For most of my life, I tried so hard to fit in. I tried to be like everyone else. Do the things they did. Wear the things they wore. Say the things they said. This started at a young age and then later followed me into the Corporate World. I said & did all the right things to be promoted. I talked the talk. Walked the walk. Fit the profile and checked all the boxes. Yet never really feeling like it all ‘fit’ or knowing who I truly was.

When I look back at pictures from that time, I was trying so hard to be & look ‘the part’ — that I lost myself in the process. I had created a life of success on the outside but on the inside, felt empty. Unsatisfied. Unsettled. It felt very inauthentic.

Growth is painful. change is painful. but nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong

After then experiencing some trauma in my life, I knew I could not ‘FAKE’ it anymore. (For the record, often times we don’t ever realize that is what we are doing until we find ourselves in a place that no longer aligns with who we have become!). I then began a journey of self discovery. I began to get more clear about who I was. What I wanted. How I wanted to show up. And I started to invest in ME. I’ll be honest - it’s not been a smooth road and still isn’t yet when I look at pictures now vs. pictures then - I never felt more ME than I do now! I no longer fit the old ‘mold’ and it feels AMAZING! I look like me. I talk like me. I show up like me. Does it make waves sometimes? Yes. Does it present challenges from time to time? Absolutely. Yet friend - what I have discovered is that we were NEVER made to fit in. That is the biggest mistake we make as professional women. It’s not about fitting in at all. It’s about STANDING OUT!