Confidence can open doors and is at the heart of so many amazing success stories across industries and disciplines and so we’ve always been interested in learning how we can help our readers and community members increase their confidence and self-esteem. Below, you’ll find highlights of some of the great conversations we’ve had on this topic.
Liana Ratner
I’ve developed my confidence and self-esteem through my life experiences, particularly overcoming challenges during my teenage years. At 15, I struggled with an eating disorder, which was a difficult and transformative period in my life. That experience opened my eyes to the importance of self-care and resilience, and it became a turning point for me. Facing and overcoming that challenge helped me grow stronger and more self-assured, shaping me into the confident person I am today. Read more>>
Safrianna Lughna
If you had told me five years ago that I would be where I am now, I would have laughed and said it wasn’t possible. I was scared to show up as me, terrified of being visible and putting my name on anything. I cowered at the idea that people from my past might see me being myself and swoop in to stop me. Read more>>
Monique Gomez
Developing confidence and self-esteem has been a transformative journey for me, one marked by profound self-discovery and growth. For years, I struggled with insecurities that tied my sense of worth to external validation. I was a late bloomer and often tried to hide to avoid drawing attention, feeling out of sync with the cultural expectations of my Latin heritage. My body image issues and self-doubt were barriers to my confidence. Read more>>
Ellis Fox
When I think back to the roots of my confidence, my first memories are in my childhood living room. I’d be waving my arms with my brother, seeing my mom and dad kicking their feet, and we’d just dance wild all together. My family encouraged me to pursue expression as openly as I could when I was young, and with that freedom, I turned to my love of real and imagined creatures! Something about their strangeness was comforting, and I felt very seen by all kinds of monsters and folktales. I had a harder time connecting with kids growing up, but when I drew animals and shared them, I could communicate with people in ways I couldn’t before. Read more>>
Steven Biller
As a child, I was always the shortest person in the room and felt that I had to measure up to the bigger kids. I eventually found confidence through acquiring and sharing knowledge (art, culture, history, economics and other areas of interest) vis my core talents (writing, editing, publishing, consulting, teaching). Today, at 55 years old and with more than 30 years of professional experience, people sometimes tell me I intimidate them. Me, intimidating, seriously? No, just confident. Read more>>
Jeremy Chontow
I used to consider myself to be a pretty introverted person. It’s easy to be when half the job is writing music in front of a screen but of course the other half is networking and marketing the business so I wanted to adapt. I took a few server positions at a handful of restaurants and got more comfortable talking to people. At the root of it all, I needed to be my own greatest advocate and believe in myself above all which wasn’t something I learned, moreso adopted for the sake of finding success in a very competitive industry. That started the day I stopped being comfortable in my environments. I read somewhere, “you have to do things you’ve never done to get places you’ve never been”. Read more>>
Maggie Overbaugh
I feel like confidence and self-esteem may feel like something that can be built and stay, but it is ever changing. Its not linear and for me personally, I go through waves of confidence with my work. I think the thing that was most important in developing my confidence & self-esteem was learning patience with myself and lessening the need to take everything so serious. While it is great that I have standards for myself and want to constantly be putting out new & improved work- the reality is that majority of my work can be mediocre to me, and still be good! Read more>>
Dante Hancock
Growing up with Epilepsy; which is a disorder that causes seizures, I had days where my confidence was little to none. On most days; having self-esteem was a very challenging task for me. My disorder caused seizures everyday and the symptoms were noticeable which made me feel like an outcast as I felt that I did not fit in with the normal crowd. Epilepsy spells would cause me to pass out and fall into violent tremors. In some cases I would have to be hospitalized for overnight monitoring. Read more>>
Kris Neri
To my mind there are a few components that go into building confidence and self-esteem. We need to produce something valuable, of course, and feel justifiable pride in that. But in addition to being aware of how far we’ve come, we need to be honest about what will be required to move forward. If we’re fortunate, we’ll have a mentor or mentors who’ll provide genuine feedback about our progress, confirming we should feel confident, and they’ll help us to develop the skills to accomplish more. Read more>>
Amos Knoll
I always believed in myself and my ability to make things happen. When I saw as a child old newsreel from WWI and WWII, including Concentration Camps and the killing of millions of Jewish people and many other ethnicities, I just believed you must always believe in yourself because governments come and go and laws are passed to help the power in charge.
The same thing can happen here in America if the socialist-communist party ever gets hold of our congress, senate, and the president. I know it’s hard to believe. An example is Iran. Their radical Islamic goal is to convert America to Islam or kill each one of us. Or take Hamas, in their charter is to destroy Israel and kill every Jewish person. How will they do it? Just look at October 7th, 2023, how they shot, cut off the heads of babies and raped women, etc. They would love to do the same to Americans. Hard to believe in 2024. Read more>>
Karen Williamson
I developed my confidence and self-esteem by embracing who I am fully and unapologetically. Being different has always set me apart, and instead of seeing that as something to hide, I made it my strength. I carry myself with a sense of excellence, knowing that when I walk into a room, people notice. It’s not just about how I look, it’s also the energy I bring, wherever I am. My journey has been about owning my uniqueness and recognizing that my presence has value simply because I choose to stand tall, both literally and figuratively. Read more>>
Rosa Nice
As a young girl, I moved around a lot from city to city as my parents were in the military and then divorced. When I finally settled into a suburb of Philadelphia, PA, called Radnor, even though I was there from 5th grade -12th grade, I was mercilessly bullied by the boys and girls of my school. I remember when the same kids that sat next to me on the bus would make whale sounds as I passed by in the halls. I recall the same girls that I went to youth group with, would ignore me in the cafeteria. This led to an extremely low self-esteem for an overweight me. Read more>>
Seth Campbell
I’m drawn to this question because there’s so many times of the day where I still feel like I don’t have any confidence. Or that my sense of self and my self-esteem are low. For most of my life I struggled with crippling self doubt and the fact that I would never rise above mediocrity in most things.
But I chose this question, so I must have some, right? Can you be confident and not all at the same time? Read more>>
