Continuing with our You’re Enough campaign, it’s time to introduce you to Susan Drake. I was fortunate to get to know her during our time spent together in the studio. I was blown away by her strength and positive attitude, despite the challenges and heartbreak that she’s had to face.

Susan opened her heart to share the life experiences she’s been through that have made her who she is today.

“I was married later in life, got pregnant on our honeymoon, lost our daughter. Three months later, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. About two years later, we were blessed with a beautiful rainbow baby boy. About one and a half years ago, my husband passed away from his cancer, and now we are finding our new rhythm on our journey.”

That’s an incredibly difficult path for any woman to walk. Susan hasn’t let her hardships and loss ruin her hope for the future, though. That should be an inspiration to all of us. She said her perseverance is her favorite non-physical feature that she has.

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“My life’s journey has been crazy chaotic and difficult, but I’m still here, still standing,” she said.

When it comes to appearance and appreciating herself inside and out, Susan said some days she feels beautiful. She remembers her impressions of beauty while she was growing up.

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“Beauty comes in many shapes and sizes and in learning to embrace the craziness of life,” she said.

Susan offers these words of wisdom for those who are struggling to see their own beauty.

“Look in the mirror and embrace who you are today. There is both beauty in contentment and drive for improvement,” Susan said.

Susan wants gorgeous images taken of herself at this stage of her life for this reason:

“My life has been a rocky path, but beauty has come from it, even in the hard days. It would be fabulous to really be able to embrace that,” she said.

Susan’s inner light shines so brightly, and I’m glad I was able to capture that during our photo session. What an inspiration she is. She reminds me so much of that saying, “Life is about learning to dance in the rain.”

I’m so happy to have met her, and I’m thrilled she’ll be able to look back on these pictures of herself whenever she needs a quick reminder about how powerful and gorgeous she is.

We’ll soon be featuring more women from our You’re Enough campaign, and they are all incredible in their own unique way, too. And, in case you need to hear it today, so are you!