Have you ever heard the expression when life gives you lemons, make lemonade?

Few people truly embody this concept like Lizzie Velasquez does, who is an ordinary woman standing for something extraordinary: love, acceptance, and peace.

Lizzie is a uniquely petite powerhouse that weighs in at 65 pounds because she, and only 2 other people in the world, suffer from a rare syndrome that prevents her body from storing fat. In a pivotal moment of cyberbullying, where she was called the ugliest woman on the internet in a youtube video that went viral, she decided to stand up for herself, in the most loving and peaceful way, and show the bullies that they are better than that.

Fast forward several years, and she is a 4-time author, college graduate and global motivational speaker, that has graced the stage at well over 1,000 events and appeared on major TV networks like The Today Show, The View, Nightline, National Geographic and on Katie Couric to name a few.

In addition to doing a Ted talk titled "What defines you?" which has been viewed by tens of millions, and resonated across the globe, she was featured in a deeply touching documentary called Brave Heart.

Tune in to hear some of Lizzie's extraordinary life lessons and journey:

Get a sense for her off the charts leadershipHow she became an agent for changeHow she stood for global growth and empowermentHow she chose to counteract hate with love and what resulted from thatWhat it takes to stand up for something bigger than yourselfFinding courage in your darkest momentsIncredible life lessons

Connect with Lizzie Velasquez:

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Full Transcription:

Lizzie Velasquez: I had to realize that I had been waiting for this answer my whole life, and I was 25 years old at the time. When you are so used to being defined as a question mark and then in one conversation that question mark that you’ve had for all these years is now just a period at the end of a sentence, how do you adjust to that?

Tanya: That’s Elizabeth (Lizzie) Velasquez Velasquez, a uniquely petite powerhouse that weighs in at 65 pounds because she and only 2 other people in the world that we know of have a rare syndrome that prevents her body from storing fat. In a pivotal moment of cyberbullying where she was called the ugliest woman on the internet in a YouTube video that went viral, she decided to stand up for herself, and in the most loving and peaceful way, show the bullies that they are wrong about her. Fast forward several years, and she’s a four-time author, college graduate, global motivational speaker that’s graced the stage at over 1,000+ events and appeared on major TV networks like The Today Show, The View, Nightline, National Geographic, and on Katie Couric, just to name a few. In addition to doing a TED Talk titled “What Defines You,” which has been viewed by tens of millions of people and resonated across the globe, she was featured in a deeply touching documentary called Brave Heart. Lizzie Velasquez, what were you like as a child?

Lizzie Velasquez: I was a really fun child looking back. I mean, obviously, I don’t remember everything, but I think I was really adventurous. I was very bossy. I can remember being bossy, and I’ve seen home videos that prove how bossy I was. I think I just have the same personality that I do now but just sounding more like a little tiny mouse.

Tanya: That’s amazing. The bossiness definitely served you well. This is interesting. You were born six weeks prematurely, and you weighed in at 2 pounds, 10 ounces, which is tiny. Obviously, you wouldn’t remember this, but what did your parents tell you about that experience?

Lizzie Velasquez: What they told me was that my mom had went in, and they did an ultrasound and realized that I had stopped growing and were told that they needed to have the emergency C-section. When I came out,