Being Bold, Being Vulnerable, and Your Story

I was asked in fall 2015 to come and speak at Blissdom Canada, just north of Toronto. The invitation came while I was over in Calgary, on my way to San Francisco for Emerging Women. My friend Jennifer asked if I would come and talk about being bold, and of course I said yes.

I spent a lot of time tossing around ideas. One thing I’ve learned as a bold person myself and as a business coach is that people push back on being bold. They often tell me how they can never be bold like me.

I own it. I’m a pretty bold person. I believe you never get a yes to the question you don’t ask. I’m not afraid to put myself out there.

My only fear of putting myself out there, ironically, is standing up in front of a room of people and teaching them. I get over it pretty quickly, but it is the one thing that scares me every time. I have some pretty high standards to measure my success.

I wanted to convey that being bold doesn’t mean you’re loud. It isn’t obnoxious. It isn’t brave. It is about being true to YOU.

While in a conversation with some of the attendees at Emerging Women, this came out. As soon as I said it, I asked them to wait a minute – I HAD to write it down. They all agreed. (I went on to ask if I had just quoted Brene Brown or Elizabeth Gilbert without realizing it, since they had both spoken that afternoon. I was reassured that no, this? It was all me.)

In the end, I stepped fully in to myself. I loved the talk that I gave there – and more importantly, it has become the foundation of so much more. This quote? It represents so much of what matters to me, what makes your business TRULY successful. What makes you successful.

The key is in being VULNERABLE.

How are you being BOLD? How are you being VULNERABLE? Are you bringing you story from the darkness in to the light? Are you allowing people to see you, to get to know you, to connect with you?

Stop hiding. We want to see YOU. Come into the light.