Tanya Sangani is a content creator who is on a personal mission to make sure that everyone knows just how beautiful they are.
The positivity-focused influencer has garnered over 318,000 followers on TikTok for her wholesome videos which feature her boldly going up to strangers and asking what's it like being beautiful.
© InstagramTanya's question emotionally disarms all her interviewees, who are often left flabbergasted, tearful and giddy by the curious inquiry.
The content creator exclusively shared with HELLO! that it was the difficult time that she had growing up that inspired her to reach out to others with warmth.
© InstagramTanya explained that she was bullied in middle school because she didn't fit the mold for conventional beauty standards.
That "period of disconnect" led her to work on her physical attributes by buying trendy clothes, getting nose piercings, getting her eyebrows threaded and hitting the gym, in order to achieve a "conventional glow up."
However, once she reached her destination, she realized that she still didn't feel truly beautiful.
After focusing on acquiring a societal aesthetic on the outside, she entered an era of introspection, and that's where she found meaning.
Tanya recalled: "I think what really healed me was I started to realize that there’s so many different definitions to beauty and I started to realize beauty is not just something that’s seen. It's something that’s felt. It's in the essence of who we are. It's the energy that we bring into the world. Our confidence. The passion that we have for certain things. Our aura, if you will. And just hearing that beauty is like that – it’s a multifaceted definition."
Now, her passion project has become closely attuned to her calling, which fuels her tremendously.
© InstagramShe expressed: "[It] was just so wonderful to hear from others and helping other people realize they’re beautiful became my passion and my purpose, and I think that that in turn made me feel confident – made me feel beautiful because I felt like I had something that was worth living for in an interesting way."
Out of all the videos she's created, a specific one comes to mind that deeply shocked her.
She interviewed a woman who portrayed the "conventional standard of beauty," however, to Tanya's surprise, the woman felt anything but beautiful.
Tanya recalls: "She’s so, so beautiful. And I said, 'what’s it like being beautiful,' and she started tearing up. And she was like, 'I don’t know what it’s like.' I thought that was just so interesting because it's like, the people that we think would know that they’re beautiful – it's not always necessarily always the case. So, it’s almost like we almost all need to hear it."
© InstagramThe content creator has also been emotionally touched by interviewees sharing "that they feel the most beautiful when they’re with their families [and] when they’re with the people they love."
Her videos have also touched a middle school guidance counselor who reached out to the content creator about showing her videos at an assembly during Respect Week. The school worker went on to interview students on stage and asked them "what does it mean to be beautiful."
