A Quote by Barbie Ferreira

I think representation is the most important thing in the world. People who are young look up to the things that they see in the media. They want to relate and to be able to say, 'Wow, I can be successful.'
Let’s think of reverence as awe, as presence in and openness to the world…Try walking around with a child who’s going, ‘Wow, wow! Look at that dirty dog! Look at that burned-down house! Look at that red sky!’ And the child points, and you look, and you see, and you start going, ‘Wow! Look at that huge crazy hedge! Look at that teeny little baby! Look at the scary dark cloud!’ I think this is how we are supposed to be in the world – present and in awe.
I think you look around the world in general, and who are the most popular people in the world? You can say that politicians and musicians are up there, but I guarantee you that athletes are ranked right up at the top if not more than a lot of those people. When you're well known, people look at you - especially kids. They want to be you.
I love to look good - I love to get glammed up - but it's not the most important thing in my world, and I'm not afraid to not be perfect. I can see where there is a lot of pressure 'cause we live in a very visual world, but I try to go a bit deeper than that. Things are just more important!
It's always important for people to be able to watch WWE, especially because it's a global product, it's important for people all over the world to be able to look at the screen and see somebody who looks like them doing great things. And in turn, that inspires them to do great things.
I really do believe that representation matters in'media. When you see people that look like you, especially as a kid, you can think, 'Oh, that's something I can do because there are people that look like me that have done it in the past.'
Happiness is the most natural thing in the world when you have it, and the slowest, strangest, most impossible thing when you don't. It's like learning a foreign language: You can think about the words all you want, but you'll never be able to speak it until you suck up your courage and say them out loud.
Young people are tremendously frustrated because they don't see politics as changing anything. They see it as perpetuating a system that frankly doesn't work and no matter who you vote for things don't really change. Social media is where I think a bold message will wake them up. We saw that a little bit in the Occupy movement. Over the next three years, I think young people are going to wake up and be empowered.
I think it's important to present role models for young women coming up. I really do believe you can't be what you can't see, and representation matters. So, for me, it's the idea of putting women in media in ways that present them as having power, being heard, being true to themselves, and done from the perspective of women.
I used to say that it won't be until I'm 40, 50, 60 years old, still working consistently, will I be able to look back on my career and say, 'Wow, I have been successful.'
Media and technology are our greatest assets. And yet, they are our most undervalued and underused assets. Now when I say that, people look at me like I'm crazy because every young person we know in the world is never without media, ever.
Visible success is important. It's important to be able to look on the TV and see yourself, turn on the radio and hear yourself. To see people from where you're from actually becoming successful.
Music is my favorite thing in the world. I grew up completely around it and I think it's one of the most important things to me, but at this point I can't see myself doing that professionally. Luckily, for the most part, I don't feel pressured.
People say a lot of mess about celebrities. In the social media world, celebrities are able to go online and see nice things and horrible things written about them - but these people on the Internet wouldn't have the guts to say it to their face.
I think I first encountered Ebola from the movie 'Outbreak.' Then there was the book 'The Hot Zone.' It's the type of thing you either read and say, 'Oh wow, that's terrifying,' or you read it and say, 'Oh wow, I want to do that.' I read it and said, 'Oh wow, I want do that.'
If you're doing what you love, and people can see that and relate to it, that's the most important thing.
I want to be able to look back and say, 'I've done everything I can, and I was successful.' I don't want to look back and say I should have done this or that. I'd like to change things for the younger generation of swimmers coming along.
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