Jodie Turner-Smith, Unfiltered

Hi, I'm Jodie Turner Smith,

and this is my GLAMOUR Unfiltered.

It is so exciting to be

one of Glamour's Women of the Year.

Also, it makes me feel so validated in this moment,

'cause I've been working really hard and going through a lot

and for me, it's acknowledgement of my personal

and inner journey that I've been going through

that no one actually knows about, but it feels good,

'cause it feels like a little hug.

My greatest achievement as a woman,

for me personally, it's becoming a mother.

Anyone who's become a parent, it's just something

that's what's important for your life,

and for me and in my journey, like now becoming that,

seeing how important that is, the fact that I get to

guide a life in this world,

that is the most important thing,

the single most important thing I will ever do.

Wow, I have learned a lot about myself

and really the most important thing

that stands out is I've learned that I'm capable

of so much more than I ever, ever, ever

could have conceived of, that I contain power

that is greater than anything that I could have thought

or imagined.

My greatest challenge as a woman,

and I think is really any woman's challenge,

we live in a world that does not want

to protect us in the same way, or lift us up,

or hold us in the same way

that it holds our male counterparts.

It's constantly something to be challenged by,

and to overcome, and to overcome,

and that's what we do as women.

I feel most empowered as a woman

when I'm surrounded by other powerful women.

I look after my mental wellbeing

by surrounding myself with good people,

taking lots of hot baths,

massage, self care, I think that's really important.

You know, we only have one body and one self,

and the better that we take care of that self,

the more strength that we have to give into the world.

Especially, you know, for women,

I think we are often not empowered to say no.

Just in the journey of life, you finally land at that place,

that is where you find the strength in no.

I think boundaries are so important,

and honestly, those are just things that come with wisdom.

I think the older I get, the more I embrace no,

[Jodie laughing]

and the more confident I feel about no

and see that when I do say no,

great things also come from that.

I think when you're really asking yourself

what you wanna do and who you wanna be,

it requires so much looking inward,

and when you look inward,

I think that is such a powerful embrace

of who you are and your individuality,

because you're not looking outward

for the validation of who you should be

or what your next move should be.

The older I get, the more confident I feel

in embracing my individuality and trusting my inner life

and who I am.

Success to me means many different things.

Something that I learned as I was achieving material success

in my previous life, and not enjoying who I was

or what I was doing, what I really learned

was that the most important success

is to succeed at feeling happy.

There will never be a point, I think, in a person's life

where they say, like, That's it, I've achieved it all,

there's nothing else that I want.

I mean, maybe there are people like that,

and good for you guys,

but I think as humans we always want more.

The key is, how do I find happiness in each phase

of where I'm at?

And I also think love is a measure of success.

When you see, when you look around, and you see

that you're surrounded by love,

I feel that is one of the greatest barometers of success,

when you are rich in love.

The best piece of advice I've ever been given as a woman,

I think one thing that is really important

is make sure that you have your own independence.

As a woman in this world, a world that is telling you

that you deserve less, and that you are less,

and that your body's not your own,

it's important that you have security

and that you have independence

because then can't nobody tell you.

[Producer] Sorry.

I mean, do you have 15 years to talk about this?

In some ways, while we have come really far,

we still have a long way to go

and we're still fighting some of the same fights.

A woman's right to have ownership of her own body

and to make decisions about her own healthcare

is I think one of the most crucial battles

that we're in at this moment.

You know, I live in America,

and these are things that are essentially on the ballot

for this next election.

So hopefully, in this next election,

that will be one small step in the right direction.