Women across social media are sharing how they are an #OvercomeHER

The hashtag that’s spreading the stories of women across the globe, #OvercomeHER, is taking over people’s timeline and empowering women everywhere. ​

A video posted by overcomeHER (@overcomeher) on Jun 24, 2016 at 4:03pm PDT

OvercomeHER is a women empowerment organization founded in August 2015 based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their goal is to create a culture where women see each other as collaborators instead of competitors.

#OvercomeHER allows women to tell their story of how they’ve overcome adversity. Participants do this by posting a picture of themselves wearing white, to represent purity, and red lipstick, because red lipstick is the international word for “stop.”

“We really want people to stop and really engage in your story,” said the Chief Operating Officer of OvercomeHER. “We want [women] to actually push themselves to really become vulnerable and comfortable with themselves, not just for them but for other women who might be going through the same thing.” ​
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This is the first large scale social media campaign for this organization. Their goal is to help women find strength in their vulnerability by helping them break down their “walls.”


“A lot of times the reason why I think we don’t allow ourselves to form close bonds with other women, or truly have a spirit of servitude to those women, is because we don’t allow ourselves to become vulnerable enough,” said OvercomeHER.

The company started with the Chief Operating Officer, who was inspired by her close group of friends to jumpstart the company.

“Every week we would check in with each other, create goals, hold each other accountable to those goals, then we realized the power in doing that,” said the COO. “Because in your 20s, you’re still trying to figure out your life, and you won’t have it figured out, but that’s fine! I think that because we held each other accountable, and really pushed each other and gave each other encouragement, we realized the beauty and power in having other women there to help you.”

#OvercomeHER is suppose to demonstrate the idea of women helping other women by accepting their unique vulnerabilities. “No one should tell you how to live your truth,” said OvercomeHER when asked about what being vulnerable means for women. “I think that we have to get to the point where we start accepting our truths.”


“Think of the darkest time of your life, and think of the things you’re afraid of and the things you’ve doubted yourself for,” said OvercomeHER, “[as you] think about those things, think about not being afraid to share that with other people.” This, OvercomeHER believes, is the meaning of vulnerability for women.
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A photo posted by overcomeHER (@overcomeher) on Jun 21, 2016 at 4:27pm PDT

“I think the biggest thing we want people to realize is that there’s learning within the community already, and we need to utilize those resources,” said OvercomeHER. “We want to … build that community of strong women, a community of women who are not afraid to say ‘yeah I’ve been through it, but I’m stronger because of it’.”

The #OvercomeHER campaign is still travelling the web, so help get the word out by posting a picture of yourself in white and wearing stop-and-stare red lipstick and telling the world how you overcome challenges that made you the women you are today.
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Written By: Lidia Abraha