Finding Self-Love and Resilience

Denise Cesare explores the resilience found through disability, self-acceptance, and mindful creativity, weaving together disability rights, mental health advocacy, and the transformative embrace of inclusive fashion and self-love.

In this episode of The Inclusion Bites Podcast, Joanne Lockwood welcomes Denise Cesare for an open-hearted conversation entitled "Love in Motion." Denise shares her journey of resilience and innovation, moving from a traumatic voice loss caused by spasmodic dysphonia to creating inclusive, empowering fashion with her swimwear brand T Suit. They explore the intersection of mental health, disability advocacy, and body positivity, weaving Denise’s lived experiences with broader themes of belonging, self-love, and navigating societal expectations. Joanne and Denise examine the pressures and prejudices surrounding body image, the deficiencies in mental health support post-COVID, and the importance of mindful living for personal growth and collective inclusion.

Denise is a published author, keynote speaker, and specialist in social emotional learning, championing disability rights and body confidence. Her advocacy is grounded in personal experience as a speech language pathologist who reconsidered what it means to have—and lose—one’s voice. Her brand T Suit, founded on the premise that "we are not a size, we are a fit," offers swimmable cover-ups designed to enable anyone to feel confident and comfortable at the poolside. Denise has also penned "Moments in Motion with Love," a book born from the challenges of remote learning during the pandemic, aiming to reconnect young people with mindfulness and emotional resilience. Her holistic approach radiates through each project, seamlessly combining practical compassion with creative design.

Joanne and Denise discuss the impact of polarised politics, instant gratification culture, and the ways social media warps perceptions of self-worth. They underscore the significance of loving oneself, healing the “inner child,” and replacing judgement with acceptance, especially when supporting those facing adversity. The episode addresses how fashionable innovations, like Denise's T Suit, can drive social change by resisting exclusion and encouraging authenticity.

The key takeaway from this episode is the transformative power of practical compassion—whether in the classroom, at home, or through fashion. By advocating for fit over size and self-acceptance over conformity, Denise reminds listeners that resilience is rooted in self-love and belonging. Tune in for actionable insights, uplifting narratives, and a push to make inclusion visible, felt, and lived.

Viral Topic: Finding Connection During Lockdown: “We were all put on lockdown and we had to work remotely with speech. Speech and language students.”

Viral Topic: How Inspiration Strikes Creatives Overnight: At five o’ clock in the morning, I woke up with a book. The book came out of me in my sleep. Some people might not believe me, but I have the proof because I woke up my husband. I said, wake up. I wrote a book.

Viral Topic: Body Confidence and Inclusive Fashion: “But what I create, my creations are something special just to enhance the skin you’re in. So if you don’t really feel comfortable even in a swimsuit, because a lot of people do not.”

Viral Topic: The People’s Voice in Government: “We the people don’t have a voice, really. I mean, I have a voice, but not in government. Just don’t.”

The Power of Early Learning: “You have to infuse arts and music and all of these awesome things in the brain from birth to seven, that’s putting love in your brain.”

Overcoming Darkness and Finding Resilience: “During that time it was very dark. It was a dark time in my life. It was so dark and people go through this. That’s of the mental illness.”

The Power of Self-Love in Overcoming Darkness: “as much as I loved him, it wasn’t about my love for him that kept me here. It was my love for myself and the resilience and not wanting to give up and seeking things to get me to the next step.”

The Power of Self-Love: “So the bottom line with why I’m still here and sitting is I learned that love myself. Because if you don’t have self love, you don’t want to be here straight, straight out.”

Viral Topic – Understanding the Complexity of Pain: “So people do say people are selfish when they do that. I’m like, just go read up. Because it’s not about that. Because if they have everything, why would they do that?”

Viral Topic: The Benefits of Buying Directly from Authors:

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