"I still get bullied, but the difference is now I know how to handle it. I'm way more empowered now than I was back then," 25-year-old Harnaam Kaur said.
This U.K. woman has won the Guinness World Record for being the youngest woman with a full beard, and she's loving every inch of it.
Read: Woman Says She's Never Felt Sexier in Her Life After Growing Out Full Beard
In addition, Harnaam Kaur, 25, is about to be the first female with a beard to strut down a runway at London Fashion Week, but unsurprisingly, she wasn't always as confident about her facial hair as she is now.
"I still get bullied," Kaur told Guinness World Records. "I know that as a bearded lady, I will still get bullied."
When she was going through puberty, she noticed more and more hair begin growing around her neck, Kaur said.
Doctors soon diagnosed her with polycystic ovarian syndrome, a hormone imbalance that often causes abnormal body hair growth.
While her health was generally in order, Kaur said, "When my body was changing, I wasn't adapting to it as well as I should have.
"I hated it. I hated my body. I punished it by self-harming," she said.
In an attempt to fight against the changes, she said she tried to shave it all off, but, "the facial hair wanted to stay and it came back with a vengeance."
Eventually, she decided to grow it out, realizing that hiding who she had been was just as harmful to her mental health.
With that, her confidence soon followed.
"Now, I absolutely love it," she said.
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She eventually went on to become an anti-bullying spokesperson and a body image activist, and hopes her new title in the Guinness World Records will inspire other young women to embrace their bodies, too.
"I faced such negativity in my life but the difference is now I know how to handle it," Kaur said. "I'm way more empowered now than I was back then."
Watch: 3-Year-Old Boy Breaks Down in Tears When Dad Shaves His Face: 'I Want Your Beard'
