Since being dropped from her modelling agency at the age of 15 for being “too big”, Iskra Lawrence has made it her mission to change the perception of women in the media, flying the flag for self-care and body diversity like no other. In addition to inspiring her five million-plus followers on social media daily, she’s launched a digital platform, EveryBODY with Iskra, dedicated to health and wellness with workouts, meal options, meditation and a private support community.

Inclusive and accepting of everyone, regardless of your personal situation, the programme is not about dramatic ‘before and afters’, but the inside-out of health – starting with the relationship we have with ourselves. With this in mind, here the influential figure shares the thoughts she lives by.

You have to be your number one fan. “My friends know how many ‘no's I got before now. Regardless of what industry you’re in. you’ll get doors shut in your face and so you have to be your number one fan. For any setbacks, you have just know that there is something [out there that’s right] for you, just maybe it’s not that. Have faith that everything gets better, but you do have to try. At the beginning of every year I create a plan – a presentation on my laptop purely for me, covering everything I want from my career, to my everyday life goals, to be a better energy, to create positivity within my friendship groups – all of those things.”

The quote ‘dream, believe, achieve’ misses out a word: ‘hustle’. “It should be ‘dream, believe, hustle, achieve’. We set intentions, but we do have to action them as well. I love breaking down my goals into more manageable steps. Sometimes if you have a big huge dream and you don’t know how to get there it can feel like you’re failing, so setting little things is what I do on my vision boards. It can be something small like ‘I want to do a handstand this year’, but as soon as you achieve even the smallest thing it makes you feel good. Any struggles and hurdles will only make your journey more rewarding. I’m glad it too me this long! It took 14 years until I really got somewhere and I value it every single day and really appreciate it.”

I’d tell my 15-year-old self, ‘this is me’. “You can’t compare yourself to anyone else. I try and use this advice daily. I didn’t actually fully believe that until I was maybe 21 or 22. I spent way too much time comparing myself to other people and you can never be them – so you constantly feel like you’re failing which is such a negative space to be in. So, when I stopped doing that and realised ‘this is me’ - accepting all the bits that I had issues with – it just really freed me from that mindset. As women, it’s so horrible when we’re competing against each other, we should be helping each other and building each other up.”

We have complete ownership of our bodies. “I have a friend who went on a weight loss journey and because she was in a plus-size industry she got shamed for then trying to change her lifestyle and trying to work out – that’s just not ok. This is our body, we have complete ownership of what we choose to do with it and I believe that if we fall in love with it we will want to look after it and it’s encouraging everyone to be able to do that.”

We should all talk about our insecurities. “I think celebrities and models are often put on a pedestal but we don’t talk about the struggle they had to get there and that’s why I’m keen to share my story about vision boarding and setting out goals because when it looks unrealistic for a young girl, break it down. Let’s be honest. We have all struggled with things in our life – be it work or relationships or with our bodies - so if we can break that down and show that’s human and if as women we can talk about our insecurities I hope it would allow other people to free themselves from their insecurities.”

It’s important for millennials to have role models. “I am personal friends with Tracee Ellis Ross, and what she’s doing by speaking out is inspiring. And Yara Shahidi – I can’t wait to see what she does with her career, for her age she’s so switched on. It’s really important for millennials to have those people who are speaking out and showing that they have power. No matter what age you are, your voice should be heard and you can develop a passion for something and be an activist in your own right, in your own field, for something you feel strongly about. It’s great that young people are being empowered to be activists.”

On social media, you have to really focus. “You have to focus in on what you’re absorbing and consuming. There’s so much material though, so I encourage people who have an interest in something to use it to learn. The tools are all there – from so many different sources. When we grew up [in the 90s] we maybe only had the news, or our parents and peers to tell us about the world and history, but now millions of people’s experiences [on the internet] help you formulate your own opinion on things.”

Try to turn trolling into a positive. “I deal with it in two ways. I either just block and delete, because I know that it’s not personal. There are people out there that unfortunately, usually because they’re hurting, like to hurt other people – it’s for attention or whatever. Other times I like to do something positive with it, and use it as an example because I do realise there are over five million people on my platforms who are listening. Last night, for example, I got a comment, ‘You should get your breasts done because they’re saggy and you’d be much sexier’. I thought, maybe if I post it and tell people how I’m going to deal with it, it can help them if they have that. Other times I get comments like ‘fat pig’ and I just think ‘whatever’, but sometimes it’s good to make something positive from it. If someone calls you an ‘elephant’, you can comment back and say ‘elephants are actually a highly intelligent animal, thanks!’ to show it’s water off a duck's back.”

We need to be careful with labels like 'plus-size'. “I think it’s been used as a way to help women identify with fashion and find their size, so in a lot of ways women say it helps them. But I worry that in general women are labelled and categorised – especially for the way they look – and I wish that wasn’t the case. So, when the term translates to the fact people mention my size in an article, what’s that doing to all the women reading it? We’re being defined by our size or shape or colour and men usually aren’t. It’s once again ‘putting us in our place’ and it would be nice to not be labelled aesthetically as a woman but for other reasons – our achievements, our personality or whatever it might be.”

We shouldn’t shame Victoria’s Secret for not being more inclusive. “There’s so many brands that are doing so many good things. I work with Aerie and their campaign is completely un-retouched; we show a variety of different body sizes, and there’s so many up-and-coming brands and designers that are so much more inclusive. So, the more we celebrate brands and companies rather than shaming brands and companies is how we move forward. A brand is only going to want to be more inclusive if they feel like it’s going to be good for business as well as making the consumer feel good – so we have to encourage people to do that. Consumers have to stand up and say, ‘I have power, my pound or dollar is how I vote’. Invest in brands that make you feel good and that you believe in. There’s so many options out there. Maybe not as quick as we like, but it’s going in a positive direction.”