Elana Meyers Quotes

People that were a little nerdy in high school would look up to me and know it gets better.

I think the Miss Universe title not only gives me the opportunity to become a role model for Latina girls around the world, but to show that beauty isn't just about the outside.

I know that some girls look up to me for certain things, like dyslexia, and that way I know that they like me for me, so it adds no pressure.

It's so fantastic for young kids to see a superhero going through the things they go through.

The most powerful woman I know is my mother, and she doesn't wear any make up at all.

I'm not trying to make myself look like a girl because I'm not a girl anymore. I'm very happy about being a grown woman.

As a kid, I was always mistaken for a girl. Before you reach that age where your sexuality starts to display itself, kids can look very androgynous, and I guess I leaned more toward the feminine. All those things were very hard, growing up, because you're trying to create an identity, and you're feeling shameful about the one that you're making.

I believed my story would be helpful to young women my daughter's age, who are still in the process of forming themselves as women, and in need of encouragement to remain true to themselves.

When I go speak to these kids through my foundation and am able to sit down and tell them some of the things that I've been through, they can look up and relate to me, and they can understand the feelings I had that are similar to what they're going through and feeling.

I think a lot of girls look up to me because I'm a strong woman.

It took me ages to grow into being a woman, into being happy with it.

You always gotta reach the people who feel bad about themselves or insecure about themselves, and I think 'Like 'Em All' was just a perfect song for all the girls, and I think that's why it blew up like it did.

Because when I go places and I talk to kids and I talk to parents and I talk to athletes all over, and they look at my story and they see a person, African-American or not, they see something that they can relate to.

I don't consider myself a feminist, but I'm down for my first opportunity to say something to the world to be so meaningful. If you asked me, 'What do you want to say?' it would be, 'Love yourself more.'

I like the feeling that I'm giving young women self-confidence. It sounds so cliched, but it can be very moving.

I don't think I would have been able to stick with it and been proud of who I am and be feminine out on the court. I think I would have folded to the peer pressure if I didn't have my mom to encourage me to be me and be proud of how tall I am.

I feel empowered the fact that I can look the way that I do on stage and in photos - I can look that way any time I want. And I feel like it's important message to other women that they can do it, too.

I like looking feminine and I enjoy being a role model. I enjoy being a woman. It all comes down to having the confidence to be who you are.

I never set out to be a role model for large women, I just do what I feel is right.

I'm a tomboy myself and have always been incredibly athletic.

I've always had a tomboy quality to me that I embrace and don't run away from. At the same time I'm a real girlie-girl.

I hope all you young girls see yourself up there... we were just like you.

My first and most loved real novel was 'Little Women.' I identified with the Jo character even though we were opposites. Jo was very strong-minded and brave, and I was shy and kind of a wuss, everyplace but in my own home. I wanted to be Jo. She was my alter ego. I think reading that book gave me courage.

A role model can teach you to love and respect yourself.

I spent a lot of times sitting in big rooms full of a lot of men and executives thinking, 'What would Oprah say right now?' and trying to channel that as hard as I could. And mostly that was just about having the confidence. If this woman did it, it can be done. And there's no reason for anybody to stop you.