Christina Harris: Unapologetically Bitchee

We all are superhumans with infinite potential to create the life we desire for ourselves. In essence, we want to experience things in our physicality because we believe it will allow us to be satisfied and fulfilled. And what can be more satisfying than discovering the treasures of life’s journey—recognizing the little gift boxes along the way towards what we want. But we must remember that a desire is not a destination, it’s merely a transition point—that at the moment we attain it, it beckons us to aim for more.

Entrepreneur Christina Harris has learned to follow life’s beckoning call that guides her toward her potential—to be full of life, continually discovering, expanding, and adding more to her experience. She says, “During another interview I did, one of the questions was, ‘How would your best friend describe you?’ I texted my best friend Lily to text me back a sentence describing me. Lily said, ‘I feel like you’re the type of a person that when you walk into the room, the energy automatically goes through the ceiling.’ And it’s true, I make it known I’m here, ‘Alright, I’m ready to start the party.” Christina smiles and then continues, “In essence, I’m this very giddy, upbeat, extroverted girl. I am an adventurer. I am always in the moment. I feel like I live a very full life, and I love it because I don’t like my life to be boring. And I want to feel like I’m always doing something.”

Christina was raised in a big Italian family in Long Island. Although she loved living close to all of them, Christina didn’t really have many friends aside from her family. From a very young age she started creating content for social media, and at that time, it was not too popular to do that among her peers. It wasn’t until Christina moved to New York City right after she graduated high school that Christina really found her voice: “going to a creatively driven college such as the Fashion Institute of Technology definitely shaped me in ways that I could express myself more freely,” says Christina.

Through the vibrational frequency of the energy we emanate, we summon and invite situations and people into our life. Our vibrational match is evident to us when we are aware of what we think, believe, and manifest. Every single experience we have makes us ready to be ready, to be ready, to be ready for what is next. 

Christina proudly says, “The person that I am now was always in me, but before I started living in New York, it wasn’t the right moment to fully express myself. And it’s then, once I moved, when I became ready to pursue my social media career to its fullest.  I feel like just being in a place like New York that’s so creative—so open, everybody loves everybody and doesn’t really care what you do or who you are—really allowed me to fully become me. I’m such a New Yorker.” 

Christina created her first YouTube channel, BeautyChickee, when she was twelve years old. Looking back in retrospect, Christina says, “BeautyChickee came to me with a double ‘ee’ instead of a ‘y’ in the end as an inspiration. Although I didn’t know it would have such a big impact that people would know me for this name, I knew that I’m going to make BeautyChickee into my brand. At the time, I was a beauty guru, and I did a lot of beauty videos.”

Christina pauses to smile and then continues, “Beauty is made up of 100 different things. Whether it’s a beautiful feature that you have, or the way you carry yourself, the way you talk, your energy, there are a million different ways that beauty could be expressed in and through a person. When I was fifteen years old, looking at advertisements, I was asking myself, ‘Oh my god, is that what I need to look like in order to be beautiful?’ But I think that the beauty standard from when I was a young girl versus now has changed a lot because now, we’re seeing a lot more advertisements that look like real women. A lot of companies are using plus size models and girls with all different sorts of body shapes. Now you’re starting to see more realistic standards of beauty in advertising. And people are starting to use those. But ultimately also, on the contrary, I think as you grow up more, you start to realize that those advertisements of these beautiful women don’t necessarily define your beauty. So now I think beauty is definitely set by myself. I think I have a beautiful personality that people really enjoy. When I was little, I used to think that I had a really big Italian nose. And now I embrace the crap out of it. I like my nose because it shows who I am and my roots. So I think the industry standard of beauty is changing and getting more realistic. And then also as you get older, you start to realize beauty for yourself and not for what it is only on the outside.”

Beauty is myriad and infinite in nature. Nobody can influence us unless we allow ourselves to be influenced by others. When we observe the beautiful variety that we are surrounded by in our world, it’s ultimately our choice to like it or not, to take it or not, to make ours or not—the decision  always lies within us. 

“I would say that what I hear from my fans with everything I do is that I influenced them in being unapologetically themselves. Living this very unapologetic life and breaking out of their shell more and creating more competence within themselves,” says Christina, who also created the West27th Talent Management group. “I have been an influencer for over a decade. Since I started my YouTube channel in 2011, I have had so many experiences with brands, good ones, and bad ones. I know how to negotiate. I know which brands are worth working with and which ones not so much. And I have all this knowledge that I want to use to help other upcoming influencers grow their own personal brands and get them the brand deals that they deserve. Seeing them succeed makes me so happy. But even if I didn’t get a cut from the brand deals, I just really love seeing my clients grow. I love seeing them evolve as people. And I think that is what drives me way more to continue growing West27th than even the money does.”

It is so satisfying to be part of someone else’s becoming. When we are experiencing any kind of success, when we know what we know, we can’t help but share it with others. Being inclusive and making a difference in the world is why we do what we do, so others can recognize their inner power. 

“Empowerment is knowing yourself and knowing your worth, and being unapologetic for who you are. I love using the word unapologetic. I use that a lot with my clothing brand Bitchee, because I truly want to inspire and empower. In general, being a young woman in the field, although I have my own successful businesses, many see me as too young.  When people find out that I’m only 22 years old, some admire me, and some are skeptical of it. And yes, I am young, and I can be silly, but I am also a bold, powerful, and empowered woman.”

About her clothing brand Bitchee, Christina says, “I wanted for people to change their perspective on the word ‘bitch’, from being degrading to a more positive, empowering term. Being bitchy is normally used to degrade women. I want to uplift women, so the entire mission behind Bitchee is to make women feel empowered and unapologetic. People think we have this feminine energy, where we need to be these nice, perfect angels all the time. And that’s not the case. I literally will be the first to say, I am a fucking bitch. And I’ve gotten so many compliments on the clothing line when I’m just out and about wearing a shirt that says Bitchee right across it.”

Equality is something very important for Christina. She wants to be an example to the world that regardless of your race, sex, or cultural background, we are all equal in who we are and in our potential. Christina and her best friend Lily host a fun and quite vulnerable conversation on their podcast called Gin&Toxic, which recently transitioned from voice-only to video format. 

“Lily and I love being able to go on the show and have these conversations about random bullshit, but also something really deep, and she makes me super comfortable to do so. For example, during episode eight, we spoke about cheating. And I talked about an experience that I had with an ex-boyfriend of mine with cheating that I haven’t ever talked about publicly before, because it was a whole messy thing. And Lily gave me that confidence boost that I needed in that comfort, to be able to talk about those sorts of things when it’s a sensitive topic for me. So I think that being able to get my feelings out on the mic, and having my best friend alongside me, has helped me personally and mentally so much. I’ve never had a show where I felt I could be as vulnerable and as open as I am on Gin&Toxic. And I owe a lot of that to Lily. I think that the audience listening, or in this case, now watching, is able to relate to that way more personally. A lot of the times, we’ll post an episode where we’re talking about something, and then we’ll get a DM after from a girl that’s say, ‘I just listened to a new episode, I feel like I have to tell you guys about this story that I never told anybody, because you just made me feel like I could share my side of things.’ For me and Lily being open and vulnerable with the audience, it’s allowing them to do the same thing back to us,” candidly says Christina. 

To offer more to others, we first have to take care of ourselves. Giving back without first being steady within ourselves will only deplete us. But when we use any tools available to us to go within and to soften our mind, it will energize us in ways that we become more efficient, creating more for us to offer and to give. About self-care, Christina says, “Being selfless is just catering to other people’s needs before yours in a way. And selfishness is only catering to your needs. And I feel like you cannot cater to other people, and you can’t help other people, unless you have your own shit straight first. So I feel like I actually realized that a while ago—I am such a giver. I will do everything for everybody else before I do things for myself. And I think I got burdened by that a little bit. Because it was either people not putting in the same energy for me, or I wasn’t getting things I wanted done. I was only ever doing things for other people and not doing enough for me. But you can’t give your energy and your health out to other people until you learn to take care of yourself first. So, actually spend some time focusing on yourself—be a selfish person for all the right reasons before you could go and help others.”

 “I’m a very chatty, extroverted person, and I think it’s helped me in a lot of situations. I think I’ve made a lot of connections that way, and I would say it is probably one of my favorite things about myself. I love to see other people grow. And I love seeing people that that are “selfish” and take the time to care for themselves. And I think that I love seeing somebody who equally cares about their friends, but also stands their ground and knows where their limits are and cares about themselves equally and takes care of themselves,” states Christina.  

Like Christina, are you showing up in the world recharged and ready to give after taking care of yourself first?

Photography // Krystena Patton

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