Playing Small - shrinking, downplaying, second-guessing, holding back

You know the feeling.

You're about to say something — in a meeting, on a sales call, in an email — and something stops you. You make it smaller. Softer. More palatable. You add "I think" before something you know is true. You lead with an apology. You describe your work in a way that doesn't quite capture what you actually do.

It happens in writing too. The About page that keeps getting rewritten to sound less confident. The launch post that gets deleted before it goes live. The LinkedIn profile that buries twenty years of experience because you're worried whether it will make you seem either "too much," "too old," or "too bold."

Playing small doesn't always look like hiding. Sometimes it looks like being very busy, very helpful, and very careful never to take up too much space.

This collection of posts is about recognizing it — specifically, honestly, but without judgment. Because you can't change what you haven't realized yet.

What story are you telling?

Rewrite the story you tell yourself

The beauty of small steps and beginnings

Which are you: playing to win or playing not to lose?

Dare to be different

Trust yourself to dig deeper and move to your next level

Overcoming blocks as a writer

Are you diluting your vision?

The one thing that will stop your vision in its tracks

If you'd like to go deeper:

You Know It's a Verb, Right?

Leadership isn't something you earn once and then have. It's something you practice — every day, in every interaction, at every level of the work.

This book (which I had the joy of co-authoring) is for anyone who senses there's more to leadership than their title reflects — whether you're early in your journey, already leading a team, or running a business and realizing that leading yourself and your clients is its own kind of leadership. Using everyday language and real-life examples, it's a roadmap for the practice of becoming the leader you're already capable of being.

Because leadership doesn't happen because you sat in a classroom or earned a credential. It happens because you prepare for it.

Author Stylist Guide: Own Your Greatness, Get Visible, and Share Your Message

You published the book. Now the opportunity arrives — a book signing, a podcast invitation, a speaking engagement — and suddenly it's not about the writing anymore. It's about you, showing up, in real time, as the person behind the work.

The Author Stylist Guide is for that moment. Not how to get more opportunities — how to make the most of the ones that come to you, so you show up with confidence, shine in the room, and let your book and message reach the people who actually need them.

You already have the courage and the gifts that got you here. This book helps you use them.