This Week in Motto: Your Core Confidence

In an exclusive interview with Samantha Cooney this week, Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman spoke about confidence, and how possessing it has affected myriad areas of her life. Of course she needed some to pursue those two gold medals, but it also extended to pushing back against body-shaming when she posed for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, and when she launched a tampon campaign with Playtex.

Raisman also addressed the urgent need to empower girls and women to speak up and out about what’s wrong, including in situations like the allegations of sexual abuse that have plagued USA Gymnastics.

“Girls need to grow up to feel that they’re strong, confident, independent, smart and that they can be anything that they want to be,” Raisman told Cooney. “But there’s so much pressure for women. I think that women feel like they don’t really have a voice. And I hope that we can change that.”

Right on.

Got a story about confidence, the need to grow it or the ability to show it? Tell me!

Claire

Claire.Howorth@time.com

P.S. Don’t miss Lucy Feldman’s powerful interview with Fox host Melissa Francis, about Roger Ailes, office culture and sexual harassment.

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