Sep 2, 2020
All of us have something in our lives that we might
feel embarrassed by, or something that has happened to us that
gives us a feeling of shame or something in our past that is
holding us back. There are times where these negative thoughts come
into our head and we feel like we’re not worthy enough or capable;
maybe that we’re not even worth loving. My guest today is an
incredible woman of faith who is trying to change that narrative to
let women know that they are so worth loving. My guest this week is
Eryn Eddy, the founder of So Worth
Loving, a lifestyle clothing brand bridging the gap
between not talking about self-worth and talking about it. Eryn
began her clothing brand as a refuge. She needed to be present with
other people’s stories before she could be truly present with her
own. “Divorce broke me” said Eryn. “My heart had to be shattered in
order to see the hole that God wanted to fill all along. I resisted
accepting or believing that God could love me so recklessly and
beautifully. The enemy watches our vulnerabilities and uses his
findings against us, but God always brings beauty back in.” Eryn is
releasing her debut book in January 2021, and she is the cohost of
the new podcast,
God Hears Her, which
launched back in May. The podcast is for Christian women seeking
friends to come alongside them in the hurts, joys, and struggles of
the everyday. This conversation was so refreshing. There is an air
and spirit about Eryn that is just filled with joy and peace, and I
felt in so many ways that it was for me, but I know it was for so
many of you listening too.
4:34 - The Eryn 101
- Eryn comes from a line of self-starting
entrepreneurs. Her parents manufactured furniture for 45 years, and
Eryn now owns a clothing company and lifestyle brand called So
Worth Loving. So Worth Loving bridges the gap between not talking
about struggles of identity and self-worth and talking about it.
Eryn started So Worth Loving a little over 9 years ago with no
intention of starting a company.
- Eryn did not go to college and had no idea what she
wanted to do with her career. She started working in ministry for
an organization called Orange working her way up from no
experience. While at Orange, the owner asked Eryn what she wanted
to do with her life. Eryn thought she’d found her path working at
Orange but when asked again about what she wanted to do, she
couldn’t come up with an answer.
- Eryn realized that for a lot of her life she’d just
been reactionary and never thought too far beyond whatever her
circumstances were at any given time. After considering her boss’
question some more, Eryn thought he wanted to pursue music and dove
in headfirst.
- Jumping full speed ahead into a passion you’re
excited about often makes us vulnerable to other people questioning
your ability to do it. Eryn saw a good amount of success with her
music finding its way to commercials and TV shows. Everything
happened quickly. In that time, Eryn wanted to create something to
support the people who supported her music.
- Eryn felt that the people who loved her music were
more like friends than family. They were not admiring her art from
the outside, but they were actually making it happen. Eryn decided
to create t-shirts for free and get this – they included her HOME
ADDRESS!
- Luckily no one showed up at Eryn’s house, but they
did sent her their t-shirts to her to spray paint and send back to
them. Many included letters with stories of why they struggled with
self-worth and wrestle with believing they are worth of love. It
was then that Eryn realized this was about so much more than just
her music.
10:10 – An Important Conversation
- We all struggle with self-worth at one time or
another, but our society is not well-equipped to face and discuss
it. Part of Eryn’s story includes her divorce while she was
building and growing So Worth Loving.
- When Eryn started So Worth Loving and began hearing
other people’s stories, she noticed after her divorce that she had
not been paying attention to her own story. She was carrying the
weight of what other people had been going through and was not as
present in her own life.
- As So Worth Loving grew, the company was shipping
to all 50 states and did everything in- house, and Eryn started
experiencing burnout. It wasn’t until her divorce that she started
to realize she’d been trying to find her self-worth in the wrong
places.
- The hardships of shame and the divisions that can
come with divorce left Eryn questioning whether she was enough and
if she was worth to be loved again. At that time, Eryn decided to
take about a year and a half off from So Worth Loving so spend time
on herself and work for another organization.
- Historically, the church has not been great with
responding to divorce or people who experience divorce. Divorce has
a stigma and we’re uncomfortable with it because we don’t talk
about it and don’t know how to talk about it. Stigmas are divisive.
Eryn experienced a lot of divisive questions from people in the
church during and after her divorce.
- Eryn decided that it was not up to her to fight her
battles, it was God who she would let fight her battles, including
the misrepresentation of who God is through wrong comments from
people in the church. That didn’t mean it was easy, but God did
fight Eryn’s battles and it strengthened her relationship with
God.
18:33 – Encouragement if you are in the midst of a
marriage crisis
21:50 – To friends and family members of someone who
is going through a divorce and some ways to love someone going
through a divorce.
29:49 – So Worth Loving & God Hears Her
- Eryn’s book launches in January of 2021 and it’s
called So Worth Loving: How Discovering Your True Value Changes
Everything. It’s a formal journal where Eryn shares about her
wrestling with who God is, her questions, mistakes, and journey to
understanding her value. You can
preorder wherever books are sold!
- Eryn also launched a podcast in May called
God Hears Her and cohosts the show with Elisa Morgan. The
two share personal stories of hope and encouragement. True
freedom comes from sharing our journeys and knowing we’re not
alone. Be sure to subscribe!
36:28 – Hear more about So Worth Loving, how it has
evolved through the last 9 years and what the organization is doing
today. They also provide valuable and helpful resources on their So Worth Living page.
38:01 – Getting to Know Our Guest
- Find out about one of Eryn’s unusual talents, who
she’d most like to sit next to on a 16-hour flight, what her hype
song would be, who she’d choose to play her in a movie about her
life, and what it means to her to run a business with purpose.
Memorable Quotes
12:09 – “When I went through my divorce, I had to go
through a dismantling to see where I found my self-worth. I was
finding it in my finances, I was finding it in the growth of my
business, I was finding it being in a relationship, I was finding
it in the communities I was around, I was finding it in the network
that I had.”
12:31- “Anybody who’s listening has experienced
divorce, they know that it is a death and the person is still
there. You lose friends, you get a Scarlett letter immediately,
especially in the Christian community, there’s a lot of shame, and
people pick sides. And so all of that definitely played a part in
my wrestling with ‘Am I enough? Am I worthy to love? Am I worth to
be loved again?’ “
17:32 – “At the end of the day, I knew the Lord would
fight it and He did and I am so glad because it was an opportunity
for me to develop a deeper intimacy with Him.”
20:35 – “You are worthy to be taken care of.”
Eryn is the founder and CEO of So Worth Loving, a
lifestyle clothing brand. Since starting in 2011, she’s grown her
company to include customers in all fifty states and in thirty
countries,
and the company is still going strong. She and her work have been
featured on CNN and MSNBC, as well as Southern Living and Atlanta
Magazine.
This creative enjoys oil painting and singing, and she’s even had
her music featured on MTV and VH1.
Eryn is also an author and a speaker, and she calls Atlanta
home.
Connect with Eryn Eddy:
Thank you to our partners of the show:
Ammas Umma
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The Lemonade Boutique
This episode is sponsored by The Lemonade Boutique, a
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