This story first appeared in CityView Magazine’s “The Women’s Issue” March 2026 edition.
I’m not sure if I should admit in “The Women’s Issue” of our magazine that one of the most poignant pieces of life advice that I can remember came not from a Nobel Prize winner, political activist, or spiritual advisor, but from a 5’11” socialite supermodel who rose to fame as a child on her family’s infamous reality television series, and now makes her millions strutting runways in her skivvies and selling her brand of tequila.
Kendall Jenner and I probably don’t have an awful lot in common. For starters, I’m not a 5’11” supermodel. Also, my phone isn’t exactly ringing off the hook with seven-figure offers to publicly display my undergarments. In all honesty, Kendall Jenner, or any member of the Kardashian-Jenner clan for that matter, is not someone I’d ordinarily ever think twice about garnering wisdom from.
But recently, while I mindlessly scrolled Facebook as I often do before bed, I came across a clip of a Jay Shetty Podcast interview with Kendall Jenner. I’m not sure what it was about that particular segment that gave me pause, but in the clip, Jenner discussed the human tendency to habitually engage in negative self-talk and internal criticism, and a creative tool that she and her therapist came up with to ward off those disparaging thoughts. Jenner went on to explain that her therapist suggested that she find a favorite photograph of herself as a child and affix it to her bathroom mirror. That way, every time that she looked in the mirror, whether in the morning while brushing her teeth, passing by throughout the day, or getting ready for bed at night, she would remember her therapist’s instructions: do not “say” anything about yourself that you wouldn’t want to say to the little girl looking back at you from the photograph.
That touched something in my soul. Maybe it’s because I spend an awful lot of time in front of my own bathroom mirror studying the lines on my forehead and wondering if it’s finally time for Botox, thinking about how my grey roots are starting to show and reprimanding myself for not drinking enough water, eating enough protein, or exercising like I should. Worrying in the morning while I put on my makeup about not having enough hours in the day to check off everything on my to-do list and feeling like a failure at the end of the day while I wash that makeup off if I haven’t accomplished it all. Beating myself up for losing my temper during the frantic daily rush to get out the door on time for school, letting my kids sit in front of the TV for a little too long, and caving in to their request for Chick-fil-A for a second time this week when we have perfectly good leftover pot roast in the fridge.
I think most of us women would agree that we are hard on ourselves, and oftentimes our own toughest critics. While we’ve always been pulled in what seems like a million different directions by our families, our careers, and other personal obligations, we are living in an era when it’s so easy to get caught up in social media highlight reels and an AI-enhanced alternate universe that leaves us feeling behind and less-than. The new hyper-focus on the “aesthetic” convinces us that everything from our pantries to our bathroom drawers, our water bottles to our accent pillows, our hairstyles to our skincare routines, all should look a certain way. It’s no surprise that no matter how hard we try to do it all to the full extent of our abilities, many of us still look in the mirror and tell ourselves, “You’re not doing enough” or, simply, “You’re not enough.” But would we dare say that to the 11-year-old versions of ourselves? Absolutely not.
And so, I took a page out of Kendall Jenner’s … podcast. Well, sort of. Another thing that she and I don’t have in common is that I have a daughter. Rather than select a photo of myself as a child, the picture that I chose to put by my bathroom mirror is one of my absolute favorites of my now middle-schooler from her superhero-themed 4th birthday party. In it, she is wearing a Supergirl costume, sparkly gold sneakers, and her hair is styled in uneven pigtails with lots of flyaways from running and playing during her backyard party. The photo is a candid that my husband happened to catch as she leapt into the air, one fist forward, pretending to “blast off.” He timed it so perfectly that it appears our daughter is actually flying. It shows a confident, strong, and happy girl, untouched by self-doubt, societal expectations, stress, or demands of the day.
When I look at that little girl in the photograph, and the 11-year-old version of her in person, I want her to know, more than anything else in this world, that she always has been, and always will be more than enough.
As we celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, maybe we can all take the time to remind the special women in our lives of this very important sentiment. And maybe we can start with ourselves. You are doing more than enough. You are more than enough.
