Women Who Inspire: Erin Webb, founder of Beautiful You
During a local conference in 2020, I was able to meet a young lady that exploded with inspiration and joy. She caught my attention the moment she started speaking and I knew I wanted her to be in my tribe. She always has a word of encouragement and you never know she is facing a trial unless she feels led to tell you. It is my honor to be able to introduce you to this week’s Woman Who Inspires, Erin Webb. It is my hope that through this interview, you can catch a bit of her inspiration and see the contagious and infectious love for Jesus that she has.
Cyndi Kay Green: Will you please introduce yourself to our readers and give us a little background information?
Erin Webb: Hi! I am Erin. One of my greatest joys is being an aunt to my niece and nephews. My pal, Rio, keeps me company at home and alerts me to “dangerous predators” such as the mailman. I enjoy decorating, writing, graphic design, and a good project that requires creativity and problem solving. I recently decided I needed a new hobby and chose to try out watercolor. I work for a small business as a Property Manager and I enjoy that every day with my job is different. I also invest a lot of time into running Beautiful You, an organization I founded that empowers women to live free and fulfilled.
CKG: Can you give us a summary on your journey with Christ — from the time you accepted Christ, to how you started in ministry.
EW: I am thankful I was raised in a home that taught me about Jesus from a young age. I had a tender heart for Jesus as a child and it never really was a question for me as a child to love and follow Jesus. I thought that is what everyone did and just the way it was. Funny story: my sister likes to tease me for the hit song I wrote as a child “the Lord is the Lord of my WASHing machine, WASHing machine, WASHing machine!” (sing on repeat over and over). My mom says that she would come into my room at night and she’d catch me crying saying “I want to die right now so I can go see Jesus.” She wasn’t too thrilled with her little girl wanting to die.
I got my first taste of ministry as a young girl getting to help in children’s church, at Awana, and during VBS. Getting to help brought together my love for people, teaching, being creative, and encouraging.
In middle school, I remember specific occasions when I realized not everyone believed how I did and then in High School, the desire to fit in began a slow fade of testing my boundaries and questioning my faith. While faith has always been a part of my story, there have been seasons of wrestling with what exactly my faith meant to me.
In 2009, a friend of mine invited me to a retreat at Sequoyah State park. I was stuck in a place where I was questioning my life – – – Does my life have meaning? Do I have a purpose? Can I be used for good even though I don’t feel good? Can I make a difference? Is there any reason I am alive? Is it too late for me?
At that retreat I realized I was leaning into the wrong things to answer those questions. On an early morning we walked out to what was called “the point” and were instructed not to speak. It was there sitting along the water’s edge in silence that those questions were answered. It was in the darkness of the morning that the light inside of me started to burn bright again. I realized that I had been leaning in to the wrong things to find my value, purpose, and beauty.
My mistakes, my shortcomings, my imperfections didn’t disqualify from a life of purpose. I’ve learned that when I surrender my hurts and weaknesses to Jesus and allow Him to use them for His glory and to empower and encourage others – – the very things I thought disqualified me are the very things that qualify me and have stirred a passion inside of me to walk out my purpose.
A passion to see girls and women live free and fulfilled. A desire to see women believe in the beauty that already lives inside of them. A hope that suicide and depression rates will drop as purpose and freedom is found. A belief that amazing, unmatched beauty lies within every girl and woman.
CKG: Tell us about Beautiful You and how it came to be.
EW: In 2009 at that retreat, a lady who knew nothing about me or what I was wrestling with came up to me as it was about time to leave and said “You are so beautiful. You are beautiful inside and out, and you have such a beautiful heart.” It was that day that Beautiful You was born. I hope that through Beautiful You, other girls and women will recognize, believe, and live out their own beauty with confidence.
CKG: Share with us a little about the Bellas.
EW: The Bella Experience is a new mentoring program for 11-12 year old girls launched in October of 2020. The mission is to empower girls to discover, develop, and deploy their God-given purpose, beauty, and gifts. We meet monthly for an experience where we have lunch together, celebrate successes, learn valuable skills and meet with our small groups. We have been working on our service project and it is fun watching it come to life. I am ready to see the girls in action using their gifts!
I see the Bella experience as a blend of discipleship and mentoring, and the adults involved take just as much from it as the girls do. It really is a Titus 2 type of ministry where we are all learning from each other.
A curriculum is being written for our upcoming year, using what we have learned this year to help shape the program. I believe one day we will be able to share the curriculum with others who want to launch a similar program in their area.
CKG: God is a faithful God, share with us a time when you know it was only because of Him that a circumstance was changed.
EW: Several years ago I was in a difficult season and didn’t know how I would be able to provide for myself financially, I was in school and facing a lot of unknowns that I didn’t talk to anyone about. At the time I was working as a nanny for a family and one day, without knowing what I was going through, they invited me to live with them. At first my pride kicked in and I said, that wouldn’t be necessary. (Because, I can do everything by myself after all, right?!) But, later I realized it was God who had brought them into my life and I moved in with them. God positioned me there and blessed me greatly during that time.
CKG: What do you feel are the most common struggles for women in today’s society?
EW: Many women I talk to feel stuck. They want different and better for their lives, but either they don’t know what to do to get unstuck, or what the things they need to do feel overwhelming. The feeling of being overwhelmed can come from so many things: fear, perfectionism, comparison, loneliness, anxiety, lack of confidence.
Other common themes I come across in conversations are:
The feeling of unworthiness or being “worth it”
The chatterbox in their brain that says you are not enough, loved, or wanted
not smart enough, not enough time, not enough money, not beautiful enough
The pressure to have it all together – clean home, clean kids, happy spouse, involved in the community, purposeful, and look good while doing it all.
CKG: Tell us about Table Talk.
EW: Table Talk is one of the highlights of my week. In June 2020, Beautiful You launched Table Talk. Every Tuesday on the Beautiful You Facebook page, we invite women to pull up a seat to a life-giving conversation. Our goal is to encourage and empower each other to live Free and Fulfilled. 20 different ladies have been given the opportunity to share their story at the table, so far, and we are always looking for other ladies to join us and share their story.
We started 1st Table Talk Tuesday, where instead of going live on Facebook, we encourage other women to invite a friend to their table. We post a blog post with some thoughtful questions that can be used to help the conversation go deeper. But mostly, our hope is for women to connect with each other whether that be at their dining room table, a coffee shop, taking a walk, or through face-time.
CKG: Who would you say influenced your walk with Christ?
EW: Goodness! So. many. people. As I reflect on my journey with Christ I see how different people along the way during certain seasons of my life have influenced me. Kind of like a relay race, different people have “passed the baton” to influence and encourage me at just the right times.
My parents who made Jesus, music, and prayer a part of our home. My Gram, who showed me to rejoice and be glad and her respect and honor of the Word of God. Michelle, who supported my creative ministry endeavors at VBS as a young girl and who has offered wise wisdom over the years. Susan, who stepped in as I was learning who I was as a teen who always pointed me back to the Lord and to His Word. Lara, who helped me feel loved just as I was, exemplified vulnerability and transparency and introduced me to a church that helped me grow by leaps and bounds in a season of brokenness. Beth, who showed me the power of visualizing the words and stories in the Bible.
Sometimes it has been people in my life, other times pastors though my phone screen, or the writer of a book. But, I wouldn’t be who I am today without the influence of other faith-filled people who shared their stories, struggles, and strategies with me.
CKG: We know that our lives have changed over the last year, How do you encourage others to press forward?
EW: My personal recipe of encouragement right now is: Grace, Rest, Truth, and Action.
These days, I often remind myself to extend grace to myself and others. Change and the unknown weighs on all of us differently. I lean toward being critical of myself when I don’t feel like I am doing everything “right.” Criticism fuels the chatterbox in my mind, but grace reminds me to be kinder to myself and others.
Rest is vital, and yet I have a feeling it’s hard for many people to make room for rest. True Rest. I have operated for a long time on the lie “I don’t have time to rest.” My rest often for much of my life was a forced rest – a result of crashing and burning. One of my biggest goals this year is to intentionally rest, even when I feel like I don’t have the time. Rest that doesn’t look like vegging out on Netflix, but instead doing things that bring me joy and fill me back up.
Truth is two-fold for me right now. First, being honest with myself about how I am feeling, what I need, and what I am able to do. My personality is usually either full steam ahead or nuthin’ at all. Checking in with myself and being honest with where I am at and giving myself grace instead of feeling shame has been a game changer. Also, there is no better encouragement than soaking in the truth of God’s word. Even “just” a nugget of truth from a scripture written on an index card and taped on my wall has sustained me.
Inaction also can fuel feelings of discouragement. When fear or anxiety weighs heavy it is tempting to avoid and procrastinate doing the things we need to do. In these times it is helpful to pray, take a deep breath, take the next step to the best of my ability, and trust God with the rest. Putting our faith in action and watching God work is always encouraging.
CKG: What inspires you?
People – watching people do what they were created to do brings me sooo much joy. I am an observer, and there are many people who have inspired me over the years and it wasn’t even something they knew they were doing.
Conversation – I am not a small talk kinda girl, though I try. But, conversations that go beyond the surface always leave me feeling inspired.
Nature – creation is such a wondrous thing that often leaves me awestruck. I always think, if God can create that, what can He not do? I believe we each have been given a gift that represents God, and creativity is a gift I know represents God.
CKG: If you could share any piece of advice to our readers what would it be?
EW: Be purposeful with your mornings!
My day is ALWAYS better when I start my day with intention. I have been doing six things every morning that I learned from Hal Elrod, the author of The Miracle Morning. Most mornings I spend about an hour and do each item for approximately10 minutes. But, the beautiful thing is that on mornings when I am pressed for time I can just do each thing for 1 minute – and still reap awesome benefits. It’s hard to make an excuse when you can do it in 6 minutes.
CKG: Share your favorite scripture and why.
EW: Romans 8:28
It reminds me that God is the author and perfecter of my story. That no matter what comes my way, no matter the mistakes I make along the way – God promises to use the good, bad, and ugly for my good because I love Him and follow Him. It reminds me that my life has purpose and I can trust God to use every aspect of my story to accomplish His plans for my life even if I can’t make sense of it all.
CKG: How can our readers get in touch with your about a conference or the Bella Experience?
EW: Website: www.beautifulyou.love
• Email: beautifulyou.connect@gmail.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beautifulyou.love
CKG: Is there anything that you would like to share with our readers?
EW: Your life matters, and you are needed. There is no shame in asking for help. Perfection isn’t required to be lovable and worthy. It’s okay if you don’t feel like you are enough. Lean into the truth that you are more enough when Jesus is in you, because his power is made perfect in your weakness. In the moments when you can’t – HE CAN. In the moments you feel alone – HE IS WITH YOU. In the moments you don’t have what it takes – HE DOES.
Erin, on behalf of Christian Women Living Magazine, I would like to thank you for taking time to be a part of inspiring women through your interview.
