127. Ella Halikas on Building Delusional Confidence, Overcoming Fear of Failure & Dating Insecurities

Welcome Greek Goddess, curve model, and content creator Ella Halikas to the show! Ella shares our mission to help other women feel confident in their skin, and turned her biggest dream into a reality by becoming a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model in 2021. We admire Ella’s confidence and her ability to go after her goals with determination and grace. She reminds us that we get to our big goals by focusing on our passion, and striving to be our best self every day. 

Today she is sharing her best advice for setting boundaries with family members when it comes to conversations about weight, building “delusional” confidence, overcoming fear of failure, setting goals while avoiding burnout, and how rejection breeds resilience. We discuss dating as curvy women, and the self-worth struggles we are working through. We also talk about what it’s really like working as a full-time curve model, and the exciting project she will be releasing soon. We are grateful to Ella for sharing her wisdom and experience, and know you’re going to love this conversation!

“I think that having confidence really means wanting to be better than who you were yesterday. I'm always striving to be the best version of myself in all different facets.” - Ella Halikas


We also talk about:

  • Ella’s experience being raised in a Greek household

  • Setting boundaries with family members

  • How to determine what your goals are

  • Learning from failure

  • How Ella handles rejection in the modeling industry

  • Why Ella struggles with dating confidence

  • What Ella tells herself on her low confidence days

  • How to navigate gaining weight and nothing fitting you anymore

  • Ella’s biggest ick when it comes to dating

  • Avoiding goal burnout


“We grow and we learn so much from our failures. I learn the most about myself, about what I can achieve, how I can handle situations, when I fail, when I lose, when I get rejected, when I get told no, when I get dropped from agencies, when I don't get the job anymore. Don't let that stop you because literally on the other side of failure is the win.” - Ella Halikas

New podcast episodes of Confident Collective drop every Tuesday.

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126. Exposing Our Toxic Traits

Constantly losing things? Unfortunately. Always thinking someone is either mad at or obsessed with us? Most likely. Thinking that money is no object at the airport? Guilty. In this episode, we’re exposing all of our toxic traits and share some top offenders submitted by listeners. In summary, we're all toxic AF. To be honest, we have no desire to change our toxic traits. It's fun to laugh at ourselves, so let’s accept them and keep doing what we're doing, okay?

Plus, Kristina shares some exciting family news and updates us on if she is planning on moving to the east coast. Raeann gives Kristina reasons why moving to NYC could have a positive impact on her career, shares an update about how she’s thriving in the city, and we talk about our current obscure Tik Tok holes. 

“Another really bad toxic trade of mine is how often I lose things.” - Kristina

“My top toxic trait is thinking everyone’s in love with me.” - Raeann

We also talk about:

  • How rude it is that our partners can’t read our minds

  • Zillowing our friend’s homes

  • Returns are the worst

  • People whose phone is constantly dead or dying

  • Always needing a treat when we leave the house

  • Bad Bunny and Kendall Jenner

  • How long it takes us to get ready

Kristina: “This is someone's toxic trait in his mind as well: My phone is always about to die.”

Raeann: “That is a toxic trait about people that really annoys me. How was your phone always dying? Do you not have a charger? This is 2023.” 

New podcast episodes of Confident Collective drop every Tuesday.

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125. Sober Curious? Olivia Noceda’s Advice for Navigating Relationships & an Alcohol-Free Lifestyle

We’re sure you already know and love today’s guest, Olivia Noceda! Olivia has had an alcohol-free lifestyle for the past 15 months, so we invited her on the podcast to share her experience and to explore the concept of sober curiosity. We discuss the similarities between the sober curious movement and diet culture, the red flags to be aware of, the correlation between alcohol and hookup culture, and how to navigate dating while sober curious. 

Raeann and Kristina both open up about their own relationships with alcohol and share real-time reflections about why they drink. As Raeann has recently experienced, living in a drinking culture like NYC can be challenging for those who are exploring an alcohol-free lifestyle, so Olivia shares some great tips for going out and feeling more comfortable not drinking. We also delve into the potential effects on friendships and relationships and provide advice for those who want to stop drinking but are worried about the impact it could have on their social life.

Join us for this enlightening, honest conversation as we explore the growing cultural shift towards sober curiosity and the importance of asking ourselves how alcohol does or doesn’t serve us in this phase of life. Regardless of what you choose, remember to always do what’s best for you, and that trusting yourself is loving yourself. P.S. Don’t forget to head to Olivia’s website and Instagram to try out some of her delicious mocktail recipes!


“The questions I started asking myself were; how does alcohol serve me? What is it to me in my life and what is my relationship with it? With no judgment, I'm not judging myself, I just want to know what it is. And very simply, I had nothing good to say about it. I just started to realize that there was nothing really positive that it was bringing into my life.” - Olivia Noceda


What We Talk About:

  • What does “sober curious” mean?

  • Why Olivia explored sober curiosity to begin with

  • Similarities between sober curiosity and diet culture

  • Questions to ask yourself if you’re starting to become sober curious

  • Tips for living in a drinking culture like NYC while sober curious

  • Navigating dating while sober curious

  • Kristina’s reflections on her relationship with alcohol

  • Why Raeann feels influenced to drink more than she’d like to

  • How cultural influences play a role in our relationship with alcohol

  • Signs alcohol may be a problem for you

  • Why there’s a culture shift towards sober curiosity right now

  • Advice for people who want to stop drinking alcohol but are worried about how it will affect friendships and relationships

  • The correlation between alcohol and hookup culture

  • Tips for going out and feeling more comfortable not drinking


“I feel there's obviously a lot of judgment for people who don't drink, but I also feel like there's a lot of people who don't drink who judge those that do. We all need to have a little bit more fair play and more respect for everyone's life choices, no matter what they are.” - Kristina Zias


“When you are following what you desire and what you are interested in and bettering your life, you're basically weeding out people who aren't aligned with your values and your mission. And that's just going to be better for you in the long run. So in the short term, it can be scary, but I think you have to look ahead to the long, long term goal. - Raeann Langas


New podcast episodes of Confident Collective drop every Tuesday.


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