Angeli Nandwani (COL ’24), Georgetown sophomore, has created a space in which women can support one another on their journeys to self-love and acceptance.
While it is easy for us to bury ourselves in our work and school, it is far more difficult to take a moment of peace to sit with oneself. However, Angeli Nandwani’s inspiring organization Ella x Ella emphasizes the importance of loving one’s own company. This week, The Hoya spoke with Nandwani as she discussed Ella x Ella and female empowerment.
Tune in as Nandwani discusses her own female role models, tells the fascinating story of the creation of Ella x Ella, and even offers a self-love book recommendation.
Podcast Transcript:
MR: From The Hoya, I’m Mia Rasamny (COL ’24), this is The Community Corner, a weekly show about the lives and stories of Hoyas near and far from the Hilltop. This week, multimedia staffer Melanie Elliot (COL ’24) sat down with fellow sophomore, Angeli Nandwani, to discuss an organization that Nandwani founded, centered around women’s empowerment. Nandwani fosters a community made to help one another find self-love and self-acceptance by promoting it. Here’s Melanie with more.
ME: During this Valentine’s Day season, everyone has been talking about the joy of falling in love. However, it is often said that the most happiness can be derived not from a romantic relationship but from falling in love with yourself.
ME: It’s a mantra that we repeat again and again: “love yourself.” Easier said than done. We are often our toughest critics, which makes this love story a bumpy one for many. I had the pleasure of speaking with Angeli Nandwani, a Georgetown student, who has taken this message of self-love to a whole new level with her organization Ella por Ella. Angeli posts on the Ella por Ella instagram page advocating self-love, and she has even published a book with the same important goal.
AN: Hi! My name is Angeli Nandwani. I am from Panama. I was born and raised there, and I’m a sophomore in the college.
ME: To begin our conversation, Angeli told me about the impetus for her organization and how we can help support Ella por Ella.
AN: Two months after I graduated high school, what happened was the pandemic. So, not only was I experiencing change in my personal life, but also in life in the world as a whole. I was also going through a breakup and I felt, like, disconnected to myself, to my body, to my emotions. However, that’s when I realized that many women go through these moments in their lives that they just hate spending time with themselves. And as I was crying in my room because I could not pinpoint what was going on with me, I thought to myself that it is not fair that so many women experience these vulnerable moments alone and many times do not want to have conversations about it. And these conversations are so important. So that same night — it was like 2 am — I created Ella por Ella to build a community where these conversations happened and women felt supported by other women. Ella por Ella wants to be your social media friend. Like, I want women to scroll their feeds and find positive, empowering posts amongst all the unrealistic perfectness of influencers’ lives. I started Ella por Ella without telling anyone that I was behind the account. I did this so that people felt that they were part of it as well. I create content based on the things that other people DM me about. And when I say, for example: “nosotros somos ella por ella:, which is Spanish for “we are ella por ella,” I am referring to all the followers as if they were also the creators of Ella por Ella. Because, honestly, they are, they are the reason why I make every campaign, every post. So, the only way that you can support Ella por Ella is just by following it and engaging with the content, I would say.
ME: For our listeners who are not too familiar with the Spanish language, Ella por Ella translates to her for her. Angeli spoke to the significance of this name, especially in how it relates to modern movements for female empowerment.
AN: So it is actually “her for her,” which encompasses what the fourth wave feminism movement stands for because it answers the question of: “who are we doing things for in this life?” Is it for ourselves? Is it for someone else? I want women to make decisions that will make them happy. And, I want them to believe that even though society has been hard on them, we always have each other and we always have ourselves — which is why it is so important to talk about self-love and self-acceptance because we come to this world alone and we leave this world alone. So, we have to learn how to spend time with ourselves and actually enjoy it.
ME: Most people, whether they’d care to admit it or not, have struggled or continue to struggle with self-love and acceptance. So, I talked with Angeli about some daily steps that she thinks could help each of us love ourselves more.
AN: We are the person we most spend time with. So, we need to implement ways of taking care of ourselves every day. I cannot give you, like, a list of things that we should do every day because I believe the point of implementing self-love in your day-to-day is to do more of the things that make you happy and that make you feel more you, if that makes sense. So, for me, it is as simple as having my morning coffee without any distractions, no phone, no homework, just my thoughts and my coffee, or perhaps just completing one small thing from my to-do list. It doesn’t matter how small, as long as I get something done, I feel that I am doing something for myself. Because when you start giving yourself the time that you deserve, as if you were in a relationship with someone else, you start to enjoy life so much. And, you start being more grateful, more loving to the people around you, and especially more kind to yourself.
ME: On the Ella por Ella instagram account, there is currently a form available to join the organization’s self-love book club. Angeli was kind enough to provide me with some self-love novel recommendations from the books that she has read thus far.
AN: My favorite one is “The Gifts of Imperfection” by Brené Brown. However, I always like to read any book and, like, focus on the woman’s role because, well, firstly, my favorite books are romantic novels and fiction. So I always find some interesting things and inspiration from women in novels that don’t necessarily exist in the world.
ME: Being from Panama, it is clear that Angeli wants her roots to remain in the organization, as can be seen by the name being in Spanish. So, she went on to expand upon the importance of the use of Spanish in her organization.
AN: When I created Ella por Ella, like, I never ever imagined the impact that it was going to have. So, I was born and raised in Panama, like I said, and at first, my community were all Latino women that followed me, so it just made sense for it to be mostly in Spanish. However, that does not mean that it will only be in Spanish. I sometimes switch it up a bit, and with time, I am going to include more English. The thing is, the majority of my audience is from Panama.
ME: Given that Angeli has become an empowered female figure on the internet, we then discussed empowered females in Angeli’s personal life.
AN: So, my sisters, my mother, my friends from back home, and the friends that I’ve made here in college, little shout-out Mommy Sorias. So, in a unique way, they are also powerful and have had such a positive influence in my life. They do not know this, but I admire them and learn something from them every day.
ME: As her organization is still very new, Angeli has many exciting plans for the future of Ella por Ella.
AN: I have so many plans. I love creating and working for Ella por Ella, so much that I hope that my message gets to more people around the world, and that they understand, like, my genuine intention of helping women thrive and support each other. Hopefully Ella por Ella will become an organization in Panama and will further reach more women in my own country. But I want for it to be, like, my way of giving back to my country and at the same time the hobby that I’m most passionate about.
ME: Finally, Angeli and I delved into the impact that being a female student at Georgetown University has had on her view of women empowerment as a whole, as well as on Ella por Ella.
AN: I would not say that it has changed, but it has helped me further expand my knowledge about the movement. Because, you know, I’m still learning and making mistakes, taking inspiration from other people growing, etcetera. So, yes, I’m so grateful that around me I have only had more and more information, more support and more friends to make part of my story and my movement.
ME: This podcast was recorded and produced by Melanie Elliott and edited by Mia Rasamny. Special thanks to Angeli Nandwani for taking the time to speak with The Hoya. That’s all we have for today, thanks for listening!
