We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marca Ewers-Shurtleff. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marca below.
Marca, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
Like many women, the road to confidence and self-esteem hasn’t always been easy or intuitive for me. In fact, self-esteem has probably been the most difficult hurdle I’ve faced in my professional career. Self-esteem refers to how much you value yourself, while confidence is about trusting your abilities.
As far as confidence goes, I’ve always trusted my abilities—perhaps because I started working so young (I got my first job at 12) or because I was fortunate to experience early success. Either way, I’ve always known I can produce quality work and deliver a valuable service to others. I trust in my education, and my experience has made me capable.
Self-esteem, however, was a whole different matter. From an early age, I learned to correlate success with affection and acceptance. I think many “high achievers” are either born that way or become conditioned to be so. Regardless of how my young mind began to associate achievement with affection, love, and stability, I found myself believing that I had to be successful all the time in order to be accepted all the time. I used to think that if I could just do a little bit better at school, work—whatever it was—that I’d finally be happy. I believed that if I just had the right mentor or job, my moment would come and I’d finally be proud of myself. That my big “breakthrough” was just around the corner.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize that my unique experience, education, and path have made me exactly who I’m meant to be—and that I am valuable to others just as I am. I don’t have to reach the next career milestone or public service accolade to be worthy. While I’ll always keep striving, I’ve found peace in appreciating who I am today and what I’ve already built.
I’ll always chase growth and never want to lose that grit—but I’ve found joy in realizing that my worth is not based solely on measurable success. It’s based on who I am as a person, the love I give to others, and the fulfillment I find in using every part of what makes me unique—not perfect—to serve and uplift those around me.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three qualities that have most profoundly shaped my career are grit, confidence, and purpose. These aren’t just abstract ideas to me—they’re lived experiences that have carried me through every challenge and win.
1. Grit
Grit is a quality I believe is vanishing far too quickly in today’s world. I was raised in a small town and am a first-generation high school graduate. While my family was smart, hardworking, and ultimately successful, I learned early on that if I wanted something, I had to figure out how to go earn it. Nothing was going to be handed to me.
I’ve walked through plenty of uncomfortable seasons and faced more setbacks than most people realize—and I think that’s important to talk about. Too often, especially when younger women ask me for advice, they see the polished surface of my life and assume it’s always been easy. They hope there’s a magic piece of advice I can offer that will unlock immediate success.
But the truth is, success—real, lasting success—doesn’t come easy. It takes endurance. It takes the ability to pivot, to stay the course when everything feels uncertain. And it takes the courage to turn pain into purpose. That’s grit.
2. Confidence
While I’ve shared before that I’ve struggled with self-esteem at times, I’ve always had confidence. The two are different. Confidence, for me, comes from knowing I’ve done everything within my power to do the best job I can.
When you can look yourself in the mirror and honestly say that you’ve brought your full knowledge, skill, and experience to a task—you silence self-doubt. As women, we must pursue our ambitions unapologetically, without chasing external validation. That’s no small feat in today’s world, where we’re constantly exposed to feedback—welcomed or not.
But here’s what I’ve learned: if you’ve given your absolute best, then criticism—especially from those who’ve never dared to take the same risk—is irrelevant. Real confidence is built from within.
3. Purpose
Of all the lessons I’ve learned, discovering how to lead a purpose-driven life and career has been the most transformative. We all face stress, disappointment, and pain. That’s a given. But when your work is aligned with your purpose, those hard seasons become more bearable—and the victories, even sweeter.
Purpose isn’t always clear in the beginning. Sometimes you have to stumble through trial and error before it reveals itself. For some, it may be law or medicine; for others, it may be motherhood or public service. But once you find what makes you feel most alive—what makes you say, this is what I was made to do—you begin living and working with a different kind of fuel. A kind that doesn’t burn out.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.txaglaw.com
- Instagram: TXAGLaw
- Facebook: TX Ag Law
- Linkedin: Marca Ewers Shurtleff
- Twitter: @txaglawMarca
Image Credits
Alex Garza
Nicole Lamb
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