Name: Dara Lazar
Birthplace: Washington, D.C., but raised in AK.
OG: @daralazar

What woman in your life has been the greatest source of inspiration to you? There are many women who have inspired me to reach for different things, but my mother is my compass and the person I know best. Her standards are fierce, but there is a simplicity in the black and white lines by which she sees integrity that I can always go back to if I need a guiding line.

When do you feel like the strongest version of yourself? When I am afraid to say the uncomfortable truth and I do it anyway. When I stand up for myself. When I sing.

How do you hope to inspire the next generation of women? I want women and girls to be able to feel the way back into their bodies and be grounded in the unmistakable truth of how they feel. How we look, what is trendy or acceptable about that is mercurial. It is always changing. It’s empty and won’t hold us. If you can notice and respect how your body feels in a given situation - a personal interaction, a choice to sleep or drink water, you can investigate when you feel that way and find a life that’s right for you. Your body will guide you. Women are told from a very young age that the things we are expecting are not happening or important. If we find the place in our bodies, where the feelings live, it can help us trust ourselves.

If you could spend an afternoon with any woman past or present — who would it be and what would you ask them? Over the past few months, amidst a heightened conversation about power and consent, I have been thinking a lot about Sally Hemings, “mistress” to Thomas Jefferson. People say that within slavery, consent is impossible. That’s who we are genetically, as a nation. How would she describe her relationship to the powerful men in her life? When was she able to find AGENCY? What was is like living in France and why did she return to Virginia? Can love live next to such unequal power?