Let’s face it, social media often gets a bad rap. And so too do many women. Sixteen-year-old Lila Meltzer wants to change both of those things.
Meltzer, whose father is New York Times best selling author Brad Meltzer, created the Instagram account @hersecretidentity as a way for women to share who they really are and their experiences with being misunderstood.
“I truly developed Her Secret Identity to combat the challenges I was facing in my own life. I wanted to give women a space to take back control of their own narratives,” says Meltzer, a tenth-grade student at NSU University School.
Her Instagram account has caught the attention of well-known women including singer Gloria Estefan, tennis great Billie Jean King and transgender activist Jazz Jennings, among others. But is mostly filled with women and teens from all walks of life.
She asks them what people think of them and who they really are. She started with her own struggles.
“Mine is that people think I have it all together, but my secret identity is that I really struggle,” she says.
Others share their real-life struggles such as the woman who said she appears “unapproachable,” but is really struggling with anxiety, or another woman who said she appears “always happy” but suffers from loneliness.
“Women have to power to bring each other up as much as we tear each other down. As women, we are strongest and most powerful when we are united,” Meltzer says.