What I learned meeting my online biz idols

It was 2017 and I was in the elevator headed down to the lobby level of the Lowe's hotel in Santa Monica. 

Dressed in my coolest Express jeans and vegan Saucony sneaks, I floated into the airy conference room overlooking the ocean.

The second I crossed the threshold of the room I had stars in my eyes...

There she was, there he was...there THEY were...

These people I had followed for years.

These people who were on my podcast dream guest list.  

And I was in the same room. 

I was a part of their mastermind.

HOW the heck did I get here?!

Once I found my feet, I reminded myself that I wouldn't be in the room if I didn't belong there.

YET...in the powerful days that followed - this feeling would be fleeting as I listened to them share their challenges and their business wins:

Their hundreds of thousands of followers

Their mind-boggling subscriber lists

Their latest 7-figure launches

I could not stop the tape in my brain...

"They are SO MUCH FURTHER AHEAD of me...What am I doing here?"  

Gahhhh...it was almost my turn to share...

How was I going to match that?!

How was I going to bring anything even remotely useful to this room?

Who the heck was I to be sitting at that table?

SPOILER: I took the only route I knew how to take.

I was myself. 

I shared what my business was about and what it had given to me in my life.

I talked about how much I loved my community, about where I wanted to grow next and how exciting it was to be in the room.

I was honest.  

And while it still felt TEENY in comparison with what others were doing in their businesses -

I knew enough to know that my journey was my own.

That the story of our successes were all relative.

That comparison was a dream killer...

And that the most powerful & essential act of love is to BE exactly who we are.

(No matter how uncool I felt in any given moment.) 

I've been in many rooms of this scale...

I've felt like I didn't belong too many times to count.

But what I have learned through those experiences was that no one can make me feel like I am in the wrong place, but me.

It might take unparalleled levels of courage...but if I'm there - you better believe I am going to make it an opportunity to learn more about myself and grow.

The most magnetic person in the room is always the one standing in their vulnerability and their absolute magnificence all at once (hint: vulnerability is magnificent).

The most magnetic coaches, creatives and content creators do the same. 

All this to say, when we put down our need to prove - we open ourselves up to new, much simpler possibilities. 

Would you believe that one of the most common things my fellow mastermind friends said to me back then was, "You're focused on the right things...your family, your life and the way your business fits in to it all. I actually want more of that - You inspire me."  

Something dramatic happens when our businesses become a form of expression rather than a mechanism for proving ourselves.

What happens when you put down the need to prove anything at all and, instead, let your business, your social platforms, your content creation be an EXPRESSION for the magic that lives within?  

Wishing you a beautiful week of being ALL of who you are.

xo

Amber