His grandfather left an indelible imprint on his life.  He showed him, “Love is what love does” and “If love doesn’t do anything then love ain’t nothing” and more, all through example.  I picture a humble, hard-working, confident man.  I think I’m right.  This week’s guest, Mike Pittman, shared this tender story of working with his grandfather as a teenager, and how it helped form him into who he became.

My three words for Mike?  Creative. Curious. Confident.

Mike defined confidence as “that thing that convinces you, you can do something.”  (Simple and profound.)  And the three suggestions to become more confident?

Suspend the belief that what you want is not possible to have

Surround yourself with people better than you, at least one person you can learn from

Be willing to be taught; don’t limit yourself or miss out on knowledge

You can find Mike on Instagram at Tall Bald Mike Photography.

Thank you for being a part of the UY conversation.

The Unabashed You website has a page for each guest of photos, quotes and a blog with embedded audio at unabashedyou.com. You can find the show on other podcast platforms.  Want to lend your support and encouragement? We invite you to follow, rate, review and share.

Social media (direct links):

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Instagram

If you have questions or comments email us at: [email protected].

We build upon on website visits, social media and word of mouth to share these episodes.  We appreciate growth knowing these conversations help you think, celebrate who you are, and move you in some way.

So be encouraged and continue to listen, read and be inspired. 🍐

Strike a pose.  (You likely remember that line from the Madonna song, Vogue.)  This week Jessica Stoeckeler challenged us all to strike a confident pose for at least a minute and see how we feel after.  You know, stand up tall, shoulders back, chest out and head held high.  Yes!  There definitely is a physical component to showing up and feeling confident.

And the three things Jessica suggests we do to become more confident:

1) Keep track of your accomplishments (even daily)

2) Do some sort of challenging exercise (I can do anything!)

3) Put on some bright red lipstick (I feel GREAT!)

You can accomplish anything if you try, even hard things.  Just ask Jessica.

Jessica has been on the podcast before in I Need Tough Love episode 151.

You can find Jessica on Instagram at Jessica Stoeckeler.

Thank you for being a part of the UY conversation.

The Unabashed You website has a page for each guest of photos, quotes and a blog with embedded audio at unabashedyou.com. You can find the show on other podcast platforms.  Want to lend your support and encouragement? We invite you to follow, rate, review and share.

Social media (direct links):

Facebook

Instagram

If you have questions or comments email us at: [email protected].

We build upon on website visits, social media and word of mouth to share these episodes.  We appreciate growth knowing these conversations help you think, celebrate who you are, and move you in some way.

So be encouraged and continue to listen, read and be inspired. 🍐

Who do you count on when you are in a pinch?  I am happy to say I reached out to this young man all the way to Nigeria (from California) and he stepped into today’s recording.  Enitan Balogun.  He’s been on the show before and he never ceases to surprise me with his ability to inspire this third-act woman.

His distinction between feeling confident and being confident?  A feeling is temporal, it’s just for the moment, whereas if you are being confident it is a part of who are.  It’s a matter of trusting yourself and your instinct.

And the three things needed to reach that point of believing in yourself?  Enitan said, believe in yourself or no none else will; find a mentor who is aligned with you; and be collaborative because you are better together and you have each other’s backs when things don’t go the way you planned.

Thank you for being a part of the UY conversation.

The Unabashed You website has a page for each guest of photos, quotes and a blog with embedded audio at unabashedyou.com. You can find the show on other podcast platforms.  Want to lend your support and encouragement? We invite you to follow, rate, review and share.

Social media (direct links):

Facebook

Instagram

If you have questions or comments email us at: [email protected].

We build upon on website visits, social media and word of mouth to share these episodes.  We appreciate growth knowing these conversations help you think, celebrate who you are, and move you in some way.

So be encouraged and continue to listen, read and be inspired. 🍐

Right after the recorded part of this conversation, we continued to talk about confidence and why we think it is invaluable for each person to have.  Our guest Lindsay Gumm, said there is a deficit of confidence out there, and I couldn’t agree more.  Her definition for confidence is being in a state of flow, which I thought was a cool way to describe it.

And why are we so much harder on ourselves than we are on anyone else?  Lindsay walked us through how she challenges the negative self-talk that is all too easy for us to listen to.  If we do it only erodes our belief in ourself.  She takes quiet time, becomes aware of the voice, and then examines what it is saying.  In this way she can compare it to what is actually true, to what is.  A worthwhile practice and one we can all do.  It can only help us with our own confidence.

Thank you for being a part of the UY conversation.

The Unabashed You website has a page for each guest of photos, quotes and a blog with embedded audio at unabashedyou.com. You can find the show on other podcast platforms.  Want to lend your support and encouragement? We invite you to follow, rate, review and share.

Social media (direct links):

Facebook

Instagram

If you have questions or comments email us at: [email protected].

We build upon on website visits, social media and word of mouth to share these episodes.  We appreciate growth knowing these conversations help you think, celebrate who you are, and move you in some way.

So be encouraged and continue to listen, read and be inspired. 🍐

Who is someone we would all know that is the picture of confidence?  Our guest this week, Shaun Conde, answered Brad Pitt.  His reasons?  For being effortlessly confident but not braggadocios, for being down to earth, comfortable with himself, and for being someone who doesn’t need to prove anything, to anyone.  Of course we don’t actually know Mr. Pitt yet he does exude these qualities.

And is there a difference between being confident and feeling confident?  There are opposing thoughts that say one comes first, and the other follows.  For our purposes Shaun felt if you summoned up courage, you could rise to the occasion and do a a hard thing scared.  Why not?  You don’t know how it will go.  No one does.  Most people want you to succeed.  The ones that don’t don’t matter in the big picture of your life anyway.

Thank you for being a part of the UY conversation.

The Unabashed You website has a page for each guest of photos, quotes and a blog with embedded audio at unabashedyou.com. You can find the show on other podcast platforms.  Want to lend your support and encouragement? We invite you to follow, rate, review and share.

Social media (direct links):

Facebook

Instagram

If you have questions or comments email us at: [email protected].

We build upon on website visits, social media and word of mouth to share these episodes.  We appreciate growth knowing these conversations help you think, celebrate who you are, and move you in some way.

So be encouraged and continue to listen, read and be inspired. 🍐

You start with the word joyful, and you add icity, to make Joyfulicity.  It’s not an official word but really who cares?  You can tell what Laura Wakefield had in mind when she coined it.  Laura asked me to come on her Joyfulicity podcast and I was happy to oblige.  So what did we talk about?  Turns out Laura did some homework by visiting the UY website and we had a great conversation about some things she found there.  Like the three core values I value most: authenticity, transparency and vulnerability, and how I claimed them.

We also chatted about the importance of knowing yourself because then you can understand who you are, build your confidence, and reduce your fears.  We also pondered some questions posted on the UY website like, Who would you be if you weren’t afraid?  Why are you here?  What are you doing about it?  Looking at passion, adding intention, can equal your purpose if you let it.  You are probably the only thing holding you back.   

Laura has been on UY episode 154, Learn to Dance in the Rain.

Thank you for being a part of the UY conversation.

The Unabashed You website has a page for each guest of photos, quotes and a blog with embedded audio at unabashedyou.com. You can find the show on other podcast platforms.  Want to lend your support and encouragement? We invite you to follow, rate, review and share.

Social media (direct links):

Facebook

Instagram

If you have questions or comments email us at: [email protected].

We build upon on website visits, social media and word of mouth to share these episodes.  We appreciate growth knowing these conversations help you think, celebrate who you are, and move you in some way.

So be encouraged and continue to listen, read and be inspired. 🍐

Emily Bruning is singing because she is filled with joy.  Happiness is great but joy is better.  It’s deeper and it’s lasting.  She has made the best out of a pivot and changed course from the inside out.  She had a restaurant job she was good at and worked with people she enjoyed BUT there was that returning feeling that something was missing.  I miss theater was what she realized.  Emily could have settled instead she listened to the nudge and did something about it.

First she started by asking herself some hard questions.  Then she wrote about them to get clearer on the answers.  Emily took a leap of faith, she didn’t have all the answers, that is where trust comes in.  Once again she chose theater because this was the missing piece, where her heart always was.  She set that goal and kept after it until she made it happen.  All along the way she created routines that helped get her there, one for the morning and one at night.  These habits helped build and provide direction for her, they have brought her the joy that results in singing all the time.

Emily has been on the podcast before in Daisies Help Me Breathe episodes 13, and Takeaways and Looks Ahead episode 40.

Thank you for being a part of the UY conversation.

The Unabashed You website has a page for each guest of photos, quotes and a blog with embedded audio at unabashedyou.com. You can find the show on other podcast platforms.  Want to lend your support and encouragement? We invite you to follow, rate, review and share.

Social media (direct links):

Facebook

Instagram

If you have questions or comments email us at: [email protected].

We build upon on website visits, social media and word of mouth to share these episodes.  We appreciate growth knowing these conversations help you think, celebrate who you are, and move you in some way.

So be encouraged and continue to listen, read and be inspired. 🍐

Your own life experiences really color your perspective.  They are a custom made kaleidoscope to how you see things, the choices you make.  During our conversation, Sara Marsh shared that we view others through our own lens.  Everyone has a story.   We may assign a particular storyline to them to fill in the gaps based on us, not necessarily them - human nature and all that.  Sara’s point is maybe it’s better not to, but to see things from their perspective, not our own.

This is especially true when it comes to her son.  She calls parenting the best and worst experience of her life, and anyone who has children gets the truth of the high highs and the low lows.  Throughout their lives together, Sara’s son inspires her to be in the present moment because that’s where he is.  Through being a brave, kind and funny kid from the system she sees he is a survivor, and she is all too happy to give him the best start to life possible.

Thank you for being a part of the UY conversation.

The Unabashed You website has a page for each guest of photos, quotes and a blog with embedded audio at unabashedyou.com. You can find the show on other podcast platforms.  Want to lend your support and encouragement? We invite you to follow, rate, review and share.

Social media (direct links):

Facebook

Instagram

If you have questions or comments email us at: [email protected].

We build upon on website visits, social media and word of mouth to share these episodes.  We appreciate growth knowing these conversations help you think, celebrate who you are, and move you in some way.

So be encouraged and continue to listen, read and be inspired. 🍐

Sometimes a pivot comes from within.  You want to change something.  What about when the thing coming is external?  For Shannon Ziolkowski, the company she worked for since college was moving headquarters from Minneapolis to Miami.  She did not want to make that geographical change and uproot her life.  Shannon chose to stay.

Staying would mean leaving the company she loved.  Faced with lots of change she did three things to pivot.  First, she rewrote her resume even though it’s something she hates to do.  Looking at her accomplishments, she got some help in how to translate those in an appealing, marketable way.  Next she put herself out there creating a digital presence and applied to many openings posted.  Not easy but necessary.  Then she networked.  Connecting, talking with others she was able to lean on the people in her circle as she valued their opinions.  All the while she took the advice she would give to her 10-year old self: Believe in yourself.  Your decisions will be ok and it’s going to work out.

Shannon was on the podcast before in You Can Still Have Fun in the Sun episode 153.

Thank you for being a part of the UY conversation.

The Unabashed You website has a page for each guest of photos, quotes and a blog with embedded audio at unabashedyou.com. You can find the show on other podcast platforms.  Want to lend your support and encouragement? We invite you to follow, rate, review and share.

Social media (direct links):

Facebook

Instagram

If you have questions or comments email us at: [email protected].

We build upon on website visits, social media and word of mouth to share these episodes.  We appreciate growth knowing these conversations help you think, celebrate who you are, and move you in some way.

So be encouraged and continue to listen, read and be inspired. 🍐

You can hear it in her voice.  It’s inviting, warm and knowing.  Wilma Hollis is passionate about sharing the goodness of God.  She shares that we underestimate him.  “He is more Daddy, not so much Father.”  We are his children and as she further explains we are not to leave any crumbs on the table.  God has so much more for you than you could want for yourself.  Wilma wants to encourage you with this knowing.

Not understanding the connection between our words and our outcomes, is how Wilma frames life speaking to you.  And that’s the title of her book, Life Speaking 101: Speak Life and Win.  “You have the ability to speak God’s words and get God’s results.”  Another layer deeper than most of us tend to think.  I like Wilma’s observation that God  speaks for the solution of the light instead of speaking the problem.  Certainly something to ponder.

You can find Wilma at her website Life Speak 101 and on Instagram Wilma Hollis Life Speak.

Thank you for being a part of the UY conversation.

The Unabashed You website has a page for each guest of photos, quotes and a blog with embedded audio at unabashedyou.com. You can find the show on other podcast platforms.  Want to lend your support and encouragement? We invite you to follow, rate, review and share.

Social media (direct links):

Facebook

Instagram

If you have questions or comments email us at: [email protected].

We build upon on website visits, social media and word of mouth to share these episodes.  We appreciate growth knowing these conversations help you think, celebrate who you are, and move you in some way.

So be encouraged and continue to listen, read and be inspired. 🍐