Molly-Mae Hague - Becoming Molly-Mae

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First published by Ebury Spotlight in 2022

Copyright Molly-Mae Hague 2022

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Cover design Emily Voller
Cover photography Jayden Fa

ISBN: 978-1-473-59921-5

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

To my family. Mum, Dad and Zoe x

Growing up, I always used to say to my mum that it scared me the idea of not making the most of my life. I remember having this conversation with her so many times: Id tell her how I was fearful of just growing old, sitting in my rocking chair and regretting that Id not done more. I wanted to be able to look back and tell my grandkids, I did things that were completely out of the ordinary. I did crazy, big things.

Now, dont get me wrong, now that Im older, I know just how there is nothing at all wrong with an ordinary life I know a lot of people would love a life that could be called that! And in many ways its the everyday parts of my life the times when Im at home, curled up on the sofa in front of a film that make me the happiest today. But, looking back, that was my way of expressing as a kid that I wanted to live a life that I wanted that I wanted to create my own path.

And that desire has shaped so many of my choices. For better or worse, I have always been drawn to doing the unexpected thing: whether that was entering pageants, going to fashion school in London, even having my lips done at a young age (more on how I feel about that later) and, last but not least, starting to build a career on social media. Ive always felt that impulse to do more, achieve more, experience more. I never wanted to do just what other people expected for me and now Im living a life I still cant believe. But what you see online can only tell half the story

In this book, for the first time, I want to share it all with you, revealing the highs, lows and everything in between, online and off. From getting my start on social media and becoming an influencer, to finding myself on that island, building a business empire and juggling work and love, all in the glare of the spotlight. Ill tell you whats really gone on, how Ive felt and the lessons Ive learned and am still learning!

At 23, Im definitely a work in progress, and I want to share with you all Ive gone through in my life up to this point. Ill reveal the things that Ive dealt with along the way, from my friendships and body-image worries to relationship stress and online trolls. And Ill show you just how Ive managed to get myself back in balance each time, work hard and create a life I love categorically.

I want this book to make you laugh, make you think, make you feel inspired and, most of all, make you realise that you too can achieve your dreams.

My parents always say that the way I look at life doesnt come from them. My mum used to joke, Mollys not ours, shes the milkmans child! because it just wasnt really normal in my family to have all this ambition, to have these big dreams but then there was my auntie Jackie.

I often say that a lot of my ambition came from my auntie Jackie thats my dads sister. She really was someone who I truly looked up to when I was growing up. She had an incredible job. She drove an incredible car (a Porsche). She had an incredible house. She was always draped in Louis Vuitton bags and designer clothes my mum says that I definitely got my love for the nicer things in life from my auntie! And she was always seeing really successful guys. Plus, she was just beautiful, with long blonde hair; she really looked after herself.

But the fancy clothes and bags and cars werent the reasons I admired Jackie. I looked up to her because she taught me that you could do it for yourself: Jackie was an accountant, which is what gave her this great lifestyle. When I looked at my auntie, I knew: Thats the life I want to live. I want to be like her when Im older. I want to have money of my own. I want to be an independent, strong woman.

Even as a child, I just knew that whatever I ended up doing, it needed to be big and out of the ordinary. And though they might not necessarily want all the same things from life as I do, my family has always been so understanding and supportive of that. Theyve let me be myself and supported in me in so many ways which Im so grateful for. As youll see, they really helped me get started, first as an influencer, and later as I grew my businesses.

But to start, lets go back a bit earlier

I was born in 1999 in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, at Lister Hospital, with a distinctive strawberry birthmark on my forehead (and no, I dont have it anymore). I grew up in Hitchin, another town in Hertfordshire, and lived in the same house almost all my childhood with my mum, Deborah; dad, Stephen; and sister, Zoe, whos three years older than me. My parents met working in the police. Theyve both had long careers with the Hertfordshire police force: my mum started as a police officer, then worked in the control room answering 999 calls, while my dad ended up as an inspector before retiring from the police. Ive always loved telling people they were police officers and am super proud that those were their jobs.

My family is so small: no cousins, only one living grandparent just tiny. Both my grandparents on my dads side died when I was really young, while my mothers dad died when she was only 24. When I talk on Instagram about how small our family is, my dad will sometimes message me, reminding me, Molly, you have lots of cousins twice removed that follow you on here! But to me, my family is the people who were there on Christmas Day and on birthdays: my mum, dad and sister, my nana (my mums mum) and my auntie Jackie. (And since they remember these early years better than me, Ill let them tell you a bit about what I was like, too.)

When I think back to my childhood, I always think about the holidays we had as a family. We never went to Disneyland or Florida or anything like that for our holidays wed go to the Isle of Man for a walking trip, hiking every day, or something like that. My parents would take me and my sister to climb ridiculously big mountains like Snowdon in Wales and Helvellyn in the Lake District! We were such an active family.

Our sporty lifestyle was mostly driven by my dad. Hes always kept fit and is actually an ultramarathon runner these days, so it makes sense that he pushed me and Zoe to get into sports and be healthy. He was always taking the two of us swimming or running, and if there was adrenalin involved, hed jump in feet first. When wed go on a family outing to a theme park or water park, for instance, hed be the one taking us round on all the rides. I think he loved them as much as we did! So in that way he was just a big kid and a really cool dad to grow up with.