Did you know that today is Hilary Duff’s birthday! Wild to think that our favorite girl Hilary Duff is 33 years old, right?
The first time I saw Hilary Duff, she was starring as the awkward, yet relatable middle school girl Lizzie McGuire in the Disney series “Lizzie McGuire.” She was relatable for many of us with her quirky ways, her disputes with her popular ex-best friend Kate, and her love for the adorable, yet brainless Ethan Craft. Little did we know then, that she would become so much more than just Lizzie McGuire, and she would become an inspiration for young women for every stage of our lives.
Many young or child stars go through stints where they become a little… crazy. We haven’t seen anything in the news about Hilary acting out like many other young women that were stars during her time. She handles her life with dignity and grace, and that’s a great reason to look up to her. In fact, these 10 moments really make Hilary Duff shine brightly and inspire us all:
1. As Lizzie McGuire, she taught us to follow our dreams.
The most incredible things can happen to the most ordinary people. Don’t sacrifice yourself, your friendships, or your dreams to make something seem easier. It’s worth it to stay true to yourself.
2. Hilary Duff also has her own line of eyeglasses!
She created the glasses with comfort, affordability, and women’s empowerment in mind. The line, called Muse x Hilary Duff, released in 2018 and included frames named after powerful historical women.
3. Hilary Duff handles all of her business negotiations by herself.
She does have a team that helps out, but overall, Duff calls the shots. Hilary makes sure that she knows what’s going on with herself. She split from a team she worked with for over a decade in order to be able to call her own shots.
4. While having a powerful career and family, she’s always been open about “checking in with herself.”
She isn’t afraid to admit that she’s still discovering herself. She stays true to herself and doesn’t hide that she is just like the rest of us, she doesn’t exude an air of perfection and makes sure we know that she doesn’t want to.
5. She promotes clean and safe female sanitation products and diapers for babies.
Staying true to her vulnerable and passionate stances, Hilary is a huge advocate for safe health; especially when it comes to our periods. In 2019 the mom of two created the fem care brand Veeda, a company that gives women natural cotton pads, tampons and liners. And also invested in the Happy Little Camper company, a baby care line that creates fashionable and natural diapers for babies. She’s taking everything into consideration these days.
6. Duff always holds her head high, even when the media attacks her relationships.
While her relationships with Aaron Carter and Joel Madden were the subject of a lot of media attention, she held her head up with grace. Her first marriage ended in divorce, but she remarried and kept her second marriage mostly out of the spotlight. While she has such a prominent social standing, we haven’t heard much about her current love life, and that’s quite refreshing. She holds herself with poise, even in times we’re sure weren’t easy for her.
7. Hilary was never afraid to drop her bright-eyed Lizzie McGuire image.
She starred in several independent films, including one (with a limited release in the US) called “War, Inc.” where she starred as an oversexed popstar, “According To Greta” about a suicidal teen, and “What Goes Up,” where she starred as a seductress.
8. She also held her own with her music career!
Her music career may have started with Disney, but it took off on its own with “Metamorphosis” documenting her change from just another child star into a woman. She’s recorded several songs for soundtracks, and she’s even been the main writer on several of her own albums.
9. Hilary also moved up in the industry to help produce other shows and films.
That’s right: Hilary served an executive producer on “The Haunting of Sharon Tate,” “According To Greta,” “Beauty and The Briefcase,” and before the cancellation, she was an executive producer on the reboot of “Lizzie McGuire” for Disney+. All of which she also was starring, or costarring in, putting all of her talents out in the open.
10. She’s always exploring new outlets for her creative spirit.
In September 2020, Hilary put out onto her social media pages that she is releasing a children’s book called, “My Brave Little Girl”, stating that the book was inspired by her daughter, Banks, and is an illustrated story about bravery and love aimed towards mothers and daughters. So now she’s beginning to inspire a new generation too! She’s also already an author on the Elixir series, co-authored with Elise Allen, which is now on the New York Times Best Sellers List. The Young Adult book released in 2010 and followed up with two more.
Hilary Duff has done a lot throughout the years from her Lizzie McGuire days. She has been a role model and an inspiration for women everywhere. She takes her stance, stays down to earth and true to herself, and uses it to empower women everywhere. And she’s been with us through every stage of our lives through her music and movies, even on her hit show Younger. We at ReadUnwritten would like to honor Hilary on her birthday and thank her for everything she does to empower women.
So happy birthday, Hil….
Feature Image via Wikimedia Commons
nice post