Five quick questions with April Hélène-Horton
18 February 2021
The She Leads College Conference, taking place on Friday 26 March, is a one-day leadership event for young women and non-binary students in years 11 and 12. It is designed to equip participants with the practical skills and knowledge they need to go on to become confident leaders in their community.
This year’s theme ‘Wild’, is all about harnessing personal adversity and how leaders use it to thrive in their personal and professional capacities. Today we caught up with one of our keynote speakers, April Hélène -Horton aka The Bodzilla, to talk with her about her leadership journey, what inspires her leadership style and the impacts of empathy as a leader.
April Hélène-Horton is a writer, a podcaster and activist. Aside from her corporate experience as a leader within private and public sector roles, she has also led campaigns for Curvy Swimwear as the first plus–size bikini model to appear on Australian billboards.
A woman of colour, mother and wife, April knew she needed not only to speak to her friends and family about fat positivity and feminism but to anyone who would listen.
Check out some highlights of our interview with April Hélène– Horton:
Tell us about The Bodzilla. How did it all begin?
One year ago, I took on the identity of ‘The Bodzilla’. I wanted to give a real voice to my passion for self-love and body acceptance. While the world might not be ready for marginalised bodies to take up space, The Bodzilla is here to make room for everyone and show the door to anyone who wants to peddle diet culture and harmful BS based in social conditioning and bias.
Describe yourself in 30 words or less.
Me? Bright and sassy! Another way to say ‘bold’ or ‘loud’ and I 100% agree. Audacious, bodacious and vivacious – being sassy is a wild combo of all of those things.
Tell us about a moment in your life that kick–started your leadership journey.
As I’ve progressed in my career, I’ve realised that I was born with some leadership qualities. Combine that with being profoundly impacted by both good and bad leadership, I know exactly what I want in a leader – and what sort of leader I want to be.
What are the questions you’re tired of hearing about gender equality?
Anything that starts with “but what about …?”
What is a personal challenge you have had to overcome for your leadership goals?
Empathy is the most useful and painful part of leadership.
Imagine yourself in your 40’s. What leadership advice would your 40-year-old self-give to you right now?
No matter how much you think you know, there’s at least 10x times more to learn about leadership.
Watch this space to keep up with April’s leadership journey. If you are a young woman or nonbinary person in years 11 or 12, ask your school to register you for the She Leads College Conference on Friday 26 March – visit the event page for more information.
Tags: empowerment, inspiration, she leads, women leaders, Women's leadership, young people, young women