Thanks for stopping by for a deeper meeting. A kindred spirit of mine whispered to me the other night when I was feeling sad, "You're making flowers – that's part sunshine and part rain." It was a good reminder, and is in many ways what I have been doing all along.

I went through some serious mental health challenges when I was in high school. As I struggled through an eating disorder following winning the Ontario provincial gold as an 800 metre runner in grade ten, I looked around and realized that so many of my friends were fighting a similar battle. These weren't friends I felt safe and close with, but they were the ones I walked beside in the school hallways and sat with at lunch. I often felt lonely when I wasn't alone. Little did I then realize how the hard times I went through could lead me somewhere really beautiful – where I am today being a light that reflects back to young women what they too can discover within them.

Over the last decade I’ve reached 130 000 youth. Some of my favourite moments include girls dancing flash-mob style during my closing hip-hop song, middle schoolers reflecting solemnly and rushing the front of the room for selfies, and teachers gushing. One student made an Instagram channel featuring the love notes girls have written after Love the Skin You’re In. From New Zealand to Europe, it has been an incredible ride.

My biggest discovery along this journey? The power of connection to nourish and sustain us. I found connection within when I discovered mindfulness practice. Returning to breath and body is a practice I have embraced as a touchstone for life. When I practice in the mornings, my days are happier. I love the girls I have the privilege of standing before. I love the conversations we have in my talks about paradigms of femininity, the private Instagram messages they send me, and the dialogue we have about what really matters. When girls feel connected with one another, anything is possible. I am inspired to continue this campaign because never has it been more important to remind youth that the most important part of a person’s body is their heart.

Warm light,

Brie, Founder and Creative Director

Nick Cholmsky, Intern and Boys Presenter

Hey Everyone,

My name is Nick. I’m a 2nd-year psychology student at McGill University. I attended Brie’s talk at Brentwood College School in May 2023 and it led to a spark: I saw how powerful it could be to address young men of my age group and realized my own potential as a young leader in the space. Inspired to do some work of my own, I reached out to Brie to share my reflections and ideas, and to inquire about how I could lead a similar talk for boys. Brie supported me through my debut TedX talk at McGill (which you can check out here) and in the summer of 2024 I interned with The Love the Skin You’re In Youth Resiliency Project. Together, we combed through Brie’s talk content about paradigms of masculinity, social media influencers, and mental health. I brought my personal experience and insights into the challenges of growing up as a young man, including my own mental health battle. I am excited to bring a strengths-based approach to discussions about multi-track masculinity and to inspire young men beyond the dominance-based scripts they inherit, scripts that are lifted up online by figures like Andrew Tate and normalize controlling women as an expression of masculine power. I think deep down, most guys know that we are so much better than that. I’m on a mission to remind them.

Best,

Nick Cholmsky

Love the Skin You’re In Youth Resiliency Project Intern

Catherine Garceau, Olympic Bronze Medallist, Special Guest Presenter, 2025/2026

Hey all,

My name is Catherine Garceau. In 2000 I stood with an amazing team of young women on the podium at the Sydney Olympics draped in a Canadian flag, a bronze medal hung around my neck after an award-winning synchronized swimming performance. That feat was the dream of a lifetime. And it led to a performance career as a professional aquatic swimmer for the Le Reve show at the Wynn Casino in Vegas. But all that glitter is not always gold. Inside I was struggling with what became a life-changing eating disorder. I found my recovery and wrote it in my book, Swimming Out of Water.  Published in French and English, my story shares the discoveries of mind/body nutrition alongside emotional regulation techniques that helped me heal. As a speaker, writer, and peak performance coach specializing in resilience, mental health, and emotional intelligence, I was interviewed by CBS, Entertainment Tonight, and Canada AM.

Years later I was pulled to call on my own next-level resiliency. A mom of two little girls and pregnant with a third on the way, I had to summon the strength to leave a violent relationship. By this time, my online presence had been completely dismantled by my former partner; my social media following was cancelled, and I was isolated away from friendships and family relationships that were closest to me. In attempts to protect my daughters from greater exposures to violent reactions, I silently surrendered to my partners demands, my YouTube channel which contained a collection of my videos was deleted, and my book was forced out of print. As I have recovered from the turmoil emotionally, I have become a child advocate, a crusader for the criminalization of coercive control, and an educator that helps young people recognize the early signs of coercive control in intimate relationships. I believe that by addressing the underlying gendered attitudes, norms, and behaviours that drive this phenomenon, we can be free.

I wholeheartedly believe our path is to fully embrace life’s lessons with curiosity and courage—and to use what we become aware of as fuel to expand our potential power. My character and spirit inspire audiences to ‘sync up’ to that potential, one small shift at a time. I can’t wait to take to the stage with the Love the Skin You’re In Youth Resiliency Project in 2025 and share the pearls of wisdom I have discovered! Today there are few things that matter more to me than reaching youth and reminding them of their power to co-create relationships that honour their substance, complexity, and unique humanity.

Onwards!

Cat