I wear my heart on my sleeve - I always have. It's just easier to live that way.
For most of my 38 years on this planet, this felt like a problem I needed to solve. Like maybe if I could just learn to be more... contained. More professional. More like those women who seemed to have it all figured out.
I spent so much energy trying to make everyone else comfortable. Pretending I didn't see what I saw. Pretending their needs mattered more than mine. Pretending that if I just worked harder, cared more, sacrificed a little more of myself, everything would work out.
sorry not sorry for the trashy tv reference of my teenage years
A lie I spent my whole life seeking to make sense of and find a way to live up to. (But the thing with something that doesn't exist is that you can never measure up...)
The breaking point wasn't dramatic. It was more like... exhaustion. The kind that comes from dragging around dead weight and wondering why the dance isn't as elegant as it's supposed to be.
The more I stayed internally referenced, the more I had to keep reminding myself: I see what I see and I know what I know. Otherwise I'd slip back into that whole narrative of "they didn't mean it" or "they wouldn't do that to me" when they just did.
The boundary I have come to value most in my life is this: I am unwilling to pretend. And the quality of my life is my reward.
Today, wearing my heart on my sleeve feels darn good. Not because the world changed, but because I stopped trying to make myself smaller to fit into spaces that were never meant for me anyway.
That's why I'm excited to be part of the Made in the Margins Event—because I know there are other women who are tired of pretending. Tired of making everyone else's comfort more important than their own truth.
🎧 You'll hear from 25+ powerful women (including me!) who've stopped apologizing for taking up space and started creating businesses that honor who they actually are.
It's incredible to be part of an experience where there's no pretending, pressure or performing. Just the truth and the kind of freedom that comes from being unwilling to sacrifice yourself anymore.
👉Grab your free ticket right here and I'll send you my "Be the Boundary" course as a bonus. Five lessons that reveal why boundaries feel so hard - and show you a completely different approach.
Because maybe the answer isn't learning to be different.
Maybe it's finally being honest about who you already are.
You belong here, exactly as you are.
TL;DR: Authenticity IS the most congruent boundary - you don't need walls when you become the space that naturally filters what belongs. I'm speaking about this at Moms in the Margins alongside other incredible mom entrepreneurs who are redefining what motherhood and business can look like.