Letting Yourself Shine

Thoughts on how to own who you REALLY are if you want to be a leader

So much of the last seven years of my life have been defined by the business I've been building.

While there are many facets to me, I hold my identity as a founder a little bit higher than all the rest. It probably has something to do with my Enneagram archetype.

Us 3w2s (also known as Charming Over-Achievers) are often extremely ambitious and highly defined by the work we do in the world — sometimes to a fault.

But I also think it has to do with how I have grown as a human as the result of the companies I have created, the communities I've led, and the ways in which I finally feel at home in who I am in spaces that I have gotten to shine, where I am surrounded by other people who see themselves first and foremost as founders.?

I was leading in one of these spaces last week when the discussion around authentic identity came to the forefront. Our Figure 8 Community is a sacred space for founders in the earlier stages of entrepreneurship to work on their branding, marketing, and business strategies. Over time it has also become a place for coaching conversations unlike any other that I have witnessed in a community setting.?

In this case, we were talking about how marketing can be challenging for those of us who are still on the journey of figuring out when, where, and how to show up as our authentic selves in the working world.

Each founder shared their journey about when they bring their fullest self to the forefront and when they choose to adapt their identity based on what feels best and safest for them.?

We all agreed that some of our best business projects and partnerships have come from meeting people truly as we are, and allowing ourselves to be seen in a way that attracts clients and collaborators who value and respect our identities. We also concluded that we collectively desire to define the ways we want to show up as ourselves and build differently in the world of business.

I recognize that as a cisgender, white, seemingly-hetero-presenting woman, I have privileges. But as a woman who has more than half of a body covered in tattoos, who curses more than the average bear, who has absolutely no patience for bullshit, and who wants to get to the heart of the matter so that we can strategize better... I haven't always felt at home in corporate spaces, either.?

In fact, there were many years in my early career where I hid who I was behind blazers and business talk for fear that I would be fired for showing who I really was. On more than one occasion, I heard that higher-ups were considering cutting me for having “too many ideas and opinions.”?

Experiences like these push so many of us to uncover our own paths outside of corporate constructs. When you realize the place where you spend more than half of your waking life isn't a space where you can show up and be yourself, you start to bifurcate your identity in ways that are hard to undo.?

I will say that it's taken me many years to figure out how to own all of my identities as a leader, rather than hide them. But I can also say that I have been healed by becoming an entrepreneur and creating a company that works for and with people who desire to be connected to who I actually am as a human.?

I believe we're on the precipice of a massive emergence of entrepreneurship. More people than ever are redefining who they are and how they want to show up in the world; the pressure of a pandemic pushed our beliefs, values, and identities to the forefront further than they'd ever been before.?

As somebody who does a lot of brand strategy work, I've never seen so many people ready to rebrand. And as much as I love a good rebrand, really owning your identity in business is so much more than what we show on the surface.

It's about understanding who we are and why we do the work that we do. It's about knowing deep in our bones that in order for the world to shift in the ways that are so needed in this season, what is actually needed most is for our truest selves to step into the fray so we can start showing up differently.?

In an era of endless content and always-on internet life, we leaders need to step back into ourselves so we can step forward into a newer, better way of being in business.?

This month, I and my Fearless team will explore this topic of identity. It feels pressing and essential in the evolution of entrepreneurship, where I see more than ever a desire for authenticity and originality. And that can only happen in companies that are creating space for leaders to let who they really are shine.?

Here's to stepping forward and showing off who we really are together.?

- Madeline

If you haven’t heard the newest episode of the Finding Fearless podcast, featuring Madeline’s interview with artist and filmmaker Alex Jamieson, you are truly missing out.

From her college days exposing manipulative “pregnancy crisis centers” to her work as a holistic chef, which inspired the multi-award-winning documentary Supersize Me, Alex has a profound understanding of how art and story can change culture. In this episode, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at Alex’s Abortion Trading Cards while hearing deeply personal stories about reproductive justice from both Alex and Madeline. Madeline even shares some tender stories from childhood, including the time when her dad returned home from a WPO protest in Seattle with a shirt full of tear gas and a palm full of rubber bullets.

Be sure to listen to this powerful conversation between two self-proclaimed “sh*t-stirrers” who have been on the frontlines of the battle for reproductive justice for many years!

Tune in to the Episode

Can you believe that Pride Month is next month??!!! We can’t! For those of you who are in the community or are otherwise planning Pride Month activities, we’re hosting a special webinar to get you ready to share your story with the media. There are more and more attacks on LGBTQ+ people and events than ever, with even reputable outlets engaging in deceptive tactics to capture the anti-LGBTQ+ clicks and likes.?

If you want to invest in your own media-savvy, be sure to join Madeline and Friend of the Foundry Trystan Reese for Ready For My Close-Up: Get Media Savvy in Time for Pride! We’ll teach you how to get camera-ready this Pride season, which includes honing your talking points, staying on message, and pivoting if a journalist tries to back you into a corner. We’re so excited to bring this session to life, and hope you’ll join us to make media your friend this Pride.

Sign Up for the Webinar

We’re excited to introduce you to Friend of the Foundry Heddy Nam.?

Heddy is an expert coach and facilitator who has worked as a grassroots organizer, campaigner, advocate, researcher, grantmaker, grant writer, and coalition organizer! As a multi-issue advocate with an intersectional lens, she’s worked on diverse issues because she believes our work is interconnected and no single-issue campaign is going to bring about a socially just world.

She’s just launched her new website, rosalee.org, and is offering a special discount on any 2024 workshop registration if you sign up for her mailing list.

Check out the new website