Welcome to appeeling!

Welcome to the appeeling family and blog community! This blog is a place where we will share with you the important things happening in the appeeling community, our brand, and critical topics relevant to the brand that we see in everyday media. It is a safe space for you to share your views and ideas about what we’re talking about, and share with us what we might be missing out on in the world.

More specifically, we will write about topics such as the body positive movement, the me too movement, female empowerment, and relevant stories around and about the LGBTQIA+ community. While there sometimes may be topics that will be a little heavier than others, we are aiming to make these issues heard through the appeeling lens and to make you all feel a bit better about your world and what’s happening in it.

My name is Willow, and I am the daughter of appeeling’s founder. My mum has shared her story with you in a brief introduction on this website called “a little idea that stuck…” Here I’m going to give you a little bit of my perspective and give you an idea of what it was a little girl who grew up around cancer, but more importantly — a little girl who grew up amongst an army of incredibly strong women.

Being a child with a sick parent isn’t something that you’d wish on your worst enemy. It isn’t easy to see that the person that you look up to the most is suffering. The first time my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer, it was new and odd, and my sister and I didn’t fully understand what cancer was — all that we knew was that mummy was sick. The three of us talked about what kinds of wigs we’d like her to get if she lost her hair, and it seemed almost as if nothing was wrong. When her cancer came back, there was much less talk about what kinds of wigs she would wear if she lost her hair. There were more hospital visits, more hushed conversations we weren’t allowed to listen to, and the air hung heavier at home — it was awful. My sister and I went with our mum to the Princess Margaret Hospital frequently, and we spent quite a bit of time in their daycare which was filled with toys and distractions. But, no matter how dark or scary it became, our mother always made sure that my sister and I were okay and that we knew (as much as we could at our young ages) what was going on. After her battle was finally over, the three of us began attending the annual breast cancer walk, where we were surrounded by women impacted by breast cancer, women currently battling breast cancer, and breast cancer survivors. In all, a whole lot of incredibly strong women.

My mother has always had an army of incredibly strong, beautiful, talented and determined women by her side. She comes from a line of amazing women and has three incredible sisters. All three of my aunts and all of my mum's friends played a huge role in the healing process of everybody during, and after cancer had gone. I now understand that it honestly does take a village to raise a child, because both my sister and I were. My mum, aunts, and their friends have always been open about their experiences, challenges, and bodies as women — and for that, I am eternally grateful. They have shown me that even in the darkest of times, there is always light. They have taught me how to be proud and celebrate the little things in life. And most importantly, they have all taught me how to be a strong modern-day woman.

I’ve used the word strong a lot in this blog post, so I apologize for the overload, but that is what the appeeling brand represents — an abundance of incredibly strong, beautiful, talented, and amazing people. Who in the darkest of times were always able to share a smile and guide others towards the light at the end of the seemingly never-ending tunnel. As a celebration of all that has happened throughout our lives, and as acknowledgment and embracement of the past turning into the bright future, appeeling is born. To be appeeling is to be strong, fabulous, and to encourage women (and men) to be proud of their bodies despite past struggles, to embrace them. You can do anything you want to do if you set your mind to it, and you can overcome any obstacle life throws your way — just take a deep breath and be appeeling.