My sweet valentine: Can one change make a difference? Yes! Discover Clinique's #DifferenceMaker campaign!

As you probably have noticed from my Instagram page in the last couple of days I was in Munich for a very special event with the CLINIQUE : the launch of the DIFFERENT MAKER campaign. A campaign which has the aim of encouraging women to make a difference in the world.

Can one change make a difference? Yes!

CLINIQUE has partnered with 6 inspirational women which are part of the campaign and are making a difference in this world, each with empowering stories.

The six inspiring women come from all over the world and are actress Erendira Ibarra, actress Jessica Nkosi, actress Gina Rodriguez, actress Ning Chang, television host Nezan Eckes and cyclist Victoria Pendleton.

Victoria Pendleton

CLINIQUE through this global campaign wants to inspire women by giving them the confidence and the empowerment to make a difference in this world, in their community or personal lives with the help of this six amazing and very inspirational women. Each of these women share their stories and go to prove how one change can really make a difference! Even a small change can have a huge impact on society so come on try it!

"We want to show that a person, an initiative, a product can make a difference"

Jane Lauder Global Brand President Clinique.

"We support these six confident and inspiring women, because we appreciate their work, their commitment and want to show that every single woman should believe in herself and her possibilities,

that even one change can make a difference."

During the event in Munich we had the great oppurtunity to get to know more about the #DIFFERENCEMAKER campaign and to meet two of these six inspirational women: Nazan Eckes and Victoria Pendleton. You only need to watch their personal videos for the campaign to understand the caliber of these two ladies.

Victoria in her presentation video tells us how she was often told "she was too small or too puny to be a sprint cyclist", she could have easily said I can't or I won't but she didn't, she went for it and pushed herself to prove people wrong winning olympics and worldchampionships. In the video she said "my legs would do the talking when it came to race day". Victoria wants to make a difference by inspiring women to never limit themselves and to pursue their dreams and ambitions.

TV Host Nazan Eckes also believes that one change can make a difference! She wants to create a brighter future through literacy. Her family came from Turkey to Germany and it wasn't easy for her and her family to settle in. When she went to school she felt hysolated as she couldn't speak German so she realized to be part of the society she needed to learn German. She was able to learn the language through books as she thought they were a good connection, a good bridge to society. She was able to understand her friends, teachers and felt integrated. For this reason she wants to inspire kids to encourage to read books as she believes books are the window to the world!

Nazan Eckes and Victoria Pendleton

talking about the #DIFFERENCEMAKER campaign

Great times meeting two such inspirational women!

I had the great oppurtunity to have a one-to-one with Victoria Pendleton and here is what she had to say about being part of the #DIFFERENCEMAKER campaign and her life since retiring from cycling.

You started cycling as young as nine, went to then have an amazing career but it wasn't all easy at the beginning as you were told you were too small and too puny to be a cyclist. How did you react to that and how did you find the strenght and the motivation to carry on?

There were times when I thought those people were right, especially when you are starting the sport at a young age and you think adults know best. It was very daunting, but I am very lucky to come from a very driven family, especially my dad so I wanted to be like him. I decided to fight and wanted to know I had given my best chance. Unless you really give it your 100% you don't know, ultimately I may have not succeeded but at least I wouldn't live my life thinking what if? What if I tried a little bit harder?

The fear of living your life missing out is much worse. There was always strong characters around me to inspire me to push through it and it has developed in myself sometimes when people say you can't I smile but inside I think I'll show you!

You were a young woman in a very masculine environment but you never lost your feminity and grace, is this something important to you makeup, beauty, clothes, etc?

I consider myself a girly girl and people in sport would consider that a negative thing. Why you are doing your hair? Why would you paint your nails? Why have you got your makeup on? Are you taking this seriously?

The fact that you couldn't do those things and be taken yourself seriously if I was taking myself seriously I would have shaved my hair short for convenience and dress like a man because that is considered the norm and the stereotype of what success would look like. I never felt the need to conform to that in order to succeed. No, I can be this and I can by myself and I can still win and you just watch me.

For me it was always about accepting who I was and I quite like the fact that people didn't expect it and now they understand that there is more than one way to get the job done and if I take care of my appearance doesn't mean I am less committed to being a successful athlete.

How does it feel to be part of such a great campaign and to be an inspiration to young women? And which advice would you give to them regarding their career and ambitions?

It it is a huge honour to be part of this campaign, when I saw the caliber of the other women involved in the campaign and the fact the Clinique is such a big brand and has so much power to create something that will make a difference. Us doing our solo things we do as much as we can but bringing all of us together under one roof and making it a clear consistent message, it gives us much scope and more power that we could ever do individually. It was an incredible oppurtunity and one that couldn't be missed. In terms of being a role model, I mean you never think one day I want to be a role model. In fact it is quite embarassing, you feel quite embarassed when people say "how do you feel about being a role model? It feels quite uncomfortable at times, you have to carry that role so it is something I take very seriously. I have been involved in many initiatives over the years in particularly to encourage women to participate in sport and enjoy sport as it is something very close to my heart. Making a difference however small, trying to encourage people to follow my footsteps.

How has your life changed since retiring from cycling? You are involved in charity, you started horse racing, are these things you would like to pursue also in the future?

There are honestly not that many things that I wouldn't try and I feel I am in a space in my life where I feel that pretty much anything is possible, so these are exciting times. With my background in sports of course the oppurtunities are great. People will ask me to do some crazy stuff like becoming a jockey and I am still training hard with the horses. But going on some kind of adventure is what I would like to do next. Travel more, see the world, try more sport and I feel it is a real luxury doing this things. Who knows what's next.

During our one-to-one interview Victoria also revealed she is a huge fan of the Clinique new Smart range: day cream, night cream and the serum, she loves those! She is a huge fan of high SPF as she said she doesn't tan so well. The most fun thing she confessed is that entire makeup bag is now made out of Chubby sticks! Just like mine really! Chubby sticks foundation, Chubby Sticks for the eyes, Chubby Sticks for blushes, Chubby sticks for the lips...Chubby sticks galore for Victoria! Our kind of girl!