Caroline Baudino’s motto is to look good, feel good, and do good — at any age.
Need some encouragement in the morning? Then grab your phone and start following Caroline Baudino ASAP. On Instagram, she pops on her glasses, sips her morning coffee from bed, and talks to (what feels like only) you.
“I’m here to remind you daily that just because you’re [caring for other people] does not mean that you’re not supposed to be happy, too,” she’ll say. “Stop wasting any more time trying to live for somebody else, trying to impress somebody else. Impress yourself.”
You can think of her as your personal grown-up cheerleader (without the pom-poms). This charmingly honest mother of two uses her social platforms to glamorize the experience of aging. And not in a condescending, buy-these-expensive-eye-creams way. It’s more a matter of finding what makes you happy and doing just that. As her motto indicates: she wants women to realize you can “look good, feel good, and do good, at any age.”
“My greatest passion is to promote standing on your own two feet, and living your best life. I want to lift women up,” says Baudino.
Her mission to motivate is personal: “As a mom, I remember these moments when I just didn’t feel good. I’d walk past the mirror and legitimately look and be like, ‘Who is that?'” she says. “I didn’t like what I saw. And how you look at yourself directly affects how you feel.” As she says, “This isn’t the Golden Girls anymore — women in their 50s look amazing.”
Below, we caught up with this candid fashionista about where she got her passion for helping other women, how she escaped a funk after becoming a new mom, and her greatest piece of advice.
KCM: Your motto is “Dress up to feel good, look good, and do good.” How did you come up with that?
Caroline Baudino: When I’d look in the mirror and not recognize myself, it played psychological tricks on me. I’d start to think, “Ugh, you look like shi*t,” and my mind went to a negative space. But when I’d be dressed up, looking fabulous, and looking in the mirror and recognizing that, it put me in an instant good mood. I’d be like, “I can’t wait to do something! Who am I seeing today?”
How you see yourself directly affects how you feel — when you look good, you feel good. And when you walk out the door that way, you end up doing good — because you’re kinder when you feel good. So I started to realize how important it was to like what I saw in the mirror. So I started saying, “Look good, feel good, do good.” And that’s my motto every day.
You also empower women and moms of all ages to “choose happy.” Where does that sentiment come from?
My dad and mom lived very big lives. My dad was the president of Univision and I grew up in New York City, but we weren’t happy. Three years ago, when my dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, the experience hit me like a ton of bricks. Nobody was around, no one cared: All that money, all those friends, that power, that fame actually didn’t mean anything. I remember thinking the only thing that really matters is companionship, friendship, and feeling good in your own skin. That’s true success.
I realized that I could choose to feel good just as easily as I could choose to feel like sh*t. So, every morning I remind myself to choose happy. Even when my husband and I have an argument, at the end of it, we’re like, “Is this really worth it? Let’s just choose happy.”
Everyone has rough mornings here or there. In those moments, how do you boost your mood?
Do whatever it is that makes you personally feel good, because what’s important: That you feel good, no one else. And there are three things that I know make me feel good — I call them “my tools”:
- Work out first thing: I wake up early, but I always make sure to get a work out in. I’ve never regretted a workout, but I have regretted not working out many times. I really enjoy burning off my negative energy and anxiety before I start my day.
- Carve out time for myself: I had hard conversations with my husband where I said, “I need 15 minutes for myself to get ready.” Because for me, happy is when I look my best. So I put music on, think about the day, do my makeup, and put on a cute outfit. And by “cute outfit,” I mean a white T-shirt from Target, pair of jeans, and some gold hoops.
- Have a mirror moment: I sit in front of the mirror and look myself in the eyes. Instead of focusing on the negative, I remind myself daily that I’m smart, I’m beautiful, I’m kind, I’m capable, and I can do really hard things. So let’s go!
What if you feel like it’s not worth spending the extra time to get ready?
After my second pregnancy, I was sluggish, my clothes didn’t fit, and I really didn’t look or feel like myself. I was in a rut, felt so much anxiety every morning, and I wasn’t sleeping well.
I realized I had to stop overthinking things and to take things one day at a time — sometimes one hour at a time. I’d make a to-do list for the day or week, and I didn’t even make myself finish the whole list. Now I just do one thing that makes me feel good, and do it consistently. For you, that might be finding a way to get 15 minutes of solo time every day.
What’s your favorite piece of advice?
Moms often want everyone else around them to be happy, but forget that they’re supposed to be happy, too. So try to remind yourself that no one’s knocking on the door to come save you. There’s no knight in shining armor, no fairytale. You’re the only person that can save yourself. And if you want to be happy, you have to make the effort to get there.
