Dove Real Beauty Sketches' artist Gil Zamora is our acclaimed guest today!

Curlee Girlee podcast interviews Gil Zamora of the famed Dove Beauty Sketches

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? All too often, we can be harsh, critical, unforgiving in how we view our reflection.  Women and girls particularly fall victim to negativity and self-loathing. Girls as young as eight or nine years old feel the pressures of social media, fitting in and looking just like their friends do.

Dove brand set out to make changes and in doing so they launched The Dove Real Beauty Sketches Campaign. Similar to what we do at Curlee Girlee, Dove wanted to empower, encourage, and appreciate women of all shapes, sizes, ethnicities and diverse make-ups. Dove wanted women to see themselves as others see them; often less critically then we see ourselves.  In an effort to spread their message, Dove Real Beauty Campaign released its real beauty sketches video. Our guest today, Gil Zamora, is integral to this campaign and this very widely viewed video is one of the most acclaimed of its kind, with over 100 million views. 

Gil Zamora began his career as a police officer for the San Jose Police Department. As a young boy, he always loved to sketch but a career in law enforcement seemed to be the “right” thing to do.  Eventually, his love and passion for drawing won out and he became certified as an FBI Sketch artist. Gil worked on many high profile cases and was instrumental in solving thousands of cases with his ability to sketch from other people’s memories.  His popularity in the San Jose area led Unilever to seek out his expertise and employ him as their sketch artist for this groundbreaking video.

I have watched this video countless times both by myself, with friends and even with my young daughters, each time I am unable to speak after the reveal is unveiled.  The impact this video will have on you will be palatable. 

Beauty standards are both innate and learned.  We can change the conversation with our children by exposing them to positive role models and influences.  Gil Zamora is one such individual. Listen to our interview and you will be entertained, humbled and awed by Gil and his accomplishments.  Together we can change the coarse of curly hair and in doing so empower ourselves and our children.

So let’s get started now! 

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