Champion Mindset: Building Confidence & Self-Esteem

Every day, our team is focused on how to help our audience and community reach their full potential in every part of their lives – personal and professional. Building confidence and self-esteem is one of the most essential requirements for success and below we’ve presented some of the conversations we’ve had around how to build confidence.

Lee Cipolla

Through the process of creativity and making movies. When I’m in that world I feel like I can be myself and that brings about confidence that may be lacking in other areas of my life. Read more>>

Shannon M

It took me probably 35 years to really understand this. When I talk about confidence, I tell people that (confidence) is when you walk into a room it’s possessing whatever quality that makes you stand up straight, chin up and have an easy in your steps. This can be looks, or possessing some kind of knowledge, skill. Or even just a flow about you that makes stand 10 toes down that you are so sure about this fact about yourself, no one can shake it from you. Read more>>

Shannon Kammholz

When I first started as an SLP, I was passionate but unsure of how far I could take my career. I knew I wanted to help people, but the idea of building a practice—let alone a thriving one—felt daunting. Yet, with every step, I found myself growing in ways I never expected. When I opened my practice, I was filled with both excitement and uncertainty. I poured my energy into helping children find their voices and supporting families through challenges, but behind the scenes, I was learning how to lead, manage, and grow. Every small win—whether it was a child achieving a breakthrough or a parent thanking me for my guidance—was a boost to my confidence. Read more>>

Kelly Keebler

Behavior is behavior across species, so the concepts I use for my canine clients apply to myself as well. In order to build confidence in any learner, it’s important to listen (I think the term is mindfulness when speaking of ourselves). Our bodies know what we need and will tell us where the starting point is. After we find a comfortable starting point where we can be consistently successful, then it’s important to remember that learning happens under stress – which means the occasional difficult repetitions are necessary!  Read more>>

Gail Marie Beckman

Through making people laugh. It began as a kid as a way to fit in, then amplified into performing standup comedy at a few places in Las Vegas. Your confidence definitely improves when the audience can relate to what you think is funny in life. Plus, with creating my business, Custom Crosswords & More over 33 years ago, I promote fun and games, providing my writing services to everything from an individual — all about their life — to a large corporation wanting the public to learn of their latest services and products. Read more>>

Lynn-d Gunter

Building my confidence and self-esteem in my photography business has been a journey, shaped by experience, feedback, and a genuine love for capturing moments of motherhood. At the beginning, I felt the usual self-doubt that comes with starting any creative business—wondering if my work was good enough and if people would see the value in what I offered. But as I worked with more families and saw the impact these images had on them, I started to believe in my vision more deeply. Read more>>

Maria Garcia

My confidence and self-esteem have definitely been part of a lifelong journey. Growing up, I wasn’t naturally confident, but I had a clear sense of what I wanted, even as a child. This helped me slowly work towards building my confidence. When I began professional dance training at 18, I would see people move with such presence and ease in the studio, totally comfortable in front of the class. That wasn’t me—I avoided the front of the room and found it hard to look at myself in the mirror. This struggle bled into my self-esteem, and I was my own toughest critic. Read more>>

Paulette Brown

Confidence and self-esteem aren’t things you simply wake up with one day. For me, they were skills I had to develop. When I started taking photos, I was comfortable observing and capturing the world from a distance. Photography felt safe because it allowed me to create without directly interacting with people. But staying in that comfort zone wasn’t enough. To grow as a photographer—and as a person—I had to push myself further. Read more>>

Eliane Cotran

My journey in aviation has played a significant role in developing my resilience and self-esteem. Entering a male-dominated industry presented unique challenges, from having to prove my capabilities repeatedly to navigating environments where I was often the only woman in the room. Early on, I learned that staying confident in my abilities and embracing my authenticity were key to overcoming these hurdles. Read more>>

David Swanson

I was always good with art in school and at home and when I was young, and I thought
I’d try oil painting. My parents fostered anything I showed interest in, but I was horrible. I
had a talent for the fine details, but general proportions of the landscape or figure study
were way off, either too big or too small. I never knew when a painting was done, I
would keep going until the point of no return until in my young teens a friend loaned me
a camera, and I realized you get exactly what you see, that became my medium. I kind
of thought I might be good, and sought out other photographers who encouraged, and
complimented me. I was too naïve to not know I was good. Read more>>

Chelsea Nott

It may sound cheesy, but I really have taken the saying “fake it till you make it” to heart. There’s been so many situations for me where it’s just a matter of winging it and remembering that no one knows what’s going on inside your head unless you let them. Part of that I think I learned from being a dancer when I was younger because we’re always taught that the audience doesn’t know if we mess up unless we show it on our faces. We learned the choreography – but they didn’t. So it’s kind of like a little cheat code. Read more>>

Alena Larie Walker

The development of my confidence and self-esteem begins when I was a young girl, and both came at a great price. People would try to usesomething that was positive about me, anddistort it by accusing me of being cocky and stuck up, which was never the case, I was mislabeled. Read more>>

Lucy Mardonvich

Confidence and self-esteem are things I’ve built over time, and they’ve grown alongside my career here at Hollywood Production Center. Being in this role for over 20 years, I’ve learned that true confidence doesn’t come from knowing all the answers but from knowing that I can handle whatever comes my way. When I first started, I was eager but inexperienced; I didn’t always trust my voice. I’d watch others, listen carefully, and gradually realize that my perspective and my instincts brought real value. Read more>>

Superkate Slepicka

As a kid, you’d think I had lots of confidence and self esteem. I was checking all the boxes: good at school, decent ability to play multiple instruments, and excelled at several sports. But I fell into the mess of comparing myself, my body, to how much I didn’t look like the magazines and tv. And because I grew up in a very small town, it was very clear from a young age that you couldn’t risk being different, otherwise you were teased and bullied. I certainly tried to fit in most of my young life, but the other kids clearly saw something different about me. After being bullied for a few years, I put up some really thick walls and decided I was going to show everyone. Read more>>

Sydney Gordon

Growing up, my mom always believed I could do anything and that I was the best at whatever I set my mind to. Her faith in me instilled a deep sense of confidence from a young age. Whenever I faced challenges, she was right there, cheering me on and reminding me of my potential. This support pushed me to explore my interests, take risks, and eventually led me to open my own businesses. Read more>>

Diana Maria Leaman

As a young girl, I wished to blend into the background, but now I aspire to stand out. It took a shift in my perspective regarding who I am and who I want to become. Even today, I still grapple with understanding my purpose. However, I know I must shine as brightly as possible, illuminating the darkness around me and minimizing negativity. I built my self-confidence by overcoming my fear of advocating for my beliefs. I no longer worry excessively about others’ opinions or potential judgment, as long as I remain true to myself. My self-esteem blossomed from recognizing my self-worth, which I discovered in my late twenties. Read more>>

Melissa Jean

My confidence and self-esteem developed over time, through a mix of experiences, personal growth, and faith. It wasn’t an overnight journey but rather a process of learning to trust myself, embrace my strengths, and see setbacks as opportunities to grow. One of the biggest turning points for me was understanding my purpose and identity, especially through my faith, which grounded me and gave me a solid foundation to build on. Surrounding myself with positive, supportive people and setting boundaries helped, too. Through each challenge, I’ve learned to celebrate progress and embrace the person I’m becoming. Read more>>

Adilah Barnes

Actually, from a child I loved school, learning and was often praised for my intelligence, leadership qualities and ability to rise above seeming obstacles. My experiences of being admired and respected, in part, shaped my confidence in myself, my character and grit. Read more>>

Lada

I developed my confidence and self esteem by finding out who I was and what made me unique. I also clung to people who saw the good in me and encouraged me to “use my powers for good”. Thank you, Joan Hill for that amazing advice. As a person who has faced alot of trauma and had my foundation shaken since I came into this world, it took alot for me to develop confidence in myself. Growing up in foster care, I faced depression, abuse and constant uncertainty. I longed for protection and stability. I am grateful to my foster mother who took care of me and my siblings. She opened her home and shared her family with us. I will say though, I still faced loneliness, abuse and trauma.  Read more>>

Sarah Centrella

Through being intentional about how I talk to myself. I started paying attention to my thoughts and realized that negative thoughts, ones full of doubt, fear and negative self talk were sabotaging my success. That helped me see that if I could change how I talked to myself I could build self-belief instead of feeding self-doubt. Lining up my thoughts with the outcomes I was working towards got me results so much faster. I began using affirmations and mottos like, “I am successful. I am powerful. I am capable. I am smart enough. I am beautiful.” At first they felt silly, but with consistency I began to believe them, and once you believe anything its only a matter of time before you become it! Read more>>

Mykenzie Borrello

To be completely honest, it took me a very long time to get here. To truly understand my personal journey with self confidence, let’s take a timeline jump. My father was never present in my life. My mother was the only parent I had beside my grandparents, so I never had that true paternal figure in my house 24/7 growing up. I saw my mother struggle with self-esteem over the course of my life which did end up negatively impacting me along with my father’s absence. I saw her pick the wrong guys, I saw her people please, I watched her get screwed over. I knew growing older and learning from others around me including her, that I didn’t wanna be like that but God has a funny way of teaching you things. In my later years, my catalyst for self confidence and self-esteem was actually a past relationship gone sour. I did all the things. Read more>>

Darla Bishop

Honestly, my journey to building confidence and self-esteem has been a wild ride. It all started with some serious challenges early on. When I was a freshman in high school, my mom was sentenced to four years in prison. In that moment, I wasn’t even sure if college would be possible for me. Everything felt uncertain, but I held on to the plan my mom had for me—to go to a great college and build a beautiful life through education. I had to believe in that vision, almost unrealistically, and find ways to make it happen. I learned to tap into every resource I could find, figure things out on my own, and keep moving forward, even when the odds seemed stacked against me. Read more>>

La-shawnda Thompson

Developing my confidence and self-esteem was a journey, and it didn’t happen overnight. It was born out of some of the hardest seasons of my life, but those challenges ultimately became the foundation for my growth.
One pivotal moment came during the time I lived in homeless shelters with my daughters after a painful divorce.
At that point, my self-esteem was at its lowest. I felt broken, unworthy, and uncertain about my future.
But in the middle of that season, I made a choice I decided that I wouldn’t let my circumstances define me or my daughters’ futures. Read more>>

Johnnie & Jaylon Gordon

Johnnie: As cliche as it may sound, our confidence comes from simply having faith in God. See, Jaylon and I knew at an early age this was our calling, therefore we learned to operate in the boundaries of, “What God has for you is for you.’ I remember I was like six or seven and I auditioned for Ride Along, when we got to the car my mom told me to whisper a prayer over my audition. I looked at her and said, “God, if it’s for me let it be.” My mom and Jaylon started laughing, but I was serious. That prayer became the prayer Jaylon and I said after every audition, to this day. As we got older, we began to see how unorthodoxed things would happen in our career, which to us was another sign of, “This is your calling.” So yeah, our confidence and self-esteem comes from faith times work and the understanding of, “What God has for you is for you.” The no’s hit different, when you understand this. You have to have tough skin in the entertainment industry and this is how we maintain our thick skin. Read more>>

Shawneé Owens

First and foremost, It’s important to remember that confidence is an illusion—meaning like, it’s an intentional choice to believe in yourself, even when you’re uncertain. When you present yourself with assurance, you’re more likely to succeed because people respond to that energy. The number 1 thing that I feel like I hear all the time from people in higher-level positions is that even then they are still “just figuring it out”…but because they lead with confidence you would never know! The reality is that nobody can know everything, but once you figure out what you are good at it’s important to recognize that you ARE really good at it and stand on that. Read more>>

Temi Krovblit

My development of confidence and self esteem has definitely developed the more I perform. Being on stage in front of a live audience changes someone. It taught me how to improvise in situations that called for it, while maintaining a certain image for the audience. This is not at all to say that an image is a false portrayal of the person, it is in fact an amplification of their inner self. This is one of the many things that I love about performing music. My confidence also stems from my music, as I use it to control nerves on stage, using it as a stable foundation; the root of my self-esteem. In other words, the audience around me, while I’m performing, may be daunting, but if I close my eyes and focus on my music, my worries melt away. This is something I find truly impeccable, the pure ability that music has to change the state that I’m in. Read more>>

Kyle Mccullough

My secret weapon when is comes to having confidence and high self-esteem has always came from my ability to draw.
Developing a skill or discipline that most people cannot do is something that I still cherish to this day. Its a daily practice that I commit to everyday and never feels like a burden or an obligation. Read more>>

Melissa Crook

My decision making skills have really only been fine tuned to a place where they are healthy for me over the last 5 years. It started with a health scare that prompted me to get serious about processing past traumas and not stuffing uncomfortable emotions, as well as diving into the core of where the anxiety and cosntant hypervigilance I experienced was rooted in. Read more>>