Meet ShannonMarie Akins (long A sound) | Social Media Influencer & HS Advocate

We had the good fortune of connecting with ShannonMarie Akins (long A sound) and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi ShannonMarie, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
To make sure that I have loads of self love. Self love isn’t just looking in the mirror, it’s setting boundaries, eating healthy, exercising, saying no. These are things to help us stay on track and keep our mental health strong and functional so we can stay on track with our goals and never leave behind our integrity and morals.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I first began drawing and writing poems when I was child. My imagination has always ran wild and I would ruminate on certain ideas until I put my ideas on paper. I needed to see or hear what I imagined. I found myself being the most creative when I was sad. Naturally I’m a very happy person but when I was sad I didn’t know how to express myself because I was too afraid to be judge or not taken serious enough. The best way for me to get it out was through art. So I would write poems, draw, and make music. These activities kept me from overreacting and overthinking. When my mind isn’t artistically stimulated I tend to go off the deep end when I’m stressed.

As far as being an HS advocate, I’ve gotten where I am because I was ready to tap out. My HS was non stop flaring and traveling rapidly, it caused me to go into a deep depression where I was drinking, partying and even fought a few times. I was eating many foods that were making my condition worse and I was starting to hate the skin that I was living in. Then I caught Covid in December 2021 and my health rapidly decreased and I was down bad for 2 whole years. In 2022 of December I decided to take myself to church because I was afraid of how dark of a place I was in. I wanted my life to be over because of the chronic pain I was in for so long. That morning before I went to church I cried so hard and I prayed and asked God what to do and I even asked him to take me home and all of a sudden I heard him speak to me saying only 1 word which was “church”. That scared the crap out of me and I thought I was being delusional. Despite my weary thoughts I got up and got dressed and I started driving. I passed up many churches but there was one church in particular that stood out to me called “The Word Church”, so I went in and luckily the service was just beginning. That was the day my life changed. Ever since that day God has blessed me in so many ways that it’s almost so scary to believe that he truly works miracles as long as we are obedient to his word. I completely changed my life. I no longer eat the same, walk the same, nor do I think the same. My HS is in remission and I am stronger than I have ever been in my life. God is so good.

I’m not too sure what sets me apart from others because I’m only paying attention to my journey. I don’t like to compare myself because we are all different and paying attention to things like that can be a distraction and can even spark a competitive feeling which can cause me to feel like I’m not good enough so I just focus on myself with tunnel vision.

I’m most proud about being able to express myself through art. It’s such a blessing because I don’t like to lean on others too much for advice or venting because God says not to lean on our own understanding and to follow the word. So I’m very proud I have my art for my mental health but also the Word of God for guidance.

Today I’ve gotten where I am by just waking up with many things on my mind. When I was a child I was very shy and quiet and I would just sit and listen to everyone and just process how their minds worked. I had so much to say but I was too shy to speak and I would always get this little frog in my throat that made me feel like I needed to speak up. As I’ve gotten older the frog started croaking and next thing I know I was recording myself just saying what was on my mind and I would post those thoughts and people would take to it. The numbers showed me that I do have voice, and that’s when I realized I could be an influence. Many people who know me have always said that I need a podcast or a talk show because they love hearing what I have to say.

Some lessons that I’ve learned on the way is to be oh so careful about how I construct my messages. It’s so easy to trigger a person so I have to work on my delivery. Tone of voice and word choices are so important when delivering these messages.

I want the world to know that I am not here to cause diversion or to make people feel bad about themselves. I’m here to shine a light on problems that many of us face especially pertaining to having HS and also dating. I want people to take better care of themselves so they can love themselves and see that they can have a better quality of life if they have more discipline and more God.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Paddle boat ride at Tempe town lake or hike A Mountain

RA Sushi for happy hour and sake bombs

A Day trip to Sedona

Eat at Tacos Veganos, Earth, and Green Lotus Vegan. If they’re not vegan then I would suggest Sugar Jam, Breakfast Bitch and Toca Madera.

Go out to a karaoke bar

In my view party people really love the club scene out here, places like 11:11 and C.A.S.A . They always love first Friday and phoenix fashion week as well. Mill Ave is a favorite for many college students or people who would rather go chill comfortably at a bar.

The music lovers love to go to open mics at places like poetic soul and the Arizona Hip Hop fest. There’s also many shows for local artist to perform and network at.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My mother, her name is Johnna Kyle. She is so resilient and she stands strong on doing what she needs to do to keep her household in order all while being a single mother of 2. I saw how many people wanted to use her and take advantage of her because of how nice she was but I’ve also saw how it turned her too cold. But she was able to seek help and go from cold to being personable. She’s taught me to stand my ground but also to remember to be personable. I wouldn’t be who I am or have gotten where I am without her influence.

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Image Credits
Martin Lowenthal – MLVisions