year-old girls are afraid of being fat.

• Only 4% of women worldwide consider themselves beautiful, according to research by Dove.

At times, there is a small voice in my head that sometimes threatens to stop me. But, you know what? I’m not scared, anymore. I have a voice. We all do. Let’s roar together.