AJ Mendez: From Poverty to WWE Champion
AJ Mendez, the youngest of three children, grew-up in a family fighting poverty, mental illness and addiction, an environment without stability which would cause many to write her off. In the ultimate…
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3 interviews · 10 quotes
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AJ Mendez, the youngest of three children, grew-up in a family fighting poverty, mental illness and addiction, an environment without stability which would cause many to write her off. In the ultimate…
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100% of anything I have ever felt uncomfortable about, embarrassed about or tried to hide…. When I embraced those things and flipped the script…. I felt freer, happier and more capable.
— AJ MendezProfessional wrestler and WWE performer, known as AJ Lee
We don't change the world through opinions, we change it with examples. So I've been putting myself out there, reaching out and connecting.
— AJ MendezProfessional wrestler and WWE performer, known as AJ Lee
A lot of people assume that I would choose not to have bipolar disorder; but I'm grateful for it. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, because I feel like all the ups and downs have formed who I am, and made be braver, tougher… more creative and more capable.
— AJ MendezProfessional wrestler and WWE performer, known as AJ Lee
Early on, being told no helped me figure out what I wanted my yes's to be. I learned who I wanted to be from people telling me who I could not be.
— AJ MendezProfessional wrestler and WWE performer, known as AJ Lee
You have to show 100% genuine emotion and personality through everything you do and allow that to connect to people. You cannot keep things inside because you think people won't accept you, or will think you're strange; just let your freak flag fly.
— AJ MendezProfessional wrestler and WWE performer, known as AJ Lee
I'm a firm believer that creativity comes from restrictions, so I'm really grateful that I grew-up with so many restrictions around me. When you give someone complete freedom and a blank canvas, it could take forever to figure out what you want to do, but when you give people limitations and say, 'here's a canvas, but you can only paint with yellow..' – the wheels start turning, and you plan to get out of the box you're put in.
— AJ MendezProfessional wrestler and WWE performer, known as AJ Lee
A lot of people assume that I would choose not to have bipolar disorder; but I'm grateful for it. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, because I feel like all the ups and downs have formed who I am, and made be braver, tougher… more creative and more capable.
— AJ MendezProfessional wrestler and WWE performer, known as AJ Lee
We don't change the world through opinions, we change it with examples. So I've been putting myself out there, reaching out and connecting- and you know what, I've had a huge amount of people coming forward telling me their own mental health journey.
— AJ MendezProfessional wrestler and WWE performer, known as AJ Lee
The most important lesson I learned is that you have to show 100% genuine emotion and personality through everything you do and allow that to connect to people. You cannot keep things inside because you think people won't accept you, or will think you're strange; just let your freak flag fly.
— AJ MendezProfessional wrestler and WWE performer, known as AJ Lee
I'm a firm believer that creativity comes from restrictions, so I'm really grateful that I grew-up with so many restrictions around me. When you give people limitations and say, 'here's a canvas, but you can only paint with yellow..' – the wheels start turning, and you plan to get out of the box you're put in.
— AJ MendezProfessional wrestler and WWE performer, known as AJ Lee