BoldJourney is all about helping our audience and community level up by learning from the experiences of others. One of the most important topics we’ve been focused on sharing insights and lessons on is confidence building and self-esteem. Below, you’ll find some brilliant entrepreneurs and creatives sharing their perspectives and advice.
Lauren Gontarek
Nursing school was very tough. I cried a lot, but after every difficult experience in a lab/clinical it gave me confidence. I used this to propel me through getting my Bachelors in Nursing. I have been a nurse for 12 years. My work experience has been: at Gillette Children’s Hospital as a CNA, Melrose Center for patients with Eating Disorders, and my current work at Masonic Children’s Hospital on the BMT/Oncology Unit. Working as a concierge ear piercing nurse has been a fun side business as well. Read more>>
Lauren Salaun
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been a confident person. I excelled in school, sports, music, art, and many other things, and received a lot of recognition for my skills and abilities, which naturally instilled in me a strong sense of confidence and self-esteem. My parents encouraged us to work hard, to learn, to practice, to pursue our passions, and to excel in what we did. Read more>>
Joanna Flynn
My development of confidence and self-esteem has not been linear. In fact, far from it. There are days when I feel confident and days when I don’t want to leave the house (although let’s be real, we always feel better once we leave the house). So confidence isn’t a feeling. It’s easier to be confident when I feel good about myself, but it’s not strictly necessary. For me, confidence is a decision. I must actively choose to be confident, even – and especially – when I do not feel it. Read more>>
Charla Hobson
My confidence and self-esteem have been shaped by the strong women in my life, especially my mom and grandmothers. They were so self-aware, confident, and unapologetically themselves, and they passed that down to me by showing me the importance of embracing who I am. Losing them was difficult, but I’ve carried their legacy of confidence and authenticity with me. My faith in God also plays a big role—it reminds me that my worth is not tied to external things, but to who I am in Him. Throughout my journey I’ve learned that confidence grows when you truly accept yourself, quirks and all, and allow your inner self to shine through in everything you do, including how you dress. Read more>>
Juhoon Hong
I always want to give a shoutout to my family. Most of my self-esteem comes from their love and support. My parents taught me the beauty of this world and encouraged me to find my purpose in it. They gave me unconditional love which taught me how it feels to be truly loved. When things get overwhelming I know they will be by my side. Read more>>
Carol Kennedy
Like many people from my background, confidence and self-esteem didn’t come easily. As an African American and Irish American girl growing up in Chicago, it was difficult for me to find ‘my tribe’. Not many in my school looked like me, acted like me, or had a similar family as mine. And, to make matters worse, my love of everything arts, music, acting, and writing, soon labeled me as a ‘nerd’. Read more>>
Autumn Brown
I developed my confidence and self-esteem through living in my humanity. As humans, we do a lot of different things; some are super cool and some are mortifying, I think tapping into my emotions and the perspective of just experiencing life as it comes has helped me a lot with building the confidence to share my creations and be who I am. I don’t dwell on the past too long or think too far ahead anymore. It helps me focus on creating good moments whenever and however I can. Read more>>
Ijay Allison
It definitely took some time. Growing up, I was really shy and had a stutter, so I didn’t speak much, which often gave people the wrong impression of me. But honestly, I didn’t mind because I didn’t want to talk anyway. Read more>>
Ian Alvarez
Education and exposure. To service our clients at the highest level we need to be engaging in the highest levels of discourse and learning. Only by being true students of the art and striving for the highest level of intellectual domination of the material can we be confident in our ability to deliver the highest level of service and be able to walk with the self-esteem that comes from it all. Read more>>
Johnene Breaux
I developed my confidence and self esteem by doing the hard things and not giving up in the midst of a trial or challenging moment. Facing adversity will increase your confidence and help you achieve your goals. Read more>>
Lennox Makurumidze
Building true confidence as an artist is tough, but it’s definitely possible. It’s that part of you that’s always questioning your work , not because you doubt yourself, but because you want to make sure you’re doing your best. Only you can really know if you’ve achieved that.
For me, confidence came from making promises to myself and keeping them. I told myself I would create great things, and by following through, I built up undeniable proof of my abilities. This self trust grew because I consistently met the goals I set. Confidence, in my experience, comes from keeping promises to yourself. It shows your mind and body that you can be trusted to achieve your dreams. Read more>>
Danielle Demeere
I developed my confidence knowing that it starts in my mind. Feeding it negative thoughts only hold you back. When I started boudoir photography my goal was to help and encourage women to feel comfortable and confident in their body. I remember how beautiful I felt my very first professional shoot in front of the camera and I can only hope I make other feel the same. Read more>>
Marley Lake
My upbringing gave me a great foundation with confidence and self-esteem, but my personal development came on the soccer field and while listening to music. My favorite player Thierry Henry exuded swagger and confidence and I knew from a young age I wanted to be that way on the field. But that feeling bled over into my life, Confidence and self-esteem are everything on the pitch or field competition so I let that become my way of living outside of sport. I can do anything, I’m untouchable and when I lock in there is nothing I can’t do or be. Read more>>
Markus Kaulius
I’d like to start by telling you that I haven’t always had confidence and self-esteem. In fact, I had little to none. For my first fifteen years, I walked around with a world-defining mix of fear and sadness. I was bullied so hard in those years and I believed what was said about me and I believed I deserved the way I was being treated. I knew there had to be more to life than this. Read more>>
Alicia Bell
Despite my wild red hair and freckles, I had all the ingredients needed for a young girl to be confident: nurturing mother, loving father, they had a strong marriage, I performed well in school, and I had a dash of extraverted tendencies. But a few other things helped my confidence as a young girl. My parents built a community for me and my family in which I had many patient adults in my life that responded well to me at a young age. They would laugh at my jokes, sincerely ask me questions, listen to me, and compliment my efforts. So, I generally felt confident engaging with anyone. Read more>>
Alissa Camacho, Ms, Lpc, Ccatp
Confidence and self-esteem are not a given in this life. Sometimes we’re lucky to have it, other times we’re proud to have earned the heck out of it. For me, I’d like to think I did some major soul searching to feel confident and trust in who I am today. When I was little, I was mostly oblivious to how quickly someone or something can break your self-worth down. It wasn’t until middle school that I realized who I was, where I came from, and what that looked like next to my peers. I was awkward, and I was taught by my parents to stay in line as much as possible. I was expected to fit in, and I wanted that for myself too. Some days that proved to be harder than others. Read more>>
Eric Johnson
Confidence and Self-esteem are always tricky subjects! You need to have both to be successful in life. I feel like my confidence and self-esteem have come from two main things: The first being, that I forced myself do to the hard things in my career and life, even when it felt overwhelming. We have a saying in my industry “Embrace the suck”. I forced myself to embrace the suck, and each time I did, it would increase my confidence and self-esteem even more. It was a cycle that continued to build me up. Read more>>
Vanessa Voltan
Confidence and self-esteem for me have been built through a combination of continuous self-improvement and positive reinforcement. I’ve always believed in setting achievable goals, which allows me to experience a series of small successes that build up over time. Additionally, engaging in positive self-talk and focusing on my strengths has been crucial. Surrounding myself with a supportive network of friends, family, and mentors has also played a significant role. I prioritize self-care and regularly reflect on my accomplishments to maintain a positive mindset. Altogether, these practices have helped me develop a strong sense of confidence and self-esteem. Read more>>
Juliana Meidl
I have to admit I have always been a pretty self-confident person. Even at a young age I truly believed I could do anything I set my mind to. So much of the credit for this belief in myself comes from my parents. My sister and I were incredibly lucky to have been raised in a home where we were unconditionally loved and accepted. Our parents always supported our dreams and were always there for us when we needed them. Growing up I don’t remember there ever being a time when my parents conveyed in any way that I couldn’t achieve a goal or that a dream I had was out my reach. They also modeled for us the value of working hard and honoring your word. Read more>>
Nichole Parmley
Developing confidence and self-esteem is a lifetime journey, especially if you’re a woman. Over the past two years I’ve done a lot of very intentional work to develop those qualities and I still have a long way to go. Without a doubt, the most important thing I’ve done to develop self-esteem is join The School of New Feminist Thought created and led by Kara Loewentheil. She also has an amazing podcast called Unf*ck Your Brain and I cannot recommend it enough. Read more>>
Bradley Witherspoon
From a young age, the people around me were always very encouraging and uplifting. My mother always told me I can do or be anything I want to be. She raised my sister and I on that. No matter what your dreams are or how big they might be, chase them. You can do anything. Those were echo in the back of my mind every day. I really owe it all to her. Read more>>
Nikol Rogers
Here’s the good news: we are all born with confidence. My mother said I wouldn’t come out of the womb until the lighting was right, and when I was a toddler I had two things with me at all times. The first was a blanket, and the other was a bucket. When I wasn’t sitting in the bucket with my blanket, I was standing on top of it giving speeches in front of the TV with my arms up. Read more>>
Hannah Scharr
I haven’t always been as confident as I am now. I was bullied some throughout school and didn’t have the best of luck with friendships so I found myself spending a lot of time alone. However, when COVID came in 2020 I began experimenting with fashion more and picked up on photography after buying my first camera. Following this, I decided to start taking pictures of my outfits and making videos on social media about my “outfit of the day”, thrift hauls, and even my own clothing design. Read more>>
Chok Suwanavisootr
Growing up in Thailand, I always love watching Hollywood movies, especially horror genre, but I’m always lacking the confidence to try pursue acting in one even though that always have been my subconscious passion (is that even a thing? lol), I would literally be so nervous that my hands and legs would be visibly shaking every time I have to do a solo project presentation in front of the class back in high school. Read more>>
Markee Carter
I developed my confidence at a young age noticing that when individuals are popular or have a reputation they have to live up to that on a daily basis whether they want too or not. My self-esteem has always been on an all time high. As a youth I’ve seen individuals be talked about in a negative light, have rumors spread about them, and some will be truth and some will be false. Read more>>
Aniah Morrison
I struggled for a long time to develop the confidence I have now.
To be honest, as a child I was way more confident because I didn’t care about outside opinions as much but it was also always surface level or materialistically. My grandfather was my biggest supporter and he always made sure I felt protected and had whatever I wanted if I worked hard for it but after he passed away when I was 15, my confidence went with him. I felt lost in the world and so small because the one man who instilled and poured so much into me and taught me how I should be treated, was gone. Read more>>
Charlene Crafter- Pressley
My confidence is built on self-love, perseverance and embracing who I truly am. I have learned that every challenge I’ve faced has strengthened my self-esteem. Because it reminding me that I am capable of achieving my goals in life. Read more>>
Danny Russo
Confidence and self-esteem didn’t develop overnight for me—it was a process shaped by both personal and professional experiences. In my career as an interior designer, I’ve had to trust my instincts and take creative risks, which has been crucial to building that confidence. But it goes beyond just work; I’ve always surrounded myself with an “army” of designers, friends, and mentors whose support has been invaluable. Their belief in me helped me see my own potential. Over time, each success, and even every failure, reinforced that I could handle whatever came my way. Read more>>
Jacory Deshon
Hi! My name is Jacory Deshon, and I’m an aspiring actor, model, dancer, and social media influencer out of Houston, Texas. I consider myself as a Multi-talented professional because I have the gift to do so many different things. Ever since I was a little boy, I always knew what I wanted and that was to be an entertainer. I didn’t develop my confidence and self-esteem until after my senior year of high school. Growing up, I was a little overweight. I was over 300 pounds at the age of 18. I never realized how big I was until after I lost all of my weight. Read more>>
Glenn Weissel
By working through and releasing/healing childhood traumas that plagued me throughout my life. This was primarily achieved as a student in the Touched by a Horse® Equine Gestalt Coaching Certification Program. Read more>>
Adin Boyer
In my youth speaking assemblies, I always say that the biggest reason I’m doing as well as I am is because of the people in my life outside of my immediate family who have supported me and nurtured my self-expression through music. This ultimately has been the main driving force for all of my confidence and self-esteem; not just when performing, but in all contexts. I’ve discovered and developed myself entirely through music and the arts. My music is my identity, so my deep passion for music and the people who’ve supported it have given me all of my motivation to stay confident and love myself for who I am. Read more>>
Tim Fancher
As a left-handed child who was shorter than my peers, I faced unique challenges that forced me to develop early self-confidence. While most people took everyday tasks for granted, I had to adapt to everything from seating arrangements at the dinner table to learning to play drums and bowl. Growing up with very little interaction with my father and with a mother working multiple jobs, I often found myself alone. Despite these obstacles, I’ve always had an adventurous spirit, seeking out new experiences. Read more>>
Lennox Makurumidze
Building true confidence as an artist is tough, but it’s definitely possible. It’s that part of you that’s always questioning your work , not because you doubt yourself, but because you want to make sure you’re doing your best. Only you can really know if you’ve achieved that.
For me, confidence came from making promises to myself and keeping them. I told myself I would create great things, and by following through, I built up undeniable proof of my abilities. This self trust grew because I consistently met the goals I set. Confidence, in my experience, comes from keeping promises to yourself. It shows your mind and body that you can be trusted to achieve your dreams. Read more>>
Nesha Gregory
Growing up being a young black woman in today’s society, my confidence and self-esteem took years to develop into a place of health and healing. I learned to embrace my rich skin color and hair texture by telling myself daily that my beauty is within. My flaws are what sets me apart from others and accepting them with grace has created deep admiration for myself. But again it took time, there were days when I’ve doubted myself and I allowed my thoughts to overwhelm me. I overcame that negative outlook by practicing health mental habits. Read more>>
Andreanet
My confidence and self-esteem developed through embracing my individuality and the Gothic style, which allows me to express myself authentically. At first, stepping into a niche like Gothic modeling on social media was daunting, but I learned to see it as a form of art where I could be unapologetically myself. By connecting with a community that shares a similar love for dark aesthetics, I found strength in vulnerability, and over time, I became more comfortable with showcasing my work. Each post, photo shoot, and interaction helped build my confidence as I realized the power of owning who I am. Now, I see my style as a reflection of my inner strength, and that’s what fuels my self-esteem. Read more>>
Jamie Zayac
I was not born with the confidence and self esteem that I have now. I was an outcast growing up as a child; I didn’t fit in to groups or cliques. This was exemplified when I had to switch schools halfway through high school. Growing up, I did exactly what I was told to do. I had to be a perfect child and student, despite the hardship of switching schools, facing severe bullying, and having a tumultuous life at home. Eventually I graduated high school and I worked three jobs to pay my way through my two degrees. Read more>>
Stacie Jones
I developed my confidence and self-esteem through years of hard work and sacrifice. It took a long time to reach the level of confidence that I have currently. At the beginning, when my confidence was low, I reminded myself everyday that consistency is more important than perfection. This subtle reminder helped build the foundation for my confidence and self-esteem over time. I can remember times at the beginning where I experienced self-doubt and uncertainty of my business plan, but I knew in my heart and mind this is what I wanted; to be a spray tan artist & build my own brand. Read more>>
Paola Ortiz
That’s something I work on every day—it’s a never-ending process. Developing confidence and self-esteem go hand in hand, and I’ve learned that the hard way. For me, confidence is like a muscle, and the only way I’ve been able to develop it is by pushing myself to do the tough things—things I was scared of or doubted I could handle. A strong self-esteem comes when you realize that the biggest mountain you need to overcome is yourself. Read more>>
Leonard Casiple
Due to unaddressed childhood trauma, I had zero self-confidence. Despite having a terrific work ethic, I always felt that I was not good enough. Self-esteem was foreign to me. As a result, I often sabotaged my thinking. Instead of “showing up”, I isolated, hid, and displayed the diminutive version of myself. Read more>>
