Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Temima.
Hi Sarah, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My story begins in Israel, where I was born and raised. My mother planted seeds of big dreams when she took my three siblings and me, on her own, to the states in hopes of a better life. She had four kids and $50 in her pocket. To this day, we reminisce and wonder how she did it. The challenges she faced, five of us in a 1 bedroom, moving all the time, yet somehow it always felt like a home.
My mom is definitely my biggest inspiration. With every move, we moved further and further away from poverty. I started working young, babysitting around 12, and waitressing once I was old enough. Sometimes I worked a couple of jobs at once, though I didn’t stay long. In my bones, I knew I was meant for something more.
My relationship with my body and mind were also extremely unsteady. I was diagnosed bi-polar at a young age and experimented with different forms of medications into my early 20’s.
At around 23, I got serious about health and wellness, my mother’s teachings finally starting to rub off on me. I found meditation, healthy eats, and the gym. All of these things got me off medication and into the root of what my body truly needed for it to heal.
At 24, I started my company with the mission to support women through their self-love journey and simultaneously dedicated my entire life to getting clean from the inside out.
My vision goes beyond the clothing I currently design, and in 2022 I plan to go deeper into the mission of my brand. Stay tuned 🙂
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The road I chose was most definitely not smooth. Besides the early years from Israel to America, I started struggling with body dysmorphia, suicidal ideation, eating disorders, and other forms of self-harm in my early teens. In 10th grade, I started getting taken out of school to be treated, and for this reason, never graduated. Hospital after hospital and doctor after doctor. Eventually, I dropped out and got my GED.
My last hospital visit was at the age of 19 when I actually admitted myself for the first time after all the years of being forced to. I was scared of taking my life, and I knew it wasn’t what I really wanted. I went to get help, and I am so glad I made the choice to help myself, where it all begins.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Love On was born from that girl who hated who she saw in the mirror. She was born in the fitting rooms that had unforgiving lighting and clothes that made it worse. I never went to fashion school, but I (and many other women) trust my designs because of my experience with what my body needed during those hospital visits and painful phases of insecurity. I specialize in very simple pieces. No sparkles, no crazy patterns and prints, and no bedazzled dresses. Just what I needed. Something to hold me. Everything just hurt to get on. Everything squeezed my back, my muffin top, my private parts, or let it hang out all too much to the point where I never felt supported. I actually used to be made fun of for the awful style I had, which was no style at all. So it’s ironic that I’m now a designer. Though I don’t consider myself anything more than just a woman who pays a little extra attention to the details of the fits and fabrics. Nothing fancy. Just here to hold you.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
What I wish I knew was that there was no rush in becoming the powerful woman I knew I could be. One of the main triggers of my mental instability and self-hatred was this idea that I was late to the party–like, why wasn’t I successful and fully grown yet? It made me crazy, and it made me mad at the person in the mirror.
These days I’ve learned to slow down. I’m 28 now, just beginning in a sense, and I’m grateful for this opportunity to learn and create in the present moment while simultaneously being excited for and celebrating my future.
So I’d say to my younger self, there is no such thing as “late.” You are exactly where you’re supposed to be. Be here in the first place, otherwise how are you going to get to where you want to be?
Contact Info:
- Email: sarah@loveoncollections.com
- Website: loveoncollections.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahtemima/?hl=en
- Instagram: @loveoncollections
Image Credits
Photos by Sara Lee Saleh & Camilla Gibson
