Alexis Ren: How Social Media Distracted Me From My Brokenness

As the proverbial “hot girl” influencer Alexis Ren rose to internet fame during her teens, gaining up to 100K followers a day, she was at rock bottom in her personal life. Having lost her mom to cancer and developing a debilitating eating disorder, Alexis’ people‑pleasing urges from years of modelling propelled her to find a sense of control in showing only the most ‘perfect’ aspects of her life online for her audience, and lean into what she had been taught which is that her only value was to be found in her looks. But when no amount of likes or followers ever felt like it was enough, Alexis realized that her online avatar had become her way of hiding her true self and her abusive relationship with her body, and was not where true happiness could be found. By learning to find happiness in a flow state, Alexis now trusts that she is enough and embraces all of the beautiful messiness of her humanity.