Charli D'Amelio is all about putting your best dancing feet forward.
The 17-year-old social media star has amassed a huge following on TikTok with catchy dances and glimpses of her everyday life, but for Charli, it's all about self-love.
"I post a lot, so I tend to just post whatever I feel pretty, beautiful, and smart in, and I feel like that's extremely important," she told E! News in an exclusive interview at the 2022 TIME Women of the Year event on March 8. "I get to wake up every morning and look in the mirror and I have to love what I see. "Because that's the only way that you're going to be happy with yourself. And I feel like if I can do that, even if I have something that maybe I want to work towards to make this less or more, I think it's just important that I love myself and then everyone along will follow."
"Everyone will follow" could be an understatement, considering Forbes placed Charli at the top of its list of highest-earning creators on TikTok in January. For the Connecticut native, achieving such a great feat before turning 18 is all she could ever ask for—and more.
"I feel like I'm very lucky to have been able to live my life with a lot of independence," she told E! News at the event, sponsored by FIJI Water. "But also knowing that I can go to my parents with anything and I'm very lucky to have that type of relationship with them."
And though she looks forward to turning 18 in May, Charli doesn't think much will change.
"I'm very happy to have a birthday coming up," she shared. "And I feel like most of the stuff that 18-year-olds get to do, I'm kind of already doing in a wonderful way where I feel the amount of support that I have from my parents, and I know that's not going to change when I turn 18."
But, like most teenagers, Charli still draws inspiration from the most important women in her life.
"My mom [Heidi D'Amelio] is definitely my number one," she said. "I think my big sister [Dixie D'Amelio]—she's everything to me. She's taught me everything I know that my parents haven't, and I'm very, very thankful to be so close to her and have her in my life."