Elena Belle Theanne: Vulnerability And Self-Acceptance Drive Authentic Digital Influence

At times it feels like wellness or elevating one’s well being, is diametrically opposed to high achievement and high performance in one’s career. The stress, mental energy, long hours, lack of restful sleep and preoccupation that result from a high-achievement life seem to directly inhibit wellness. And yet, in order to sustain the creativity, flexibility, mental acuity and resilience that are necessary for high performance, wellness and wellbeing of the mind, body and soul are also mandatory. So how do we achieve both? This is the question I’m hoping to answer through conversations with high-achieving leaders and influencers who are practicing their own philosophies about how to maintain their wellbeing.

As a part of our series about “Social Media Influencers Share Their Top Self Care, Wellness, and Beauty Tips, I had the pleasure of interviewing Elena Belle Theanne.

Elena Belle Theanne was born in Ibiza, Spain and grew up in Sweden, becoming a well known Swedish model and influencer. She is best known for participating in reality TV shows “Paradise Hotel” and several seasons of “Svenska Hollywoodfruar” (aka “Real Housewives of Sweden”) which followed Swedish women living glamorous Hollywood lifestyles and aired on TV3 until halted by the pandemic. As a model, Elena will be appearing next on the cover of Maxim New Zealand’s upcoming January 2022 cover and works regularly with fitness, swimwear, and lifestyle brands. Her online content focuses on healthy cooking, fitness routines, body positivity, and being a Mom to daughter Luna Belle.

Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory of how you came upon this career path and to where you are today?

It all started in Sweden where I grew up. I studied to be a hairdresser and started to work in a salon. One of my customers was always telling me that I should start modeling and that he knew someone that could help me start a modeling career. I never really listened to him; I thought he was one of those creeps that only wanted my attention but after many visits and a lot of chasing he convinced me to see his friend.

His friend was a famous photographer in Sweden and we did a test shoot. Shortly after that, I started getting a lot of work so I quit my job as a hairdresser and started modeling. I loved being my own boss and I was also making much more money than working in a salon. It was the perfect job for me at the moment. I was about 20 years old at that time.

After that my job led to several TV jobs a huge blog that was one of Sweden’s biggest at the moment, plus endless magazine work. A few years after that, I packed my bags and left to Los Angeles where I continued working as a model. I landed a Swedish contract being one of the “Real Housewives of Hollywood” for one of the biggest reality shows in Sweden called XX. I was on that show for about four years.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are and why?

I don’t think there is one particular person; it’s many different people you meet along the way that inspire and influence you to take different opportunities in life.

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

That’s a hard one, but I had a period in my career where I decided to do castings and try out for acting opportunities that I had no clue what to do. So I ran into some really awkward situations where I was out of my element but I just tried my best. I’m not an actress and it was for really big gigs and I was just very, very bad.

As an influencer, you have been blessed with great success! Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path but know that their dreams might be dashed?

Thank you! I think it is important to dream big and do things without fear of failure. You only live once and if you don’t try things you will never know.

Can you share with our readers some of the strategies you’ve used to build an engaged, loyal, and large online community?

I think it is important to show vulnerability. People want to follow real people that they can relate to. I have been better at this at some periods in my life but sometimes I have been more closed off. I can see a huge difference in the interaction with my followers.

In my work, I focus on how one can thrive and care for oneself in three areas: body, mind, and heart. You are a busy person with a demanding schedule, can you share with our readers two self-care routines, practices or treatments that help your body thrive?

I think being happy is the most important ingredient for self care. But other than that for me it is having a workout routine which is super important for my mental health. Sleep is also super important for me. I recently started writing down my thoughts and goals and what I’m grateful for and that’s helping me a lot too.

Can you share with us two routines that you use to help your mind or heart to thrive? (Kindly share a story or example for each.)

For me, it is important to be grateful every day even for the small things, write them down and that way you will see things more positively. You realize how fortunate you are simply having your health or all the basics and more. A balance between being happy for what you have and also having goals and things you want too. Archiving them is the way to keep myself happy.

Can you share five ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”? (Please share an explanation for each.)

I think feeling beautiful comes from the inside. So working on your confidence is the most important ingredient to feeling beautiful. I struggle a lot with that still, the feeling of not being enough or not having the confidence and believing in myself. I honestly have days that I think I’m the shit lol and some days that i don’t think I can do anything.

But other than that, I think it is important to be the best version of yourself. Taking care of your health and body has a huge impact on your confidence both on the outside and mentally.

Let’s do 5 quick ideas:

-Eat healthy ( it will make you both feel and look better) but I think it is important to not be too strict with diet. That at least doesn’t make me happy!

-Workout, Take care of your home (your body) and also look the best you possibly can.

-Take care of your skin, have many days where you rest your skin from makeup. Drinking a lot of water makes a big difference on your skin.

-Sleep! It might sound so cliche but you always look and feel more beautiful when you sleep correctly.

-Being happy makes anyone look and feel more beautiful.

So do things that make YOU happy.

Is there a particular resource, a practitioner, expert, book, or podcast that made a significant impact on you and helped you to thrive? If so why?

I’m a huge fan of David Sinclair. He is an anti-aging expert and biologist.

Do you have a story about the strangest, most bizarre or funniest wellness treatment that you’ve ever experienced?

OMG, I do! So they had me doing this leech anti aging treatment on the Swedish housewife show. It was disgusting. I was terrified!

As an influencer, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I think kindness is so important, especially in a world where cyber bullying is so big. It scares me when people show their true self online just because they can be anonymous. I think it is important to show the younger generation how to treat each other and how negatively you can impact someone’s life just by saying or leaving a bad comment to someone that might not be strong or in a place to handle it.

If you could meet anyone, is there a person in the world with whom you’d like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why?

Ok I’m a huge nerd, haha! But I would choose either Nikola Tesla to hear about all his inventions or I would choose King Tutankhamun because of all the mysteries around him.

I’m a huge nerd when it comes to ancient Egypt and all the mysteries around it.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!