Rinny Perkins on Cultivating Confidence

Her new book, Not Everyone Is Going to Like You, explores cultivating self-confidence, which Perkins says was "inspired by a lifetime of people pleasing." Even after the book's release, she shares that she still takes advice from it to build her own self-esteem.

"It's a work in progress. Some days I'm up. Some days I'm down. ... It's art, [that] we're not static as humans, that we're constantly learning," she tells Sonia Baghdady of Advocate Now.

Perkins' "illustrated manifesto" also documents her experiences as a Black, queer woman, featuring her own artwork throughout. She says her style is inspired by Black artists from the 60s and 70s, which she believes "signaled the first time in history that black people were able to autonomously represent themselves in media and culture."

"So many marginalized identities, don't get the opportunity to be seen or heard. I just wanted to create a space to where I could put my voice out there," Perkins says. "And from there, I started just creating artwork that really honed in on like celebrating the personhood of people who look like me, people who fit into those identities ... and really just like emphasize the fact that we are multifaceted beings with a spectrum of emotions and experiences, and they're all balanced."

Perkins hopes Not Everyone Is Going to Like You reframes readers' perceptions of themselves, and where they draw confidence from — validation from internally rather than externally.

"I do hope that people will walk away from the book just really feeling affirmed within themselves," she says, adding, "However you show up. Just do it. Just go for it, because you're not you don't gain anything waiting around for anybody else to validate you."

For more interviews like this, watch Advocate Now on The Advocate Channel.