Episode 28 of the Level Up Your Selfie Podcast isn’t just an episode—it’s an emotional excavation. It’s me, finally sharing the story behind the sparkle. Behind the curated content. Behind the pink pop-up dreams and unicorn branding.
This one’s for the girls who’ve survived abandonment. For the ones who were labeled “too much.” For the daughters who feared becoming their fathers. For the women who rebuilt themselves with shaky hands and unfiltered truth.
This is the realest version of me. No fairy dust. No filter. Just the truth.
From Gävle to Boca: The Good Life Facade
I was born in Gävle, Sweden. A small town with big memories—snowy winters, quiet streets, and the safety of routine. But even as a child, I could feel the pulse of ambition rumbling beneath our cozy world.
My dad had dreams. Big ones. And when his tech business started taking off, he didn’t hesitate. We packed our lives into boxes and flew across the Atlantic to live out what most would call “the dream.” Florida. Luxury villa. Palm trees. Private school with Armani and Coca-Cola kids. Red Pontiac T-top under the sun. Gold club memberships and beach towels served on a flagpole.
On paper? We were winning. But the glitter was camouflage. The silence at home was deafening. My dad was a dreamer, but also a drinker. A genius building radars in garages, selling parasols in snowstorms—but haunted by the noise in his own head.
He chased dreams with fire in his chest—but silence in his heart.
Married My Mirror, Then Lost Myself
I met my ex-husband in design school in Florida. We were both creatives, both visionaries, both hungry for magic. We built a brand, a business, and a life together. We raised beautiful children. We brought rainbow dreams to malls, created selfie museums, unicorn universes. From the outside, it was wild, brilliant, and beautiful.
But I was disappearing.
I stopped being seen. He handled our communications. Our meetings. Our friends. Slowly, my voice faded. He became my filter to the world—and I thought that was love. But really? It was erasure.
When our world began collapsing—financially, emotionally, spiritually—he withdrew further. After 25 years of loyalty, love, and building a life together, he ghosted. No closure. No co-parenting plan. Just gone.
And then, in the middle of my lowest moment—a breakdown after too much grief, too much betrayal, too much silence—he recorded me. He didn’t help. He didn’t call anyone. He documented it like a trophy. And he left our sons to manage me.
That moment still haunts me.
Rock Bottom Had a Mirror
I screamed. I sobbed. I lost control. After losing both my father and my children’s grandmother within weeks, while carrying the emotional and financial weight of our collapsing world, I broke. And my son—my child—drove me to the ER. I begged to be admitted. I was terrified of myself.
They sent me home. Said it was stress. Said I wasn’t a danger.
But I was terrified. Because I saw him—my father—in me.
And that was my greatest fear.
Date Your Selfie or Die Trying
There was no savior. No dramatic comeback. Just a decision.
To stay.
For me. For my sons. For the girl inside me who had been silenced too many times.
I began biking. One hour a day. Every day. Cardio wasn’t about weight loss—it was about sanity. Movement reminded me I was still alive. I returned to therapy. I sewed healing into clothes for my ex mother-in-law. I designed my father’s tombstone. I rebuilt Milajki—not for the brand, but for my soul.
And I started posting selfies again. Not to perform. Not for approval. But for survival. Each photo said: I’m still here.
The Selfie Manifesto
The selfies you see on my feed? They’re not vanity. They’re not attention-seeking.
They’re digital prayers. They’re mirror work. They’re the quiet proof that I didn’t disappear.
I don’t post for validation. I post to remind myself: you made it through that. And that. And that, too.
I’m not perfect. But I’m powerful. And I’m still standing.
When the Mirror Shows Your Father
I went to an AA meeting. Not because I had a drinking problem—but because I needed to walk into a room he may have once entered. I needed to look into the eyes of strangers and see the humanity he never got credit for.
Because I’ve questioned my own patterns. I’ve poured a few too many glasses of wine to forget. I carry that same risk. My sister and I talk about it. We feel the guilt. The fear. The inheritance.
But I also carry his brilliance. And I choose to use it differently.
Legacy isn’t just what we inherit. It’s what we rewrite.
And I’m rewriting all of it. With rainbow sparkles, sweat, truth, and trembling hands.
This is the love story. Not the one where someone saves you. The one where you finally save yourself.
🎧 Listen to Episode 28 now out on thursday: “Daddy Issues, Trauma Bonds & Reclaiming My Damn Selfie” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.
Podcaster
📸 Tag @angelina.milajki and share your #DateYourSelfie moment.
Because the most powerful glow-up? Is the one where you come back to yourself.
and share your #DateYourSelfie moment.
Because the most powerful glow-up? Is the one where you come back to yourself. With glitter, grit, and unapologetic truth,
🦄 Angelina Mi Lajki
// Host of *Level Up Your Selfie* Podcast
Founder of Milajki™
Creative Alchemist | Brand Rebuilder | Selfie Survivor
