The Visibility Dilemma
It is amazing how fast things can change. I was going through my files, trying to find some inspiration for this week’s blog and came across a draft I had written awhile back, prior to starting my blog.
It was talking all about visibility and how I was actively hiding from my business. Which sounds insane. I’ve invested money, time, and energy into growing my business and supporting my clients - why wouldn’t I be telling everyone I met about what I do?!
The short answer is, I was scared, I was not confident in how much my life had changed, and who was I to think I could be a business owner?!
When I read through what I had written all those months ago, I can see the beginning of knowing I was on the path that was always meant for me. I was finding my footing, finding my lane, and seeing exactly where my Zone of Genius was.
And here I am, months later and I’m confidently standing in alignment with what feels good for me. I’m working on some new offers that are going to be hugely impactful and facilitate clarity, transformation, and ease in my client’s businesses. I have openly shared what I do, who I work with, and how I support them. I’ve held my own when naysayers try to put me through my paces and said no to opportunities that were out of alignment.
As part of my ongoing quest for authentically sharing my journey, I thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane and include part of the journal entry sounding draft I discovered.
So without further ado, here we go:
I went from working a corporate job that most people understood and were impressed by, to now creating this entity that I’m so proud of and also so protective of. It has not been smooth sailing and I’ve had to unravel a lot of self-worth narratives that were attached to the “hustle culture”, being productive, being in X job with Y company.
A lot of people don’t understand what I do and that is 100% my fault - because I have so much anxiety about opening up and sharing about my business. Some examples of that are:
Answering people’s questions about my business with some sort of minimizing comment such as “I’m just a support person for people’s businesses”.
Promising myself that I’ll share the new offer with the world “as soon as the copy on the landing page has been tweaked - for the 100th time”.
Obsessively looking at colleagues' websites and thinking my offers aren’t good enough or I’m not an expert in my field.
Or, crowdsourcing so much and tweaking my own voice past the point of recognition, because there are a lot of business creators who say you have to follow THIS mold in order to be successful.
Sharing about my new offer one time and when the reaction isn’t people falling over themselves to buy my product, I think the offer is terrible and I never talk about it again.
Saying “yes” to contracts or projects that are not things that light me up because I’ve been told that having an unaligned client is better than no client.
Not being authentic about who I am and who it is I serve.
One of the biggest things I’ve been learning over the course of my business is how to believe in myself and what I bring to the table. Every client I’ve had has taught me a lesson - whether that is reinforcing my boundaries, showing me what is out of alignment, or showing me what else is possible.
Some of my biggest growth has come from clients who allowed me to fall flat on my face when I was first starting out. As a hugely anxious people pleaser, it was so uncomfortable to make mistakes and have to own them. My corporate job towards the end of my time did not give a lot of grace and understanding when mistakes happened, so I was wholly unprepared for clients who said, “cool thanks for telling me, how are you going to fix it?” There was no shame, there was no blame, there was no “you should have known better”. There was only acceptance and forward movement.
Those clients taught me a lot about how it’s okay to show up as the in-process version of yourself, how authenticity is the cornerstone to success, and how if you learn from missteps you make along the way, your whole world can change.
The promise I’m making to myself going forward is to practice being visible. To allow myself to be seen, celebrated, misunderstood, imperfect, in process, authentic, and enough. If I continue to make myself small and hide from those around me then the clients I work with, who are creating change for the Collective, will have to carry the burden of their business alone. I am so passionate about amplifying their voices, that it is time to be brave and use my own. The more people I get to support and get their messages out into the world, the more the Collective heals, and the better our world becomes. The domino effect is real, so who am I to be worried about being perfect?
Authenticity > Perfection every 👏 single 👏 time.
Who’s with me?
Need some support? Let’s chat 👇🏻
