05/18/2026
"You gave me the permission I didn't even know I needed" *cue immediate tears of gratitude *
That's what one woman said to me purely because of this outfit. Because she was also someone with a higher degree (lawyer) that comes with, sure prestige, but also a whole set of stringent expectations and assumptions. (Even more so with crazy strict and traditional parents like we both discovered we have)
So she told me that when she heard the title "Dr" for a speaker at a conference that is business meets Burning Man, she said she was super curious what I'd be wearing / look like, yet still admitted she expected a blazer.
Cue *me ๐๐ง* walking on stage in sheer pants, maximalist jewelry, and a side shave ๐ .... definitely NOT what people expect when you hear my title
But I stand in my full self expression and refuse to continue to succumb to the expectations wrapped in that title not just for myself, but for moments like this...
Because this woman told me she let out the biggest sigh at seeing me.
The permission to be herself and lean into her full self expression!
Something she's already been doing internally and in her career (she's pivoted from being a lawyer after realizing that degree was more to appease her parents...I think a lot of us with demanding parents do that. I know I did), but didn't even realize she was still carrying that "should" (and possibly some shame around self expression that didn't fit that... we didn't chat about that specificity though) until that moment.
Far too often we're so wrapped up in "shoulds" /conditioning / expectations, that we don't even realize they've created blinders
Not until we have that moment where we see or hear someone else doing something and we're like "wait, that's an option?!?!"
Whether that's with how you dress, the career you create (goodness knows I've heard that statement on almost every client call ๐
), how you record your podcasts, or even your lunch order...
Where are you holding back from your full truest self even 1%?
Or... Do you even know where, or is it more of a sense of just knowing you're not quite *yet* at 100%?
