It’s no surprise that social media is proven to harm our mental health. It’s easy to get sucked into the negative content that appears on our screen every day. Comparing ourselves to photoshopped images, lives that seem picture-perfect, and a plethora of unrealistic standards.
At Limelight, we wanted to do something about this. Although we cannot change the culture of social media, we took it into our own hands to provide a solution. Our solution was our first Self Love Contest. The Self Love Contest is to spread positivity within our social media audience (and hopefully further). To enter, contestants, consisting of dancers and gymnasts, had to post on their own Instagram feed and nominate someone in their life that they thought deserved a full day of self-love and pampering!
It was so lovely to see so many positive messages about the people in the contestant’s lives. This contest was a great way to spread positivity. Although we didn’t know the contestants, it put a smile on our face to read all of these heartwarming messages that they had written about people in their lives. The winners won a day in Port Hope with the Limelight team, which included mani-pedis, lunch, shopping, and more!
This year’s winners, Kiera and Riley, came to Port Hope with their mothers for a day of spoiling! The day began with a quick tour of the Limelight Headquarters in downtown Port Hope before heading to Studio 100 for Kiera’s manicure and Riley’s pedicure. We spent over an hour at the studio, snapping lots of photos and videos of their time there. Kiera said that she felt famous with all of the pampering and our marketing team as her paparazzi. It was so nice to see that little confidence boost from both Kiera and Riley after their appointments, showing us what a little self-care can do for someone.
We then hit the shops of downtown Port Hope and gave Kiera and Riley time to shop with their gift cards. We provided them with gift cards to The Nooks and gave them time to shop. We also purchased gifts for them at Tall Birches that they went to pick up in person. Both Kiera and Riley enjoyed their time shopping and picked out some great finds! After all, who doesn’t love to shop?!
We then headed over to Trattoria Gusto for a team lunch on the lovely patio by the river. We put the cameras away, and all took the time to relax and get to know each other. Although the temperature wasn’t high, the sun was shining and warmed us all up. After lunch, we headed back to the Limelight Headquarters to digest and relax before heading to our photoshoot! We finished the tour of the office as our time was cut short in the morning. Kiera and Riley were fascinated with all of the Abby Lee Dance Company garments in our closet! We showed them all of the pieces created for the company and the stories that went along with them. After getting through all of the garments, it was time to head to our neighbor town, Cobourg, for a photo shoot.
We decided on a local high school in Cobourg for the shoot location as it had a brightly colored track and a stair structure that made for the perfect background. By this time in the day, both Kiera and Riley came out of their shell and let their personalities shine. Their wonderful personalities made for fantastic shots! They were able to get super creative with their poses and even brought out some acro tricks. We could’ve shot well into the night with all of the ideas that were flowing that afternoon. After we got plenty of great shots, it was sadly time to say goodbye to Kiera, Riley, and their mothers.
We didn’t realize the full importance of this day until it happened. After two years of on and off lockdowns, we all forgot how nice it is to spend time with new people face-to-face, being able to form a genuine connection. Both of the winner’s moms mentioned how needed this day was. After so much isolation, it meant a lot to everyone there to spend a day socializing, getting to see a new town with new people.
We will be repeating our Self Love Contest year after year as it truly brings so much joy to the Limelight team and the contest winners. We want to do all we can to continue a stream of positivity on social media to distract from the otherwise damaging content. In November 2021, we’re sharing many posts from the winner’s Self Love Day to encourage love and positivity on social media.
Our Self Love Contest is not the only effort to make social media a more positive place. Limelight also hosts our “Kindness Matters” challenge each month. Kindness Matters is similar to our Self Love Contest but more frequent throughout the year. It was created to spotlight gymnasts and dancers who are doing exceptional things for others in their community. For example, recent winners were two sisters who held a fundraiser for Children’s Mental Health and raised $1,000!
Anyone in the dance and gymnastics community can nominate a dancer or gymnast who is doing good! Submissions are sent to us each month by email. We then choose a winner and highlight them on our social media platforms to reward the winners for doing selfless work for others. Highlighting them not only lets them know that they are appreciated, but also helps inspire others to do the same, or at the very least, spreads a positive message. This content takes the focus away from negative messages that are constantly on our screens throughout the day. We hope that the more youth that sees others their age doing good and charitable things, they’ll be inspired to do the same.
Our marketing team does its best to always send out positive messaging along with our content. We are proudly a size-inclusive company and create garments that can outfit an entire team regardless of gender or size. We believe that any body is made for athletic activity, which is why we create products for everyone.
Limelight Teamwear also has a charity located in Medellin, Columbia. This charity is called Soul Dancers, and it was created to provide English lessons, dance lessons, and healthy meals to the youth in Medellin. We will share stories from Soul Dancers on our social media from time to time to spread the positivity that Soul Dancers is doing for young people in Medellin. We provide dance lessons every weekend, which bring so much joy to the kids, and is great exercise. This exercise releases endorphins and improves their general quality of life. Our CEO visits Medellin annually and sees firsthand all the good that Soul Dancers does for these children in Columbia.
Social media doesn’t always have to be a negative source of news, photos, and videos. At Limelight, we believe that social media can and should be a source of positivity. We are committed to doing our part to bring positive messaging and content to our social media platforms, and we challenge you to do the same!