Welcome to my "2018 Listener Favorites" Series!

This August, I'm delighted to bring you the top four, most downloaded episodes of the 31 shows we've published since the start of the podcast (January 4, 2018).

"People who come to me, who can't speak up, or they're being disrespected, or they can't make decisions, or they can't tell their boss 'no this doesn't work', it comes from childhood. How we are trained in childhood, the culture of the ecosystem that we are raised in, and how we are treated when we try to speak up for ourselves, or when we even think we want to speak up for ourselves. Everything about that is within you now, unless you've done the work to revise it, and heal it, and change it." - Kathy Caprino

Speaking up for ourselves and standing up for what's right is a deep challenge that I hear about from people literally every day of the week.

Why do we struggle so deeply with speaking up? And what steps can we take today to begin to empower ourselves to say what needs to be said, effectively and authoritatively, even when we feel we can't?

In today's episode of Finding Brave, you'll hear my own personal story of challenge and trauma from my childhood that carried through to my corporate career (and beyond) and impacted my ability to speak up for myself. And we'll explore the very real and damaging consequences of not speaking your truth.

Being able to speak up effectively for yourself is entwined with our self-worth, self-confidence, esteem, bravery, boundaries, what you learned as a child and in your family, what you experienced when you did speak up, and much more. I share how emotional manipulation and narcissism impacts your ability to advocate for yourself, as well as the 7 essential steps to take to speak up assertively and effectively, especially when you feel you can't.