When I was little, my cousins called me “Bear.” 
Not because I was fierce or intimidating or larger than life — the way people might assume when they hear the nickname today.
No… I was called Bear because of my chubby cheeks, my softness, the ease of my smile, the way my emotions played across my face with zero hesitation, zero shame.
I hadn’t learned yet that the world had rules for girls.
I hadn’t learned that society expected women to press ourselves flat, keep our voices measured, our hurt tucked in tight, our dreams trimmed to fit inside other people’s comfort.
Back then, I was just… me.
Open. Unfiltered. Unmasked.
BEAR — literally and figuratively.
I didn’t know that one day, grown women would pay thousands of dollars trying to get back to something they once were effortlessly:
whole.
But when you grow up, life has a way of teaching you to hide.
And that’s where this story really begins.
The Slow Disappearance of the Girl I Used to Be
No one tells you that you won’t lose yourself all at once.
It’s gradual — a quiet erosion.
A comment here.
A betrayal there.
A moment when you needed someone and they didn’t show.
A season where being “strong” was the only option you had.
Piece by piece, you learn:
- Don’t cry too easily.
- Don’t be too loud.
- Don’t be too opinionated.
- Don’t be too sensitive.
- Don’t be too hopeful.
- Don’t be too much of anything that makes you noticeable.
The girl with the chubby cheeks becomes a woman who carefully adjusts her expressions, her tone, her voice — not always on purpose, but out of survival.
Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, Bear disappeared.
Or at least… that’s what I thought.
Masks Don’t Always Look Like Masks
By the time most women reach adulthood, we’ve learned to apply a mask so seamlessly we don’t even realize we’re wearing one.
Not the kind sold in the beauty aisle.
Not the kind you peel off at night.
I’m talking about the mask that sits beneath your makeup, beneath your smile, beneath your achievements, beneath the version of you the world applauds:
The mask that hides the truth of who you really are.
It’s the filter you reach for when:
- You don’t want someone to see how deeply you care.
- You pretend you’re fine so you don’t scare anyone away.
- You shrink so the people around you feel comfortable.
- You swallow your voice to keep the peace.
- You tell yourself your needs can wait — again.
- You perform strength because you’ve forgotten what softness feels like.
This mask becomes so familiar, you forget it’s not your skin.
Until one day… it cracks.
The Cracking Starts in Small Places
For most women, the unraveling begins quietly.
A moment where your truth slips out.
A conversation where you can’t pretend anymore.
A relationship where you realize you’ve been giving everything except yourself.
A night where you ask, “Who am I when I’m not performing strength?”
For me, the cracking didn’t look dramatic.
It looked like stillness.
It looked like noticing how tired I felt.
It looked like questioning why I couldn’t show up emotionally without apologizing first.
It looked like realizing that, somewhere along the journey, Bear — the girl who didn’t have to hide — had been buried under years of expectations, habits, heartbreak, and survival.
And suddenly, I didn’t want to survive anymore.
I wanted to live.
Not strong.
Not polished.
Not perfect.
Just… BEARFaced.
What BEARFaced Really Means
People assume BEARFaced Society is about makeup or filters or showing your skin bare.
It’s not.
It’s about showing your self bare.
BEARFaced means:
- Showing up without shrinking.
- Telling the truth without smoothing the edges.
- Unlearning the fear of being misunderstood.
- Reclaiming the pieces of you that were silenced.
- Owning your softness and your strength without apology.
- Letting yourself be seen in the messy, beautiful, human in-between moments.
It’s about becoming so rooted in who you are that the world no longer gets to tell you when to speak, how to feel, or who to be.
BEARFaced isn’t a brand.
It’s a becoming.
The Woman I Grew Into… and the Girl I Returned To
For years, I believed adulthood was about evolving away from who I was.
The confident woman.
The accomplished woman.
The woman who had it all together.
The woman who could handle anything.
But healing taught me something different:
Strength isn’t becoming someone new —
Strength is returning to the girl you were before the world told you to hide her.
The girl who laughed loud.
The girl who felt deeply.
The girl who didn’t apologize for being passionate, sensitive, expressive, hopeful.
The girl whose face — and heart — showed everything.
BEARFaced Society is not about reinventing yourself.
It’s about reintroducing yourself.
To the you beneath the layers.
To the you behind the roles.
To the you that still exists, even if she feels distant.
Bear — the nickname — is no longer a reminder of my childhood.
It’s a reminder of who I refuse to stop being.
Why I Created BEARFaced Society
Women are tired.
Tired of pretending.
Tired of performing.
Tired of dimming their light so no one feels threatened.
Tired of being “strong” when they really need to be supported.
Tired of holding everything while being seen as “fine.”
Tired of being emotionally available for everyone but themselves.
BEARFaced Society was born from the truth that hit me hardest:
Most women don’t need a new version of themselves.
They need permission to return home to themselves.
A community of women doing the same work creates a world that feels safer, softer, more honest — and more powerful.
And that is what BEARFaced Society is.
Not a club.
Not a trend.
Not a cute name.
A movement.
A home.
A mirror.
A safe place to exhale the version of you the world demanded
and inhale the version you were always meant to become.
If You’re Feeling This… You’re Not Alone
If any part of this story feels familiar — the mask, the shrinking, the emotional exhaustion, the quiet longing to return to yourself — then BEARFaced Society was built with you in mind.
You don’t have to:
- pretend you’re fine
- carry everything alone
- figure out healing by yourself
- stay silent so others stay comfortable
- rebuild without a village
There is space for you here.
Space for your truth.
Space for your softness.
Space for your healing.
Space for your becoming.
⭐ The Journey Continues Inside BEARFaced Society
This article is only the beginning.
Inside the community, we go deeper with:
✨ guided conversations
✨ monthly workshops
✨ healing exercises
✨ unfiltered sisterhood
✨ support that doesn’t require you to be strong first
✨ teaching you how to live BEARFaced every day
If this spoke to the girl you were — and the woman you’re becoming —
you belong with us.
Join the movement.
Join the sisterhood.
Join BEARFaced Society.