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.
Dave Adamson
By all accounts and data, I should have a very low self-esteem. I grew up in a lower class, broken home in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, and between the ages of 6-12 I was sexually abused by an uncle. Facing this trauma on a regular basis for six formative years of my life caused a range of psychological issues. I was shy, easily intimidated, afraid, lacked any social confidence, and was a target for school bullies, which only further instilled my lack of self-esteem. Read more>>
Dani Washington
My journey to developing confidence and self-esteem has been quite transformative, and it’s been punctuated by moments of self-doubt and struggles with believing in myself. Even as an adult, I found that these issues persisted, and at times, they held me back from fully embracing my potential. Read more>>
Vicki Wright Hamilton
From a young age, I faced challenges with self-esteem and confidence, particularly regarding my appearance. I wasn’t the conventional ideal; I was chubby and often felt overlooked by my peers, which could have easily derailed my self-worth. However, I realized early on that my true strength lay not in how I looked but in what I could achieve with my mind and intellect. This understanding became the cornerstone of my confidence. Read more>>
Devika Chandrababu Mahajan
I’m glad I’m getting a chance to talk about this because confidence is something I’ve struggled with a lot for the most part of my life. For years I believed that I was mediocre at a lot of things I was actually pretty good at, including art! Read more>>
Juan Raymundo Ramos
Developing my self-esteem and confidence has been such a journey filled with moments of uncertainty and self-doubt, especially when venturing into new territories like film projects, producing a podcast, or networking events. I was often perceived as someone who was shy or not as communicative, and a lot of it was because of lack of confidence and self-esteem. Despite these recurring challenges, I’ve learned to confront my fears head-on. Read more>>
Ana Karina Torres Cuevas
As I progressed in fitness, making changes to my eating habits and lifestyle, and preparing myself through studying in my field, it gave me the self-confidence to achieve specific goals, both for myself and for my patients and students at the gym where I work as a trainer. Read more>>
Melissa Swindell
Tuesday, February 1, 2022. I was introducing a debut novelist from Charleston, South Carolina, to a group of 50 guests who came to hear her speak. I very confidently introduced my guest as from “Charleston, New Jersey.” How or why “New Jersey” came out of my mouth I’ll never know. But I said it with confidence. Then I paused. I heard what I said. Read more>>
Juliana Marinho
I grew up in an environment that stimulated me to think and question. I have a strong mother and five older sisters who inspired me to travel, work with what I love and not be afraid to venture out. My father listened attentively to all my dreams as a little girl and let me free to live the experiences that I felt like living. Read more>>
Desiree Derriere
8 years I started taking pole dance and burlesque classes to try something new and push my comfort zone. I had no dance background before and felt awkward in my body. In the pole dance classes, I learned to love my body and I was in a space where sensual expression was encouraged. Learning how to dance gave me self esteem that I could do anything, and to appreciate what my body could do. Read more>>
Jenny Arias
I faked it and still do ’till this very day. I feel like if you fake your confidence and self-esteem you’ll start being so good at faking it that it eventually becomes true confidence and self-esteem. It comes into existence. The law of attraction. That’s one thing I read on this book called “The Secret” back in high school. Read more>>
Myazia Johnson
My confidence and self esteem started as a child. As a little girl I was always the center of attraction with a huge personality. My mother kept me in activities from basketball to cheerleader. My father on the other hand showed me the ropes in New York on how to make money as a kid. I was set up to sell bottled water everyday. Read more>>
Eli Meir Kaplan
Great question! Initially, I developed my confidence from my mentor, photojournalist Andre Lambertson. I took a continuing education documentary photography class with him and pulled me to the side one day and gave me a pep talk I will never forget, which also gave me the confidence to pursue photography as a career. For the first few years I repeated those words in my head before every shoot. Read more>>
BreAnna Malancon
Honestly, I have to give credit to my family for my confidence and self esteem. Since I was a young girl my dad always told me I was “pretty in the face, just like him.” At the age of 36 he still tells me the same exact words when he sees me. Throughout my family all the women carried themselves with class and a little bit of sass, and I just carried it on. Read more>>
Tevin Johnson
Through a journey marked by perseverance and self-discovery, I learned the invaluable traits of confidence and high self-esteem. It wasn’t an overnight transformation, but rather a process of introspection and growth. By challenging myself, stepping out of my comfort zone, and embracing failures as lessons, I gradually built a solid foundation of self-assurance. Read more>>
Dr. Ella F. Washington
Confidence and self esteem is something I work on nurturing every day. When I do great work, execute a project or a speaking engagement well I feel affirmed in my skills and contributions. In addition to doing something well, I gain confidence when I am able to see myself do something better a second or third time. When I speak on the same topic for a different audience and am able to pivot my message or apply learnings from prior experiences it builds my self esteem because I feel the evidence of my growth mindset taking shape. Read more>>
Ashleigh Ewald
When I was a little girl, my recesses were frequently spent searching for a friend and wanting to be accepted by the community. I was a foster child in my early childhood years after undergoing adoption dissolution and, later on, adopted once again at age seven. Read more>>
Cody Jones
As a former athlete, you had to practice hard very hard to get the results you wanted to achieve. You work hard, you play hard. The hardest part, is trusting your hard work. With photography, I study and practice just as hard as I once did when I ran track. I treat every photo session like a track meet. I get nervous, I overthink, anxious, etc. In the end, I trust that my work ethic is enough and I will achieve the shot I wanted. Read more>>
Shelley Anbouba
It has been an evolution and a continual area of growth for me. I am an only child so from childhood until middle adulthood my parents raised me to be self sufficient, a self starter, a servant leader and confident. I watched my dad growing up and he has the great ability to be a selfless connector – and that is a trait I have fully embraced. Read more>>
Audrey Forrester
My confidence and self esteem has been something that has always kept me afloat. I was always the weird energized kid with no awareness of anyone else’s opinions. I remember being so annoyed at my friends for getting hurt over someones words. When I reached highschool was when I lost that fearlessness. Read more>>
Alexandria Rizik
Personally, I think I get my confidence and self-esteem from failure. As a writer and entrepreneur, I face a lot of rejection, a lot of trial-and-error, and with that you either get up and try again or give up. I always get up and try again, and with that I’ve learned a lot about who I am and what I’m capable of. So I think confidence comes from the moments of failure and adversity that we encounter in life. Read more>>
Serina McDonald
I developed my confidence and self-esteem from my parents and my sister Tina. They always told me to never worry about what other people think about you. My sister is such a diva who always did her own thing, never had to hang with anyone, never needed no friends and she stood on her own. My parents and my sister have always been my biggest supporters. Read more>>
Nick Hardaway
I believe that self esteem builds confidence. It is something in my life that at times has been a struggle to look in the mirror and love the reflection staring back at me. Especially in the world we live in today with social media and following people. Who have these amazing lives but rarely show or discuss the truth about what is really happening behind the scenes; almost like an illusion. Read more>>
Jarrhette Burke
Entering my design career, I had zero experience as a professional. Lack of experience can easily make you feel lesser than your peers within your area of pursuit. I was able to develop my confidence and self-esteem by continuing to develop my skillset. I’ve never been afraid of hard work. Playing sports taught me the value of repetition and how much a person can excel if they simply show up over and over. I’ve opened the Photoshop program almost everyday for 13 years. Read more>>
Micaiah Fletcher
On a personal level, the most helpful resources that have amplified my self-esteem are those for mental and physical. The specific tools I have now are affirmations, meditation, yoga, diet, and recently medication for anxiety. This combination has really lifted me to a new state of being, allowing my self-worth and creativity to flourish with less doubt of the greatness we all possess. Read more>>
Cynthia Wierschen
I believe that in order to have confidence and self-esteem you must first ‘value’ yourself! That is the source of confidence and self-esteem. My self value is in knowing and believing that I am smart, I am strong, I am creative, I am capable, I am kind and I am beautifully and perfectly made by God! If you have self value, you’ll have confidence and self-esteem! Read more>>
Ms. Perry
My confidence and self-esteem grew as I learned to appreciate and embrace my unique qualities, including my physical appearance. By focusing on self-care, practicing positive self-talk, and acknowledging my strengths, I developed a sense of inner beauty that radiates outward. Additionally, surrounding myself with positivity and engaging in activities that bring me joy helped me feel more confident and comfortable in my own skin. Read more>>
Bryna Hayes
I’m sure my childhood friends would say I was “overconfident.” I was smart and I knew it. I also had a “knowing” about things and people that I couldn’t explain, but which was always spot-on. I was the one who solved everyone’s problems, and I loved it. Read more>>
Carly Harvey
Developing confidence and self-esteem did not happen overnight, and I only truly began to value myself in my adulthood. Growing up, I was a ballerina starting at age 4. Those institutions really teach you self scrutiny in a toxic way. The girls around me were always talking negatively about their bodies, it was just part of the culture. Read more>>
Debbie Trout
Over time I’ve just noticed how I felt when I am 100% myself. There’s times in my life I haven’t felt that, but when I feel like I am being true to me and not a version of myself that other people want me to be I know how good I feel, and over time that has developed a lot of self confidence. I pay attention to how I am feeling a lot, and I’m very self-reflective. I also try to be really honest with myself at all times. I think consistently doing this over many years has led to a comfort and confidence of who I am and what I want out of my life. Read more>>
Kheprisa Burrell
I wasn’t always as confident as I am now. I’d say a multitude of circumstances in my youth convinced me that I had to place myself behind the scenes. Those moments have the capacity to snowball into insecurities that cripple you. Like anybody who’s tired of being tired, there came a time when I decided to create new belief systems for how I view myself. Read more>>
