Meet Tracey Tozier- The Confident Woman Campaign participant
“The CONFIDENT WOMAN campaign” is a photography project aimed to boost confidence through self-acceptance and self-love, to create a platform to inspire and support women in achieving the life they want. It is limited to 25 participants. Reserve your spot now:
Please see the video interview and the text below
Could you please introduce yourself?
I am Tracy Lyons Tozier and I am a clinical social worker. I'm a coppa certified education advocate. I've worked in many different settings as a psychiatric social worker and clinical social worker . But I love what I do as a special education advocate.
I've lived in nine different states in the US and three different countries. I've lived in Australia, my son was born in Australia, and then in Belgium and Switzerland. We got to travel all over Europe while we lived in Belgium.
Why did you choose to participate in a Confident woman campaign?
I've recently started losing weight, and I just wanted to see myself differently. I felt bad about myself for so long that the opportunity to see myself in a different way and actually feel good and feel proud of who I am and just own seemed great.
What is a Confident Woman like for you?
A confident woman is a woman who knows who she is. She’s comfortable in her skin, she can walk in her power and be who she is without constantly second guessing herself.
What experiences in life helped you to become a Confident woman you are today?
I went through a lot in my childhood, and it's taken many years to really grow into the confident woman that I am today.
What is you biggest achievement in life?
Probably helping my son get to the point where he can go to college by himself.He has autism and a number of learning disabilities and organizational problems, but through a lot of work and a lot of advocacy, he's going to college this fall. And I'm very proud of that.
What are the major life learnings that you would love to share with other women?
Not to be afraid to ask for help when you need it. Asking for help is a strength, not a weakness. And I think that a lot of times as women, we feel like everything, the world is on our shoulders. We have to know it all, do it all, be it all, and we don’t. It's okay to ask for help. And I know I feel good when I help other people. So if I'm hesitating to ask for help I always think that I give someone else the chance to feel good about themselves.
Can you tell more about your book?
The book is very loosely based on a tiny little part of my journey with my own son Ben, and the book is called Benny Speaks Up. And it's about teaching young children how to appropriately advocate for themselves with teachers and administrators and people who might be intimidating to an elementary school kid. They can find that courage and those words within themselves with maybe a little coaching from mom to make sure that their rights aren’t being trampled all over at school.
How did you decide to become and education advocate?
Ben was diagnosed with autism in Belgium by a multidisciplinary team.
They said: “Your child has autism. And I said, “okay. I figured as much. Now what? What do I do?” And one doctor looked at me and said: “Google it”. And I promised myself at that moment that I would do everything in my power so that no other mom would get a diagnosis for their child and be told “Google it” as the answer to what to do next.
What States can you work in?
I really could help in any state that was willing to have me come as an advocate via zoom or video conference.
Do you work with parents or kids?
I'm mostly working with parents on behalf of the child. I’m going to the Individual Education Program meetings. I'm recommending maybe more evaluations, or I talk to the parents about what they want for their child, and then I go into those school meetings with the purpose of helping the parents to get what they believe that their child needs.
What do you think about your photoshoot experience with me?
This was a fantastic experience.I've never felt like I was particularly photogenic. I have rarely been confident about my body image, and I wasn't sure coming in today, even with all the pictures that you took, like 532 pictures or something, I wasn't sure I was going to like any of them. And it turned out to be difficult to narrow down the ones I liked best. So that was a completely mind blowing experience for me. And you were so kind and so great as a photographer knowing what I was insecure about and helping me to hide the double chin or turn a different way so that my stomach didn't look as big. I think that sensitivity that you showed really helped. And then the makeup artist and the stylist that you referred me to were just fabulous. And your editing brings out the beauty in your photos and in your subjects.I just think that's awesome.
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