Taryn’s impactful work has reached over 200 million people worldwide, and she was named the 2023 Australian of the Year for her efforts to create meaningful change in the way we view our bodies. Through her global crusade, she inspires others to focus on how their bodies feel rather than how they look, promoting a message of acceptance and self-love.
But how did it all start?
Taryn’s story
Taryn was 35 years old when she posted a series of post-baby body photos in 2013. Little did she know that this post would change her life, and the lives of millions of people across the world.
“It was just this ordinary Sunday, and I was hanging out with some girlfriends, and we were talking about our bodies. And they were saying that they were struggling with their changing and ageing bodies. And as I was driving home, I was thinking, ‘what could I do to help them?’” Taryn remembers.
Later that night, Taryn shared her version of a simple ‘before and after’ photo on Facebook that went viral for showing Taryn in two different lights. Little did she know what it would spark.
The first image showed her confidently posing in a bikini during a bodybuilding competition, while the second celebrated her body in a natural, relaxed state with no filters. This non-traditional comparison defied societal ‘norms’ and resonated with people worldwide — thousands began liking, sharing, and commenting on it, and Taryn received over 7,000 emails and messages from those who connected with her story.
“That before-and-after photograph went everywhere! It was headline news in Paris, London, Lebanon, Canada, the US, and Korea. It broke people’s brains to think that a woman could love her body in the ‘after’ image,” Taryn says.
At the time, Taryn was juggling three young children (seven, five, and four years old), working as a photographer, and suddenly, she was experiencing surreal interviews all over the world, including a two-day visit from a Russian film crew. Behind closed doors, the momentum continued to grow, and Taryn often felt overwhelmed by the response.
“I would be on my email until 2am or 3am, just trying to read through the thousands of emails that I received from both women and men. And their stories were … gosh, quite heartbreaking!”
People from all over shared honest stories of missed moments in life — never swimming with their children, feeling too disgusting for intimacy with their partners, or being unable to be naked in front of loved ones. Some recounted developing eating disorders as a way to numb the pain of childhood sexual abuse, feeling judged for their weight, and others, simply trying to survive.
“So many people ask me the question, ‘how did you learn to love your body and what did you do?’ and for me, it wasn’t always like that. I didn’t always love my body. I grew up like most women, dieting, losing weight, gaining weight, thinking ‘oh, I wish I didn’t have that cellulite’ or ‘I wish I was smaller here’ … but it was always a relatively healthy body image that I had,” Taryn shares.
While she enjoyed her pregnancy, like many women, Taryn’s relationship with her body changed after the birth of her first child.
“I remember showering just a few hours afterwards and the bump that I had grown to love for all that time. I looked down, I was like, ‘what the fuck has happened here?’ It was just this jelly belly mess,” she says.
Though she reassured herself that this was normal, she felt compelled to “get my body back” when Oliver was six weeks old, but she was devastated to discover, while playing netball, that she had wet herself.
“Over the next three years, I had another two beautiful and healthy children, but in terms of my body, things went from bad to worse. I ended up hating my body. I felt like it was broken,” she remembers.
Taryn initially booked surgery, thinking it would fix her body issues, until she had an epiphany while watching her youngest child play.
“I was watching Mikaela playing, and I just had this moment of, ‘oh, how am I going to have surgery? What message will that send Mikaela? What will that do for her?’” Taryn recalls.
“I wanted her to embrace and love her body just as it was, and it actually broke my heart as a mother to think that my choice to change my body may set Mikaela up to want to change her body too. And I look at her and I go “you’re perfect, no matter what you look like.’”
While Taryn knew this was the right decision, it didn’t change how she felt about her body. “I was still stuck in a body that I hated. From that moment, I hit rock bottom. I felt like I’d be stuck in this hideous body for the rest of my life.”
When a friend suggested entering a bodybuilding competition, Taryn committed to early mornings at the gym, a new diet, and a completely different lifestyle. But when she finally stood on stage, something clicked.
“Standing there, I expected to feel like I’d arrived at the destination I’d worked so hard for. I had the perfect bikini body — what so many women strive for. But in that moment, all I could think was, ‘Achieving this has taken too much sacrifice, too much time, too much energy, too many obsessions, and it’s just not worth it,’” Taryn says.
Hearing backstage comments from other women who weren’t happy either was a major revelation for Taryn. She adopted the attitude that “my body is not an ornament, it’s a vehicle to my dreams,” deciding to focus on fuelling it, moving it, and ensuring her health — all on her own terms. She started to enjoy how good it felt to move, rather than counting calories, and relished in good food, which was incredibly liberating.
When her before-and-after photo had been viewed by over 100 million people, she felt a strong urge to understand why so many people hated their bodies and what she could do about it.
“I know how it feels to not feel good in your body. I know what it’s like to be sidelined in your own life — missing joyful moments with friends, partners, and kids, all because of how you feel about your body. You’re not born hating your body, and when you embrace it, you’ll do things you never thought possible,” Taryn says.
Importantly, she teaches people worldwide to focus on how their bodies feel and what they can do, rather than how they look. And it’s not about being unrealistically positive: “Body neutrality for the win! You don’t have to love it!” she says.
All of this led to the birth of the Body Image Movement. In the ten years since, Taryn has become an award-winning filmmaker, bestselling author, and internationally sought-after keynote speaker. Named the 2023 Australian of the Year, she has delivered over 250 keynote speeches and made more than 1,000 media appearances in her quest for meaningful change.
She co-founded The Embrace Collective with Dr Zali Yager, and her crusade to help people embrace their bodies has taken her to Harvard University, The White House, and gained recognition from UN Women, Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, and the Geena Davis Institute.
And she’s just getting started.
For more on the incredible impact Taryn’s had since starting the Body Image Movement, head to About the founder.