From an act of meanness to an act of kindness. A bully's note changed Michelle Bandur's life forever.

Michelle Bandur was working as a TV reporter in Omaha when she got a card with a dollar in it from a viewer.

The card instructed her to "accept the gift and use it wisely. 50 cents for those bags under your eyes and 50 cents for your big, fat nose. You need the help." It was signed, "A viewer."

The note was devastatingly mean and triggered insecurities she'd felt being teased as a kid.

That, despite the fact Bandur is an award-winning and accomplished investigative journalist.

The reality is female newscasters are frequent targets of physical criticism. Usually, we ignore it.

This time, Bandur decided to expose the bully and start a movement to empower young girls.

She took the bully's dollar, asked for more dollars from the community and started Ironhawk Juniors Triathlon Club. The club teaches girls 8-14 how to swim, bike and run with the goal of completing a triathlon. It's 100% free, and the club even finds free bikes for girls who don't have one.

Bandur never did find out who sent the mean card and dollar.

"I do want to say thank you because think of all the girls that we've helped. Think of the message that's out there. Turning, taking a negative and turning it into a positive and uh really helped kind of change the lives of so many people teaching girls how to love themselves, giving them the self-confidence, knowing they can accomplish something that they've set out to do, and they finish it. That's so rewarding and so satisfying. So, hey bully, thanks appreciate it," said Bandur.

Bandur's "big fat nose" card resulted in a TED Talk that's been viewed thousands of times and landed her on the cover of Triathlete Magazine.

• What receiving the mean card and dollar triggered in Bandur that she hadn't felt in years