Ceecee Jacobsen is a remarkable voice rising from the windswept Faroe Islands, a fiercely resilient woman who has transformed hardship into healing, and silence into strength. Born and raised on the island of Eysturoy, she grew up in a deeply religious, tight-knit community that had never seen an openly transgender person before her. The path she walked was often lonely and steep, yet she found within herself a spirit too luminous to extinguish, one powered by wonder, humor, and an unrelenting search for joy. Today, Ceecee is a coach, public speaker, model, social media influencer, and transgender activist whose words and presence touch lives around the globe. But her path here was neither simple nor safe. She was once a young girl surviving in a world that punished her simply for existing, and not only survived, but emerged with a philosophy of life rooted in forgiveness, kindness, and authenticity. Rather than letting bitterness define her, she chose connection. Rather than shrinking, she decided to shine.
Now, she is creating a digital platform where she shares intimate stories from her transition, offers support, and uplifts others through personal development tools, makeup tutorials, Q&As, and even online classes. Ceecee’s message is clear: happiness isn’t handed to anyone, it is crafted, often painfully, through the quiet work of healing. Her story also reminds us that even those who radiate strength can carry a profound sense of being unlovable. Yet through transformative encounters, she learned that her truth and vulnerability are not flaws to be overcome, but the very things that make her lovable and deeply human. Ceecee Jacobsen is not just the first trans woman to come out publicly in the Faroe Islands. She is a testament to what it means to rise above rejection, to create beauty from pain, and to stand tall in the kind of grace that comes not from being untouched by hardship, but from surviving it with her heart intact.
Monika: Hi Ceecee! I’m so happy to have you here. To start, could you tell us a bit about where you’re from?
Ceecee: Hello Monika, thank you for that lovely introduction and for inviting me. The Faroe Islands are a collection of 18 small islands. I’m from the one called Eysturoy, which means East Island. There is no West Island, and East Island isn’t particularly eastern if you take into account that six other islands are further east, but there you go. There’s probably a historical origin for the name that I have long forgotten. It’s a beautiful place, rugged, windswept, and full of stories.
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| "Being a woman of trans experience, life has a tendency to rob you of joy." |
Monika: I came across a lovely description of the name Ceecee online: “People with the name Ceecee are often optimistic souls with a genuine enthusiasm for life. They tend to be charming, easy-going, and great conversationalists. Their gift for communication often motivates and inspires others.” Would you say this description fits you?
Ceecee: That would depend on where I am in my hypomanic/depressed cycle. While that was kind of a joke, it’s also true that I have a mood disorder that I’m exploring with my psychiatrist. I would say I was born with a passion and joy for life, fuelled by wonder, ADHD, and probably hypomania.
But honestly, hypomania, if that’s what I experience, is my favorite state. I get the most done, I have the most self-belief, and life feels the most magical when I’m in that state. Aside from that, being a woman of trans experience, life has a tendency to rob you of joy. Of hope. Of anything good. At least in my case. But I regained it all and hope to keep it forever. And I’ve learned to treasure the moments when that spark returns, even if it flickers.
Monika: Did your name choice reflect something personal or symbolic for you?
Ceecee: I didn’t actually choose Ceecee, it’s my nickname. Cecilia is my name. I chose it because I wanted something that invoked elegance, beauty, and grace. Ironically, Ceecee invokes none of those things, but it does embody the rest of me, somehow, the humor, the sarcasm, the irony, and the resilient person I had to develop on top of my sensitive “true self.” Over time, both names have come to feel like home in different ways.
Monika: You strike me as someone with a wide range of talents. If you had to choose, what would you say is your main calling right now?
Ceecee: Social media, currently. I’m actually working on a membership website for my followers, a safe space for me to share more and get personal with everyone, and to explore other types of content such as videos detailing my transition, live streams, Q&As, advice videos, makeup and presentation tips, and even webinars, classes, and a podcast.
Pre-pandemic, I did public speaking and that might make a return when being around each other isn’t tempting the Fates to cut our strings early. I might do the show on my upcoming platform, but I much prefer live shows. In any case, I love connecting with people and helping them see the beauty and potential I see in them.
The greatest gift is to be of service to others. In a life where I have so often questioned the point of me sticking around, every life impacted makes it seem like a good idea to stay. I have also worked with a young up-and-coming pop star for many years. He’s now signed to the US major label Atlantic Records and I am so proud of him. Creating spaces where others feel seen and inspired has become the most meaningful work of my life.
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| "I devised a system, a collection of skills, that I personally practiced to drag my way out of depression and misery." |
Monika: Your website says, "Happiness is a choice, I made it and so can you." What does happiness mean to you personally?
Ceecee: I’m actually working on some changes to my website right now, so that line might not stay for much longer, haha!
Happiness is a skill. Or a discipline made up of skills. It’s a philosophy, a way to approach life. I devised a system, a collection of skills that I personally practiced to drag my way out of depression and misery. I will share it on my membership page, but ultimately it’s about improving your life by being a better person.
Sounds so corny, but it will work for the people it will work for, which so far has been many. The most beautiful part is watching someone else apply it and start to glow from the inside out.
Monika: I’ve never been to the Faroe Islands, but it’s said to be a peaceful and beautiful place. It sounds like a perfect environment to grow up in. However, your teenage years were quite different.
Ceecee: There are many reasons to love the Faroe Islands. It’s beautiful, safe, and family is everywhere. We have great social services, there are no homeless people, and there is a real sense of community and familiarity. However, I was the first trans person in my country, my religious, tiny country, and I was punished for it. It was a lonely and painful experience, but it also taught me strength and resilience.
Monika: Being labeled as "the first transgender woman in the country" must have felt like a heavy burden at times. How did you cope with this unique challenge?
Ceecee: For a long time, I wasn’t sure. When I was at the deepest pit of depression a couple of years ago, I thought to myself: "How are you more miserable now than you were at 17?” My life was far worse as a child and teenager than it was at 23, so why was my mental health deteriorating? Over a long period of working on myself, I realized that while I certainly had some unhealthy coping mechanisms in my youth (numbing my emotions was a favorite), I had some that were very healthy and extremely powerful. Not only that, but they could be universally applied. I realized that when I was younger, I practiced patience, positive intent, and above all, kindness and forgiveness to those who harmed me.
After an emotional event, I grew very resentful of my “condition” (well, even more resentful, I should say), and I wanted it to go away. I was so tired of my entire identity being boiled down to this single part of me, the trans part. I lost my patience with people. I let anger fester in my spirit. And I chose to react and punish, rather than act and forgive.
Once I reconnected with my true spiritual way of being and employed a forgiveness/kindness-based approach to the world again, I began to heal. Other people may not deserve this of you, but you do. You deserve to be the best person you can be. You deserve to be who you would be if society didn’t try so hard to rob you of everything good inside you. And once you begin to heal, you realize you have so much more to offer the world than you ever thought possible.
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| "I didn’t realize that a man could love me because of who I am rather than in spite of it." |
Monika: I came across a post on your Instagram where you describe yourself as "unlovable." Girl, you’ve got to have more faith in yourself! What led you to feel that way?
Ceecee: Hahaha, I remember writing that, but not why or in what context. I do sometimes feel that way, especially because of the many ways I am different and therefore difficult. It is... easier to not love me, I think. And so people don’t. Romantically, at least. Not anyone I’ve ever loved romantically. To be fair, I’m not sure I ever have. I have been in love once or twice, but I think that was mainly ADHD-induced hyperfixation caused by my understimulated mind finding something that gave it... well, stimuli.
Although, if I truly think about it, maybe I was in love once. I was 19 and he was 20. He hadn’t grown up in the Faroe Islands, so he wasn’t aware that he was supposed to hate me or treat me like a worthless freak... and so he didn’t. Not that I think he ever could, being the kind of man he is. He was the first person outside my close friends and family to treat me not just with kindness, but like I was... a person. He never made me feel different. No matter how crazy I was, and I was for so many reasons on so many levels. He was so patient, so... kind.
I get emotional just thinking about it, honestly. He was not in love with me, but he loved me as a person, and most importantly, he didn’t make me feel like the worst thing that could happen to a man was to be loved by me. Because that is what I believed. That experience taught me that love isn’t just about romantic feelings, it’s about being seen and accepted for who you really are.
Monika: Did that experience change you in any way?
Ceecee: I would sometimes imagine scenarios of someone falling in love with me, and I would... feel sad for them. I pitied the hypothetical man who would fall in love with a monster like me. I recently messaged him to apologize for my crazy hyper-fixated behavior, and he just said, “You have nothing to apologize for,” and I know he means it. He has helped me in ways he cannot begin to fathom. Before I met him, I never knew I could be treated with anything but fear and revulsion when it came to love.
And it wasn’t until another man I met later in life that I experienced what it was to get to know me and find me more beautiful because of who I was, rather than in spite of it. He was beautiful, a model actually, and as our friendship grew, I began to share what my life had been with him. After a particularly depressing recount of something that happened to me, he got very emotional and said, “The fact that you have been through all of that and are still you, makes you more beautiful than anything else.”
It was the first time a man had ever expressed that what I am and what I had survived could make me more lovable, more... valuable. He was just a friend, but the notion that everything I was didn’t make me unlovable had never even occurred to me. I didn’t realize that a man could love me because of who I am rather than in spite of it. It was a revelation that shifted the way I saw myself and my worth in relationships.
Monika: I really enjoyed your video about the facts and misconceptions surrounding trans vaginas. I’ll never forget how curious my cisfemale (and cismale!) friends were about my vagina after GRS. It seems like this topic will always generate interest in society, doesn’t it?
Ceecee: I find that it’s usually the vulva that arouses curiosity. If only people were as interested in knowing about cisfemale reproductive and sexual health. Instead, it is ignored and made taboo, except when the government tries to control it. It’s a strange double standard, where curiosity about certain bodies is welcomed, but open discussions about others remain stifled.
END OF PART 1
All the photos: courtesy of Ceecee Jacobsen.
© 2021 - Monika Kowalska
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