Khoudia Diop shares her secret to confidence in beautiful dark skin

Khoudia Diop Shares Her Inspirational Message For Young Girls

Some of you may remember the melanin-y chocolate queen named Khoudia Diop who we featured a few months ago.

The sable-skinned beauty recently spoke to PEOPLE about how her skin tone has affected her life, how she overcame the bullying, and how she discovered her life’s mission:

“At first I confronted the bullies, but eventually I learned to stay positive, tune out the negativity and love myself more each day,” the model, 19, tells PEOPLE. “This helped tremendously.”

Never let ’em steal your shine. Ever.

“[I gave myself the nickname] because of my dark, melanin-rich complexion, and because I want to inspire young girls and let them know that we are all goddesses inside and out,” she says. “The message I have for my sisters is that how you look doesn’t matter as long as you feel beautiful inside.”

At the tender age of 17, Khoudia decided that she was going to put her once-mocked skin on the biggest platform she could possibly find. The runway.

“I wanted to express myself using visuals and also celebrate the beauty of black women, travel and have amazing opportunities,” she says. “I also wanted to be a living example of inspiration for other women and girls. Growing up, I hadn’t really had that much inspiration in media and modeling until recently with women like Lupita Nyong’o.”

Despite her unwavering confidence, it took Diop quite some time to develop a love of self that superseded any ugly criticism she would face in the future.

“Self-love is an ongoing process and practice,” she says. “I’ve had to sit with myself, learn myself, find the things I like about myself, and celebrate them. This is how I’ve recovered from the aggressive negativity sent my way.”

Lifting up little girls and giving them confidence needs to be high priority these days. We;re glad they have women like Khoudia on their side.

Images via Instagram