Going Viral, Self-Acceptance & Faith | Naomi Pilula

Episode 11 features Naomi Pilula in a candid conversation on going viral, self acceptance, and the role of faith in shaping identity.

What happens when a simple selfie gets 20 million views for all the wrong reasons?

Naomi shares her experience of going viral overnight and how a moment that could have been defined by public criticism became an invitation to look inward. From navigating negative comments to confronting deeper questions about identity, worth, and responsibility, this conversation explores what it looks like to remain grounded when the world is watching.

Together, we examine the difference between external validation and internal clarity, the impact of unhealed wounds when they are exposed publicly, and how faith can serve as a foundation for self acceptance. Naomi reflects on the shift from reacting to perception to defining herself on her own terms.

This episode challenges the idea that self worth is something given by others. It calls you into a deeper understanding of responsibility, identity, and the work required to truly accept yourself.

What we cover:

• Naomi’s experience going viral and navigating public criticism
• The emotional impact of negative comments and exposure
• How unhealed wounds surface under pressure
• The difference between external validation and self definition
• The role of faith in shaping identity and self acceptance
• Moving from “I can’t” to “I don’t want to”
• What responsibility really looks like in practice
• Why loving yourself is not dependent on others
• Defining yourself beyond public perception
• Finding clarity and stability in the midst of attention

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

All of a sudden I'm getting notifications. I wake up the next day to a whole lot of notifications and there were around 20 million views of my face.

SPEAKER_00 0:09

I have Naomi with me today. I came across your content. It was something about just your energy and your spirit that kind of drew me in.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

The post that went viral was the selfie. It went viral for all the wrong reasons. It basically started becoming very negative, being told I'm ugly. Honestly speaking, if you ask me what actually got me viral, was my response to that. It wasn't actually the photo.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Welcome to Capacity Combos. I'm Raquel Hopkins, and this is a space for thoughtful conversations about who we become when life asks more of us. Here we talk with people whose lives and work reflect real capacity, how they stayed engaged, made hard decisions, and grew without shrinking in the face of challenge. This is where we explore what life demanded, and the moment you realize I can hold more than I thought. Zambia, yeah. Where is that for the people that may not know?

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Um, Southern Africa. I know a lot of people know Zimbabwe, so right above Zimbabwe.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Okay, okay. Well, I'm really excited to talk to you today. I I came across your your content, and what I saw was a lot of your fashion where you were getting dressed and ready for work, and then it was something about just your energy and your spirit that kind of drew me in. And then I started kind of doom scrolling on your page and learning a little bit more about who you were and your story into the world of social media. So I'm excited to learn more about you and uh see what you can offer our audience today. So Naomi, and in America we would say Naomi, but it's Naomi. Okay? All right, I'll let you introduce yourself beyond the fashion uh designerslash social media influencer now.

SPEAKER_02 2:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Okay, thank you so much for having me. I am very excited to be here. Um, introduction. Yes, my name is Naomi Pilula. Um, born and bred in Zambia, country in Southern Africa. Um, a lawyer by profession. Um, so all those things I'm dressing up for are work. Um and I um, yeah, in the middle of or towards the end of last year, I somehow or another ended up becoming more well known on social media. Um, I'm told I'm an influencer.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

Me too. How do you feel about being told that you're an influencer?

SPEAKER_01 3:09

I, you know, vary between me, like me, and also um I think it's because I've got a great life outside of social media that it's just it's just become an addition.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

Okay, okay. So tell the people uh in terms of influencing, in what ways are you influencing people on social media?

SPEAKER_01 3:38

I would say the biggest thing is around um self-acceptance, self-confidence, my face, um, and fashion as well. And I think um what I've noticed is even if I'll post something around what I'm wearing, um, a lot of the comments I'll get are around still my confidence. So a lot of um responses or um comments around um how am I so confident, or I can really see you love yourself, or um, what I love is there is a spirit around you that just makes me feel peaceful or makes me have joy.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

Yeah, that's what I capture. There's uh an energy that you carry with you. So when you say like self-confidence, self-acceptance for those people that may not be familiar with your platform, tell us a little bit more about how you went viral or like what was that, what was that journey?

SPEAKER_01 4:52

Okay, so um around the middle of last year, uh my page was a small little normal page that I posted what I wear, a selfie here and there, what I love to talk about. And I had posted. What's a small number? Now meaning. It was yeah, it was 1,000. Okay, okay. And most of the people I knew. Because the key like I followed people who knew me and I knew them. Um and so very small. And it was like that number for years because it was just a normal, ordinary page. And so I posted a selfie um around just because I liked my hair and I liked the way my skin was looking. So I posted a selfie. All of a sudden I'm getting notifications. I wake up the next day to a whole lot of notifications. Um and I think at its most, sometimes, you know, when you go and see statistics, there were pretty much around 20 million views of my face. Um and the main issue around the comments, it started off really great and positive. It always starts off great and positive because your followers are the first ones to engage with you. And then people share and then it goes onto other platforms and other pages. And it basically started becoming very negative. So very uh mean comments around uh being told I'm ugly, um uh being told I need rhinoplasty surgery. Um what amazed me was not even the comments. What amazed me were the people who went so far as to get into my DMs. Because it wasn't enough that you commented on my page. You you you had to then go into my DMs and then tell me what I needed to, what you you felt I needed to hear. Um so basically, it became this thing of if you add the comments, the shares, the likes, and everything, you ended up with like almost 500,000. And so from that, I had a choice. Do I take this down? Because yeah, the notifications were crazy, the comments were crazy, no one wants to sit down and actually read all that. Um, so I had a choice of whether to take it down or um just leave it up. Um, I did choose to leave it up, and I made a video about why. And the video about why was basically speaking to how I came to an understanding. So, firstly, first and foremost, yes, it pissed me off. It I got angry because anyone gets angry if somebody's giving them meme comments. And so I had a chat with my sister, and she was just telling me, you need to really figure out why this is pissing you off.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

You know, things sometimes things don't. Let me pause. Can I can I uh interject there? Because I saw that video, but before you go into it a little bit more, so would you say that the viratility happened for you because the picture that you post was more of a positive thing or was a negative thing, and then what people thought was intended for for bad guy used it for good. I'll say the Latin.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

So I the post that went viral was the selfie. It went viral for all the wrong reasons. Okay. Yeah. But to be honest, a lot of judgment. Yeah, a lot of judgment, a lot of people's opinions, basically. And so, but honestly speaking, if you ask me what actually got me viral, was my response to that. It wasn't actually the photo.

SPEAKER_00 8:44

So are you talking about the response, the the video that you did where you talked about um you got angry, you created a video to kind of respond to some of those ming comments. I I believe that's the word you use, mean comments. And your sister was like, Yeah. Oh gosh, don't I don't I know? Um, which is why I'm excited because I think that we share some similarities. Because I remember when I first went viral and people were they weren't attacking my my my looks, but they were attacking my character in terms of how can you be a therapist and and and say things that are not compassionate or caring or empathetic. And I'm like, you don't know me. I'm probably one of the most compassionate caring people that you would ever come across. Like, yeah, so it kind of bothered me because one, you're not used to so many people having an opinion about you or who you are. Yeah. And I remember like my first response was like, Well, who do you think you're talking to? And then I felt convicted, almost like, all right, one acknowledging that this was new, like this is a change. Like, I'm not used to so many people commenting on things that I'm saying or who they think that I am. And then the second part was, well, do you plan on staying on social media? And if you plan on staying on social media, there's no way that you're gonna be able to go back and forth with people that do not agree with you. And I think you mentioned that in your video. You were like you were spending a lot of time deleting comments that were negative and mean, and you're like, I have a job, like I can't spend this time, and I love what your sister said, so I'll let you share that piece because oftentimes people are a mirror that reflects back to back to us what we may still be dealing with or trying to get to a place of acceptance around. So I I love it, I love what your sister said. So I'll let you share.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

It's almost like she should be the one who goes viral. Um she was just mentioning the fact that this angered me. Because I'm calling her up and I'm saying, these people are like they're saying so many meaning comments and it's pissing me off. And she's just really asking me, why is this pissing you off? Why is this making you angry? Because if it was any other comment, like let's say um a comment around my intelligence, a comment around my fashion sense, I would just ignore it. Because I'll be like, okay, that's you. Um but then this, these comments pissed me off. So it it had to make me think about a self-reflection. What is it about this that is triggering an a response from me? And so self-reflection, prayer, just coming to realize that my experience growing up, where people would comment on my appearance, um, people would say things, and thinking that you had healed from something, and then when you experience it again, you realize, okay, maybe I'm not as healed as I think I am. And what do I need to do to come to a place of complete healing? And for me, that looked like who should define how I look. And a lot of people are so quick to try and comfort others, especially when you've got negative comments about somebody's appearance. The first thing somebody wants to respond with is, oh, but you're beautiful, you're beautiful, you're beautiful, you're beautiful. And I get where people are coming from in trying to respond like that. But I don't think that's the solution. Um, because beauty is always going to be subjective, it it really is, it is the nature of it. But it always boils down to what you think of yourself and deciding for yourself who defines how you define yourself. And if I am going to believe that I am created by a creator and he had such intention around how I appeared, it wasn't random. It wasn't this thing of, I don't know, just randomly closing your eyes and picking something from a box to say, oh, she'll have this nose or she'll have this feature. It was actually intentional. And if it had intentionality, then if anyone is having an opinion on me or laughing at me, then it's not about me. It's about the one who created me. And I think coming to that understanding for me, what it did for me is that it lifted the load off me. Because then it wasn't my responsibility to be accepted. It it I am created, I am loved, I am wonderfully made. And if you don't think that, that's not on me. And it's not like you have an issue with me, you have an issue with the one who created me. So I'm not gonna take the issue you have with God upon myself.

SPEAKER_00 14:33

I love it. It's a beautiful way to reframe in a lot of ways, some people would say rationalize, but I want to go back to what you were saying about the healing aspect of it. When you say that there were, because I think I saw another video where you spoke about your nose, and you said that it's something that I appreciate. I got it from my father. It's one way that I honor him. And I thought about meaning making. And yeah, so when you say that you realize that you were not necessarily completely healed, was it that you were questioning your beauty again?

SPEAKER_01 15:20

It is what did I accept myself the way I looked? If I looked in the mirror and actually examined all my features, can I say I'm good? And this made me realize no I can't. And so coming to a place where that's a hard truth.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

I'm sorry. Like, and I love it because it's so honest and real. It's almost like um, I was creating some content today and I was thinking about how it's very hard to hold people accountable today with truth because we default to like shame, shaming. Like is if if I tell you that, hey, uh Naomi, your mental health is a reflection of how you think, feel, and behave. People may say to me, so are you telling me that I'm I'm struggling and it's and it's my fault? Well, yes and no. Yes, yes, actually. I mean, and and I I'm like, well, you can't put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. Like, it is your mental health, it's not something that is outside. It's not something that's outside of you. Like, your mental health is literally how you think, feel, and behave every single day. And how you participate and engage with life is a reflection of your your your thoughts and your feelings and then the actions that are followed. But I I say that to say it's like if I if I were to tell you to look in the mirror, like if, or if you were to look in the mirror and you uh see some spinach or something in your teeth, I don't know. The mirror just reflects back what's there. So to your point, beauty is subjective, but when you start talking about us as human beings, it reflects sort of those internal beliefs that we hold about ourselves. So I'm glad that you're exactly I'm glad that you had your sister in your corner that was willing to challenge you. She was like, well, basically, what she said is Naomi, these people have exposed and put you in position to be honest about how you really feel about yourself because you can no longer run from it if you're gonna continue to be on social media. Do you really accept and believe that beauty is subjective? Do you really accept the knows that God has given you and bless you with? Do you really accept your beliefs? And I think that that requires a great deal of self-awareness and truth. And those things are not comfortable.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

No, not at all. Not at all.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

What have you learned about confidence and self-acceptance through this process? Or through this exposure, I would say.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

Through this exposure, yes. I think um you need to be honest with yourself. I think we hide behind so much. We hide behind um what we do to ourselves to make us look better. And and I've got no issue with you doing whatever you want to do. But I always wonder why. And if it is doing what you think it is. And if you are using it to hide away from the things you don't want to confront, then it becomes problematic because it will come up, it it will come up in another thing. If you don't deal with something in here, even if you try and change what is exposing out of you, it will get exposed through something else. So you can't run away from it until you actually deal with it. So I think for me, what it taught me about self-acceptance is that it it really, you can have people love you. You can really have people love you, but until your own definition allows you to love yourself, there is no external love that will help you. Because your own belief, even if there are a hundred people who are saying positive, the one person who's saying something negative that is confirming what you already think about yourself will be more powerful than the hundred people who are being positive.

SPEAKER_00 19:51

Yeah, it's like so until you hit a hit dog or holler. That's what they do. Exactly. Are you familiar? Yeah. A hit dog or holler. I love I love that you're so honest about it. It sounds like, in a lot of ways, the exposure on social media was a blessing to you. It it facilitated your your growth and your love and acceptance for yourself. And a lot of people probably would have ran away or continued to do some of the things that you uh decided not to do, which was I'm not gonna ignore the negative comments anymore. What you chose to do, or something that I'm interested in, is what is it about those people that continue to engage with the realities of life? For example, social media is a reality that we all live with, technology, uh, mean people, whatever it may be. I'm like, she continued to engage with it. And I would imagine I'm curious to know what's been your experience. Because today I don't feel like I see a lot of negative comments. Like I know who I am, I know that I'm a compassionate person. You don't see a lot of negative comments today, do you?

SPEAKER_01 21:10

No, not a lot. I still get them once in a while, but not a lot.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

Why do you believe that is so? I mean, I have my own opinion, but why do you believe that is so?

SPEAKER_01 21:19

People respond. I I know we live in an age where we're told to match energies. And I feel like that is such bad advice. Because you're just perpetuating the same thing. And to be honest, I truly believe the world is hungry for good. And being exposed to the light makes darkness run. No one likes exposure. I've noticed like when there's one, it's it's very easy for you to make a negative comment when there are a lot of negative comments because you're one in the many. And so you can almost hide in that. All of a sudden, when all you're seeing are positive comments, it's very difficult for you to be that one person who's going to say something mean. Because that exposes you to yourself and no one. So I feel like if you act in a way that brings the light, and for me, light is God, light is faith. If I bring that light, then the role of that light is exposure. And people respond to that by saying, Wow, I love this light and I'm gonna respond to that. Or they run away because they don't like what it shows them about themselves.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

Yeah. I would also add that it's very difficult to invite something into your world that doesn't exist. Yes. If you see yourself as light, it's it's to your point. The the exposure made you face yourself in a lot of ways and be honest about things that you may have not delved deeper into. And once you did that, it's kind of hard for you to receive that that energy because what lived there before has has died. Yeah. So oftentimes when people ask me, what do you think about like the negativity? I'm like, I don't see a lot of negativity today. And I'm also not promoting negativity. I don't see myself as a negative person. I don't do this for clout or because I'm trying to say something controversial or or or challenging. What you see is a reflection of who I am in terms of how I view the world and and life. So to your point, I don't see a lot of it anymore either. I think initially it was it was a test. It was a test. And yeah, it was a test. And it sounds like we both responded in the same manner. I was like, I don't know who you think you're talking to. Don't let the therapist title fool you, type of thing. And I was like, this is not a reflection of who I want to be, but also giving myself enough grace to know, like, there's a lot of people commenting on who they think that you are. It's okay if you're you're sad or you're angry about it. Like, how do you use that information again as as data? And it sounds like that's what you did. The other thing, it sounds like you have is a community. Community is so important. I mean, I had people in my corner. Mm-hmm. I had people in my corner reminding me of who I am and why it is that I that I do this work. So we kind of kind of talked about like how you navigated the criticism and the attention. It sounds like your your faith is very important to you, community is very important to you. What else would you say uh supported you in navigating the the criticism and or the attention that you received?

SPEAKER_01 24:55

Over the years, things have I I can go back to so many experiences growing up, so many experiences in my twenties, early 30s, that I can't afford to base decisions, to base actions off of other people. I I just can't afford to do that.

SPEAKER_00 25:15

I have to You can't afford or you don't want to anymore.

SPEAKER_01 25:21

No, I can't afford it. The cost is too great.

SPEAKER_00 25:25

I'll tell you why I asked that. And it's you caught me on the day where I'm creating content. So I was thinking about this the statement, I can't and I don't want to. And I was thinking about the statement, I can't for the sake of my mental health. And I hear you. I think when I hear I can't, for example, it's like it's almost like I'm being forced to do something rather than I'm choosing when I say I don't want to, right? Because if you're saying that I can't anymore, it's like, all right, I'm being forced to do it. And then I think that it sort of taints your heart in ways where we don't, we aren't able to guard our heart to be mindful of the things that continues to flow from it. So it's not so much that I can't is bad because I understand what most people are are are saying. They're saying exactly what you're saying. There's a cost that's associated with it. But when you say I can't versus I don't want to anymore, it to me it's much more empowering in the sense that I'm choosing this versus I'm being forced to do this. So I didn't ask you for that unsolicited.

SPEAKER_01 26:39

No, no, no, no. I hear you. I actually understand what you're saying because um it brings an element of accountability. I can't, I can't kind of help you to remove your own accountability over the decision. Um, where I'm coming from is I fully understand that everything you have is a choice. Life is a choice. Every like I I fully believe you have control to you have always got a choice. Even if the circumstance you're in can't change, you've got a choice in how you deal with it. You always have a choice. Um, when I say I can't, is because I've chosen beforehand. And expressing it as I can't is expressing the conviction in my choice. That my choice is I don't have a choice. This is the path I've chosen to walk, and I'm sticking to it. And it's not to say that it my heart is being forced into this. It is it is the description of a choice that is made before the circumstance happened. And if it brings itself there, then I'm just going to live in the choice that I've made before.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

Okay, so expla explain that to me again. I think I hear what you're saying, but so when you say that I've already made a choice before, how does that support the I can't Okay?

SPEAKER_01 28:02

So for example, if I'm going to say that I can't live my life based off other people's opinion, it means I've reached a point to say that at different points in my life, I will get other people voicing their opinions to me. So I have chosen. Don't get me wrong, I will there are certain people I will listen to, hence calling a sister. There are people I I will listen to, but I cannot base my choice off even their opinion. I should, I can assimilate it, I can think about it, it carries certain weights according to who you are. But the decision will still be my own. The action that I'll take will still be my own. So it was a decision to say I will always take ownership of what I'm going to do. And what I'm going to do would not be based off of what somebody else has said. I may consider it, but it's not it. So if I've made that choice to say, this is how I'm going to make my decisions, this is how I'm going to live going forward, then it means whatever comes up, when I hear other people's opinions, this is how I've chosen to process it. And when I say I can't accept it, like this is, yes, that like I can't is like chosen not to have a choice in this. Is that I've chosen not to have a choice.

SPEAKER_00 29:23

This is the way that I'm going to behave every single time I'm confronted at this. Okay, so that's very different then from what I was saying. And I think as I was listening to you give the example, I would say that I can't like not share my views anymore. Like, because I feel very called to do it. Yeah, it's it's I can't. Like I've already chosen that I'm gonna that I'm gonna do this. But that would make sense coming from someone like you because what you've displayed in this conversation so far is a great deal of self-awareness. And when I say self-awareness, it's it's not that you understand yourself, but you understand how people perceive and will view you as well, which means that you understand the opinions that will continue to invite themselves within your life. And that's a lot of so it's the it's the self-awareness and then this social awareness that go hand in hand when we talk about being emotionally intelligent. So I hear what you're saying. I have to remember that I'm talking to a woman that has the capacity to engage with realities when life is difficult, hard, uncertain, and that's exactly why I'm talking to you. So it sounds like you know, we have some values that are very, that are very similar. Definitely. Yes.

unknown 30:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

And you just displayed it here. You're like, no, like when I say I can't, it doesn't have anything to do with me not guarding my heart. It's about me taking ownership. And usually when I hear people saying, like, I can't, I can't for the sake of my mental health. Like I can't because I've been a people pleaser for so long. Like it's like, oh, you're you're forced into this decision, uh, decision now, and and and you're not. I love that. Any questions for for me before I kind of transition and and and ask you like my my final question here? I don't usually, well, lately I have been asking other people. Do you have questions for me?

SPEAKER_01 31:25

Um, not so much a question, but as you were talking, it's just I was just reminded of something, right? Um, I've got uh a mentor who I walk life with. And she said something that really years ago that really stuck with me. And she was talking about responsibility, right? What is responsibility in in the tech context of like taking accountability and all that? And she said it in a way, uh she was saying that responsibility is simply you responding to your ability. So it's the idea that if anything happens that calls out a certain response to from you, what you are responding with is the ability that you already have. So the idea that you don't have the ability in you to deal with something is completely eradicated once you think about it that way. The fact that it has come to you and you're saying, okay, it's my responsibility, it means that there's an ability in me that I need to respond to because this circumstance has come to me. And the reason why what you're talking about has reminded me of that is because again, it comes back to what have you made a choice about beforehand? And if you've made the choice beforehand, then you understand that everything that rises up that kind of makes you question that choice, you are responding to that ability that is already in you to continue in the path that you already chose to take.

SPEAKER_00 32:53

Yeah. What just popped up in my head as I was listening to you, I thought about parenting. And for the people that choose parenting, although they don't know how hard or challenging it might be, it's to your point, it's you responding to your ability to exactly. And I think oftentimes what I've seen is people treat responsibility like it's a burden rather than an opportunity for growth. Exactly, exactly. Yeah. And when you treat it as if it's a burden, it's very difficult to even look and assess your abilities. And which in turn you have a lot of people that ends up not being truly responsible responsible or not, not thrilled at the value that responsibility invites into your life. Exactly. Exactly.

unknown 33:49

Definitely.

SPEAKER_00 33:50

Yeah. I got this feeling that I could talk to you for like a very long time and we should just like invite your sister into the conversation and just like just talk about all things life. Is there anything else that you wanted to share?

SPEAKER_01 34:08

So now I'll definitely want to ask a question. Um, because similar to you, I did my own nosedive into your profile. Um what I want to know is how much of going viral exposed you to delve deeper into what you already like. I don't know, was it the trigger to say that yes, I should actually dig into this? How much of the going viral did that for you? Or are you already on this path and now you've just got an audience to it?

SPEAKER_00 34:46

So I went viral based off of what I see it. So I went viral last year in February of 2025. Let me so are you asking? I don't know that I understand the question Naomi.

SPEAKER_01 34:59

Okay, so in terms of, I know you've had you you've taken certain um turns even in your career, um, now doing your doctorate, um, focusing on certain areas, even um with your work. Um is this already the path you were going to go on? No. Or has going viral kind of opened the door to say to things that you didn't realize that, okay, I actually should be doing this.

SPEAKER_00 35:30

Going viral exposed, like, kind of like lit the pathway in in different ways for me because I started meeting and talking to people that I probably would have never talked to had I not gone viral. It helped me get honest about who I am. Like when you think about going back to school, my doctorate, the doctorate program. I've always loved learning. Uh I'm a big believer in education. And going to this, uh doing this program now, it provides structure for my life. I remember at first I used to tell people I'm never going back to school again because I have already had so many degrees and so many letters behind my name. And in a lot of ways, it goes against the grain of who I am. Like I could be a forever student. I really could. Now, I'm not the type of person that would not do anything with that information. Every time that I've gone to school, I've used it in some part of my career because it's a way for me to challenge and just step outside of my comfort zone. So, no, I did not know that I would end up going back for my doctorate's degree. In fact, I said I was never going back to school again after I got my second master's. I did not know that I was gonna write a book, that I would end up with a book deal. Like, I had never thought about any of those things. I was just like, I was already sharing my messaging, but I was like passive about it. I'm like, you can't say it that way. You're a therapist, and how people view therapists is like calm and a little bit more validating. But I was like, that's also not like who I am completely. Like, I'm more like, tell me the truth, tell me what it is so that I can grow. Like, grace, compassion, yes, how you do something matters, but I'm not directly talking to Naomi. I'm just sharing information similar to what other people is doing. So that's a really great question because no, like God is opening doors and paths to me that I could have never predicted at all. Yeah, I had planned on being at my corporate job. I'm still there, still there. No, I I left. Uh I'm like 45 days out. I'm curious now. Now I'm gonna ask you what made you ask me that question. Because are you thinking about what this platform could mean for for for you?

SPEAKER_01 38:05

My friends, I remember one of my friends, she always says, uh, when we go out and other people are greeting me, she's like, Oh, I I keep on forgetting that people know you. Um, but she always reminds me that you we would be sitting and chatting and you would be saying something, and she'll say that I would be thinking to myself, I wish other people could hear her. Because she's saying something that makes sense. And so to an extent, I was posting and I continue to post what I've kind of always posted. I will have a thought in my head, I will marinate on that thought, I'll marinate on scriptures that kind of rephrase that thought to kind of give me the biblical context of it. And then once I am concluded, I'll then be like, let me come and share it with you guys. And so I've always done that, but I think it's only that after going viral that I've realized that this could be more of a gifting than I thought it was. I just thought it was just normal. This is what people do. Um, and I think it's being exposed to a wider audience makes you realize that this may be more gifting than you think it is. Um I'm still in the place of exploring what that would look like. And part of the reason why I love your questions is because a lot of what people have asked me were about the before viral and the viral moment. And no one really has forced me to think around post-viral. What has it done to me as a person? What has it grown in me as a person? Um, and what decisions, like life decisions have I made and am I beginning to make because of this? Like if I didn't have this viral moment, I would have never made these decisions. No, not in a negative way, but in a completely like because I'm exposed to things that I wasn't exposed to, um, because opportunities have opened that I that weren't there, I'm now exploring things that I never would have thought. So that's where I was coming from and saying that with you also having a similar experience and going viral and unintentionally going viral, um, then your life, you then having the opportunity to make life decisions that you wouldn't normally have made.

SPEAKER_00 40:31

Yeah. Yeah, because I definitely wouldn't have quit my job. I I like a steady paycheck. I hear you. And I feel like this is a great segue to my final question. What message would you want others to take away from your story, Naomi?

SPEAKER_01 40:52

Okay, I would like in two things, two things. Firstly, you can love yourself just the way you are without any modification. It is possible for you to love yourself just the way you are. Not saying that you are a finished product, not saying that you don't need work, not saying that there are things you don't need to attend to, but right now, the person you are right now, you can love them completely and accept them completely. The second thing is I cannot emphasize enough. And um, I grew up in a Christian home, so faith has been with me for a long time. I think, and a lot of people view Christianity as a crutch. Uh, people who have faith are weak because they can't face reality. They need faith to cover up reality. I always feel like we have it harder because I think there are things that God will not allow me to just bury. Like this whole viral thing was exposing something that I thought was healed. And it was like, no, it's not. Look, look Naomi, you're not healed yet. Look. And if I didn't address this now, like I said, it would have risen up somewhere else. So the other thing I want people to learn from me is that loving yourself and accepting yourself doesn't mean you don't change. You can still change, you can still adapt. You have courage, you have capacity to capacity, your word. You have capacity to confront yourself. Even if you see me not talking and you're just seeing me wear certain clothes and smile, if what you're getting from that is she really does love herself, and I don't want it to end there. I want it to end with, and I can love myself too. One of the things I love about it is a lot of times you never get to know why things happen. I concluded that even my nose being the way it is has opened the door for me to go viral. And God is so funny that He could have put this nose just for a selfie in the middle of 2025 to go out and people to comment on it. And if that is the only purpose it had for being on my face, then it fulfilled its purpose and how could I hate it? So it's it's made like it's it's one of those things that self-acceptance comes from the fact that God had a plan from the very beginning for your life. And if he created you to be the person you are, then I can accept everything I am to fulfill the purpose that God created me to do. That's it.

SPEAKER_00 43:40

I really enjoy the conversation. Where can people find you? Social media.

SPEAKER_01 43:47

So Instagram, Naomi Pedula, is my full name. It handles my full name. Facebook, same thing, it handles my name.

SPEAKER_00 43:55

And I'll make sure that I tag you on everything so the people that follow me will be able to follow you. But thank you so much. Until next time, everyone. This conversation calls you to pause or reflect on how you're showing up in your own life. That's intentional. Capacity is revealed in the moments we choose engagement over retreat. Thank you so much for spending time with us. I'm Raquel Hopkins and this is Capacity Combos. If you're looking to continue to engage with me, I would encourage you to follow me on Instagram. You can search me by Raquel the Capacity Expert. It's Raquel underscore the underscore capacity underscore expert. Until next time.