In Her Campus’ series Next Question, we rapid-fire interview emerging talent about what it’s like to rule over the internet. This month, content creator, podcast host, and entrepreneur Leo Skepi is in the hot seat to answer our burning questions.
To most people, the term “self-love” implies a gentle approach to ourselves — loving affirmations, kind self-talk, and a healthy dose of optimism. But not for Leo Skepi.
Chances are, you’ve probably encountered Skepi at some point on your TikTok FYP. In what seems like just a few short months, the content creator skyrocketed on social media, garnering 2.6 million followers on TikTok and over 334,000 on Instagram. He’s tall, loud, built like a Greek God (thanks to hours at the gym), a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, and one of the most unapologetic personalities on social media at the moment.
Outside of his intimidating exterior, however, Skepi’s platform prioritizes mindfulness, mental health, and self-love… but not in the way we’re used to. His “tough love” approach to his audience has amassed a community of people who are looking to better themselves — and they look to Skepi to hold them accountable in their journey.
“The whole ‘take deep breaths and do things to soothe yourself’ is rookie sh*t,” Skepi tells Her Campus. “Like, they just say “OK, girl, breathe,” No sh*t! We all breathe!”
For Skepi, mindfulness is about going below the surface, and not shying away from the ugly parts of growth. “Become mindful of the power you do have and the control you do have. I use mindfulness to sit down with those truths because they hurt,” Skepi says. “The truth is such a painful thing, but it sets you free. It’s your only way out.”
His podcast, Aware & Aggravated, is one of the most popular on Spotify, and his mindfulness app, Positive Focus, boasts a near-perfect rating in the Apple App Store. The app was designed to “rewire your negative thought patterns” with daily notifications and shadow-work prompts that allow you to face your truths — negative and positive — to set you on a path to higher thinking.
Created in the wake of an abusive relationship, Skepi developed Positive Focus as a tool to not only help others but to help himself overcome the difficult hand life dealt him. “A lot of people online, and my therapists and counselors and everyone I was trying to get help from at the time were saying, ‘Oh, you need to focus positively,’ but it felt like it took so much effort to try and think of anything good at the time,” Skepi says. “Every day I’d wake up, my life was absolutely awful. There was no good in sight.”
For Skepi, traditional wellness apps and self-work tools weren’t offering the push he needed to change his life. “One day I was like, ‘OK, I can’t find what I want, so I’ll just make it,’ and I made it,” Skepi says. “I know how hard it is when everything’s going bad to try and focus positively and it’s so much effort. I know how much [this approach to mindfulness] helped me, so I wanted to make it for everyone else.”
I had the opportunity to sit down with Skepi to learn more about his mindfulness journey, his obsession with astrology, and what he and I would drink during a night out (and how we would recover the next morning).
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Are you really 6’7″?
Yes! I hit my growth spurt around 10th grade, but I was always a normal height [until I became] “the tall one.”
What are your sun, moon, and rising signs?
Oh, I love this. I love zodiac signs. So I am a Pisces. Moon sign, Cancer. And I’m a rising Virgo. So the double water, extra emotional, super head up in the clouds, but a little bit of the perfectionist with the Virgo to just keep me in check.
Do you have a go-to club drink, and what is it?
A shot of tequila. I don’t like to hold drinks and be responsible for things. I like to walk up to a bar, take it to the face, and walk off. The only thing I want to hold onto while I’m out is my phone and a cigarette. I don’t want to babysit a drink.
But if I’m at a nice dinner, I will do a dirty Gray Goose Martini with three olives. Not the blue cheese ones, just the plain olives. But I only eat two olives. You have to leave one at the bottom of the glass. It’s like a classy thing.
What is your tequila of choice?
Patron Silver. Never Jose Cuervo. I’ll vomit.
Can you give me some tips for battling a hangover?
Girl… God, OK. I’m not going to give you tips, but I’ll tell you what I do: I drink a gallon of water within two hours of waking up. Everybody says, “Eat greasy food when you’re hungover or when you’re drunk.” No, don’t do it. I keep it not processed, as healthy as possible, because your body’s trying to fight off and filter out everything you just did to it last night. Just take a nap, drink your water, and take your vitamins.
Do you have any tips for overcoming gym anxiety?
Yes. I actually have a full podcast episode dedicated solely to gym anxiety and how to get started: It’s episode 63.
Do you have a mantra that keeps you going?
I have a few. There’s a T.L. Swan quote, “You are given the wounds. You’re meant to learn to heal, and then teach others how to heal them.” When I’m tired, I’m like, “OK. Being tired is not an excuse to be ugly. Get up.” And then if I’m trying to be nicer, I’ll say, “Do it for little Leo.”
If little Leo were in front of you right now, what would you say to him?
“Everything you want is going to happen. You’re going to make it happen. Things are just going to get so much worse than you can even imagine. And I’m so sorry for what you’re about to go through, but just know I’m always looking back on you. And I see why everything is happening and I see why you are about to have to go through everything you’re about to go through. Stay strong, kid.”
Do you have a favorite podcast episode that you’ve filmed so far?
I think No. 65, “Lack of Discipline Makes You Ugly.” I don’t know if it’s my favorite, but it’s the one that blew up.
If I wake up feeling like I’m not good enough, what would Leo do?
I struggled a lot with not feeling good enough, and the thing I would do is look at: How does it serve me to think I’m not good enough? And why potentially have people told me I’m not good enough? What did they get out of it? If nothing was wrong with me, let’s explore another option. How did it serve others for me to believe I’m not good enough?
And how does it serve me? What about feeling like I’m not good enough and telling myself that keeps me safe? Because it’s keeping you safe from something. If you’re using that belief and you are holding onto that, it is serving you in some way. So, I would identify the resistance and why it’s here, and I would find a way to meet that need of safety or whatever it is in another way that’s not damaging to my self-esteem.