After coming out as trans nearly two years ago, 14-year-old Zaya Wade has been encouraging many other young people to thrive with their own identities. The teenager continued to share her inspirational message when she recently sat down for an interview with Essence.

"I would say every morning and every night I look in the mirror and I tell myself, ‘I’m beautiful, I’m worth it and this day is going to be great.’ And at night I say, ‘I’m still beautiful and still worth it. And tomorrow is going to be great,’" the daughter of NBA legend Dwyane Wade said. "And I have to tell myself that every day. I think it’s really helped me get through each day and start off another day on a positive note."

Zaya also spoke about the challenge of staying optimistic during the pandemic. The teen said she was dealing with negative thoughts during the start of COVID-19, but eventually found ways to overcome the challenge.

"I just realized that I have to start thinking on a positive note," she said. "I started diving into passions and focusing on how things are going to go instead of how things are going. And I realized that having a very optimistic mindset really helps other people have their opportunities to have an optimistic mindset as well."

Like many Black girls who are growing up in the digital age, Zaya said she has seen a lot of hatred on the internet. But the teen has also learned how to deal with the hatred.

"I decide to not focus on that. I decided to focus on the positive and those people don’t matter. Their opinions don’t affect me. So I decide to be positive in life," she said. "So growing up as a Black girl in this very, very insane time, especially with social media, it is normal and positive for me because I make the decision every single day to not let negativity into my mind."

Zaya also spoke about the importance of setting boundaries to protect her mental health.

"It’s really great for my mental health to set my boundaries and let people know this is as far as I can go and I’m not going farther," she said.

While Zaya continues to stand up for herself, her family has also been constantly standing by her side.

“As Zaya gathered more language, she was able to tell us about her identity. She was able to tell us about her sexuality. She was able to tell us, ‘I’m trans.’ And she says, ‘I’ve come out a few times,'” actress Gabrielle Union said, as Blavity previously reported. “She said, ‘Well, I came out to my teacher in the third grade and then [again] when you guys posted that picture of me in Chicago at my birthday party.'”