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Kylie Kelsey doesn’t let negative thoughts affect the way she talks about herself because she knows her four young daughters look up to her as a role model.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Kylie, 33, who shares Finley, 10 months, Bennett, 2, Elliott, 4, and Wyatt, 6, with husband Jason Kelsey, said she plans to “lead by example” when it comes to practicing self-love.
“I try my best to speak positively about myself, even on days when I don’t necessarily feel that way,” says the host of the “Not Gonna Lie” podcast.
“We can say all we want, but we’re still human, so there are days when we find ourselves setting an example for our girls and realizing, ‘You know what? You may not feel that way right now, but how should you talk about yourself?'” Kelce continues.
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According to Kelsey, “Being a mother made me think that I needed to talk about myself in a positive way.”
“Because when you give girls confidence, they’re not only happier, they feel more joy in life, and that joy drowns out all the other turmoil,” she continues.
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“You can give girls confidence so that if some idiot tries to change the messaging, it won’t matter because they’ll have so much joy in their ears that it will be drowned out.” Because they think, “That’s a really stupid thing to say, but actually, I’ve heard the opposite so many times…so it doesn’t matter that you said that,” Kelce further explains.
“When you become a mother, you find that by communicating positive messages, intrusive or negative thoughts become less meaningful,” the mother of four added.
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Kelsey, who continues her ongoing partnership with Dove through a commercial that will air during the 2026 Super Bowl, learned to practice self-love through her own life experiences.
Kelce played field hockey when she was younger and told PEOPLE that as an athlete she often doubted herself and was “fighting” with her body.
“It seemed like a disadvantage. It seemed like it was going to make my life more difficult,” Kelsey said, recalling thoughts she had about her body at the time, citing her 5-foot-11-inch height as her main concern.
However, Kelce says: “Even in a sport where you don’t think your body is really an asset, I quickly started to realize that my body really was an asset. I had a reach that no one else had, an amazing reach that my opponents weren’t prepared for. And I had very strong legs, so I could hit incredibly hard in a way that surprised people.”
