Once upon a not-so-glamorous meltdown, I realized something that changed my life:
Your glow-up isn't supposed to be pretty.
It’s supposed to be real.
It’s supposed to be messy.
And sometimes, it's supposed to look like crying into a pitball pool while dragging 70,000 rainbow-colored balls out of a collapsing dream.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s rewind. 🎬
🚧 When Life Glitches... It’s Actually Upgrading You
We’re taught to think life should be a clean, upward climb.
Get the job, win the love, build the dream, live happily ever after.
Spoiler alert: That’s a lie.
Real life?
It’s chaotic.
It’s wild.
It’s ugly cries in parking lots.
It’s carrying your own broken dreams into a rented truck when nobody is coming to rescue you.
It’s building new worlds out of rubble, heartbreak, and stubborn hope.
On Episode 15 of Level Up Your Selfie, I’m taking you deep into the glow-up trenches — sharing the raw, vulnerable, no-filter version of how my biggest "failures" became the plot twists that built my real empire.
Because the truth is:
Every glitch was a portal.
A redirection.
A secret upgrade my old self wasn’t brave enough to even imagine yet.
🏆 The Selfie Awards: Celebrating the Messy Milestones
In honor of Episode 15, we’re throwing a little party —
an imaginary but totally official Selfie Awards Ceremony 🎉✨
Because if nobody clapped for you when you made it through the storm?
Baby, I'm clapping now. 👏👏👏
Here’s what we’re celebrating:
-
Best Comeback After an Ugly Cry (Yes, you ugly cried — and you still showed up.)
-
Best Boundary Set That Felt Scary But Was Necessary (Saying no IS self-love.)
-
Rookie of the Year in Choosing Yourself (Every brave first step counts.)
-
Lifetime Achievement in Being a Work-in-Progress (Because showing up imperfectly is the victory.)
I even shared one of my messiest award moments:
Saving my 2000 m² Milajki Selfie Museum installations — neon signs, photobooths, tulle wardrobes, 70,000 pitballs — alone, crying, lifting, sweating, packing.
Working 24/7 to save my life’s work after my business and marriage collapsed, while strangers asked if I was okay. (I wasn't — but I carried on anyway.)
I didn’t rescue a business that day.
I rescued myself.
Movement became medicine.
Saving my art became saving me.
And the glow-up? It was born in the trenches — not the highlight reel.
✍️ Permission Slips You Didn’t Know You Needed
Another truth bomb from Episode 15?
We all need permission slips.
Permission to rest.
Permission to evolve.
Permission to outgrow places and people.
Permission to change your mind, change your dream, change your damn life if you need to.
✨ And spoiler: You don’t need anyone’s signature but your own.
I had to learn how to stop selling myself short — how to pitch my own value after decades of building my brand, my art, my magic.
When Lyko approached me to collaborate for their flagship opening at Drottninggatan, Stockholm — I almost let fear talk me out of it.
But I didn’t.
I said yes to myself.
I pitched my price.
I built six new Milajki pop-up portals.
And I stood there, face to face with visitors who remembered my worlds, my stories, our shared magic.
It was closure.
It was evolution.
It was my soul whispering, "You were never too much. You were always made for more."
🌟 Mic-Drop Moment
So if you're reading this?
If you're standing in the middle of your own messy, magical plot twist?
Here’s your mic-drop truth:
"I am allowed to be a masterpiece and a work-in-progress at the same time." 🎤✨
And so are you.
Always.
🎧 Listen to Episode 15:
✨ Plot Twists, Permission Slips, and Selfie Awards: Celebrating Your Glitches and Glow-Ups
Now streaming on:
and everywhere magical glow-up journeys are lived.
🎉 If this episode resonates with your soul, share it with a friend who needs a reminder that their story isn’t over — it’s just getting good.
🎉 Tag me @angelina.milajki @milajki on Instagram and TikTok — I would LOVE to celebrate your Selfie Award moment with you!
🌈 Keep leveling up.
🌈 Keep dreaming bigger.
🌈 Keep being wildly, unapologetically YOU.
And as always —
Extra rainbow sparkles upon you.
And good vibes only. 💖
Angelina Mi Lajki
