Dr. Connie Kerali

12/04/2026

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜’𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟱+ 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀.

Hello 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻,

In a few weeks time, I’m walking away from the secure income, the structure, the identity I’ve held as a doctor to pursue this mission full-time.

The Born Worthy newsletter. The Speak Shame podcast. The Storytellers Club. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲.

And I’m terrified.

My brain keeps asking: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬?

That last one hits differently. Because there’s a voice that says: 𝗚𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 = 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲.

But here’s what I know: 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.

I know this because I’ve done it before. In 2021, I left the European Parliament and started a hypnotherapy business. 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗼 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. So I went back to working shifts in A&E. Not because I’d failed. But because I needed income while I figured things out. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗱𝗼𝗺.

So yes, I’m scared. But I’m leaping anyway. Because I could stay in medicine. It’s secure. Familiar. Pays well.

But it’s not my purpose. And every day I stay in a job that isn’t aligned with my purpose is a day I’m not fully serving the women who need this work.

And if you’re in a season of uncertainty too, know this: It’s okay to leap without knowing where you’ll land. It’s okay to go back if you need to. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴. Just ask yourself, 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨?

So, here I go 💫

𝗣.𝗦. If this work has meant something to you, 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱. Share my links page (link in bio) with one person who might need this. One share could change someone’s life. Thank you 💛

09/04/2026

Hi guys, after the response to our podcast episode on anxiety & shame in medicine, Alison and I have decided to do an online workshop on this topic for women doctors. We’ll be keeping the group number deliberately small, but to get an idea of how many people would be interested, you can sign up to the waitlist, and get more information about this event, here: https://drconniekerali.com/anxiety-and-shame-workshop-waitlist Do feel free to forward this message on to any women doctors (even if they’ve left medicine) who may be interested in coming along. Also, do let me know if you want to listen to the episode and I’ll send you the link 💛

Join the waitlist for the Anxiety & Shame Workshop for Doctors, with Connie & Alison, for reflection, space to share, practical tools and time to connect.

14/03/2026

TW:SV ✨𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘯 £10,000 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦✨

Hello 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻,

On Thursday 5th March, I stood on a stage in front of 600+ people at the International Women’s Day event and shared my story of being silenced by shame after surviving sexual violence. I shared how hearing Dr. Christine Blasey Ford share her story, inspired me to report what happened to me to the police.

I told the audience how, after years of therapy and having reflected on how much shame had impacted my life, I’m now on a mission to share 1000s of stories of women who have faced and overcome shame because I know firsthand the power of hearing one woman share her story.

Brené Brown wrote in Daring Greatly that, “𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦...”, which is why sharing these stories and bringing shame into the light is so important. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿.

And you know what? 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻 ✨

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲. It belongs to every woman who’s shared her story with me on my podcast 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲; every woman who has joined 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗯; every woman who has listened to the podcast, signed up for the 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿, or simply read these words in quiet solidarity.

This remarkable community made this possible.

Thank you to everyone who voted - your belief in this work means everything.

Thank you to .Hartvigsen and the incredible team for creating such an empowering space and for seeing the power in this mission.

And thank you to my loved ones for holding me through every doubt and every fear. You are my foundation ❤️

So here’s to breaking silences, building movements, and proving that the stories shame tried to bury can become the work that changes the world.

The movement continues. And now, it’s funded 💫

📸 (slides 1-3, 5-8, 10-13) and for (slide 9)

14/03/2026

𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘗𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘢 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘗𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

Hello 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻,

During the summer of 2024, I decided that I wanted to share my story of being a r**e survivor who was silenced by shame for 3 years. I wanted to start with my aunts and female cousins, having already told my mum and sister years back, and I planned to share my story over a zoom call with my powerpoint.

But before I did this, I needed to tell my dad and brother what had happened to me. If you asked me if it was hard to share my story in front of a crowd of more than 600 people at Female Invest’s event last week, I’d tell you that I’d already done the hardest thing, telling my loved ones, and for me sharing my story after that would feel empowering.

To this day I recall feeling a sense of freedom after telling my dad.

So back to that PowerPoint presentation. Having first put the slides together back in 2024, I wanted to practice before the zoom call with my relatives. So I messaged my siblings and scheduled a practice session with my brother,

The talk I practiced with him, and then gave to my aunts and cousins, would form the basis of my 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 a year later, and a much more condensed version would make it’s way into the talk I gave at Female Invest’s pitch competition last week.

A few things that I have learned over time are that there is power in owning your story and that being listened to with empathy & free from judgment is healing.

If you can relate to being silenced by shame, my hope is that one day you will be ready to find someone that you trust to share your story with. And more than anything, I hope that they listen to you with empathy 💛

🎥:
You can watch the full video filmed by my brother, on my YouTube channel