Talented Pose actress, singer [1], and history-making Emmy nominee [2] Michaela Jaé, aka Mj Rodriguez, continues to spread her wisdom through all her various projects. She recently partnered with H&M to host LGBTQ+ students at a "Fresh and Fabulous For the Fall" fireside chat. There, she spoke with Elle Moxley, executive director and founder of The Marsha P. Johnson Institute [3] (a nonprofit that protects the rights of Black transgender people), about the beauty in all our various identities, empowering 20 NYC-based students, ages 14-24, ahead of their returns to school. Moxley's first feature film, Black Beauty, was screened, sparking a conversation about what can happen when we challenge ourselves to reimagine conventional ideas of beauty.
!["My younger self would've had a ball creating the many looks that represented how she felt."
H&M treated everyone to a shopping spree and a salon moment, providing hair and makeup, too, and Mj told POPSUGAR the importance of including this feel-good segment at the event. "Clothing, shopping, and fashion was a huge part of my life. Clothing was how I expressed my identity and were the pieces to my puzzle, no matter how many times I want to take it apart and put it back together again. I remember when I was younger, I would buy clothes and tailor them myself simply just to have a fit that made me feel most comfortable. To see that H&M has all of the fashion that I craved as a youth, my younger self would've had a ball creating the many looks that represented how she felt."
This isn't the first time H&M has partnered with industry leaders to empower students; Mj was actually the star of the retailer's Pride campaign this past June. "[She] was a natural fit to uplift students and instill confidence in advance of school starting in the coming weeks," the brand said, having outfitted the star in H&M's Studio AW21 Collection, a blue denim two-piece that Mj chose specifically to "reflect confidence, comfort, and courage, something that youth have innately, and that I know they will continue to grow."](https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/thumbor/nD-geaUlC5YlZdB_0NVEu2LUUrI/fit-in/1024x1024/filters:format_auto-!!-:strip_icc-!!-/2021/08/27/745/n/1922564/5e1fb16ef122e868_GettyImages-1335117334/i/My-younger-self-wouldve-had-ball-creating-many-looks-that.jpg "\"My younger self would've had a ball creating the many looks that represented how she felt.\"
H&M treated everyone to a shopping spree and a salon moment, providing hair and makeup, too, and Mj told POPSUGAR the importance of including this feel-good segment at the event. \"Clothing, shopping, and fashion was a huge part of my life. Clothing was how I expressed my identity and were the pieces to my puzzle, no matter how many times I want to take it apart and put it back together again. I remember when I was younger, I would buy clothes and tailor them myself simply just to have a fit that made me feel most comfortable. To see that H&M has all of the fashion that I craved as a youth, my younger self would've had a ball creating the many looks that represented how she felt.\"
This isn't the first time H&M has partnered with industry leaders to empower students; Mj was actually the star of the retailer's Pride campaign this past June. \"[She] was a natural fit to uplift students and instill confidence in advance of school starting in the coming weeks,\" the brand said, having outfitted the star in H&M's Studio AW21 Collection, a blue denim two-piece that Mj chose specifically to \"reflect confidence, comfort, and courage, something that youth have innately, and that I know they will continue to grow.\"")
"My younger self would've had a ball creating the many looks that represented how she felt."
H&M treated everyone to a shopping spree and a salon moment, providing hair and makeup, too, and Mj told POPSUGAR the importance of including this feel-good segment at the event. "Clothing, shopping, and fashion was a huge part of my life. Clothing was how I expressed my identity and were the pieces to my puzzle, no matter how many times I want to take it apart and put it back together again. I remember when I was younger, I would buy clothes and tailor them myself simply just to have a fit that made me feel most comfortable. To see that H&M has all of the fashion that I craved as a youth, my younger self would've had a ball creating the many looks that represented how she felt."
This isn't the first time H&M has partnered with industry leaders to empower students; Mj was actually the star of the retailer's Pride campaign this past June. "[She] was a natural fit to uplift students and instill confidence in advance of school starting in the coming weeks," the brand said, having outfitted the star in H&M's Studio AW21 Collection, a blue denim two-piece that Mj chose specifically to "reflect confidence, comfort, and courage, something that youth have innately, and that I know they will continue to grow."