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.

Rebecca Cuming

My confidence as an artist stems from years of dedicated effort and achieving incremental goals. Setting attainable objectives and accomplishing them has helped me build momentum and self-assurance. Celebrating small wins not only keeps me motivated but if fuels my self-esteem and empowers me to set more ambitious goals. Read more>>

Melissa Jakes

Developing confidence and self-esteem as a business owner has been a continuous journey that I actively nurture through daily affirmations, setting high goals, and embracing growth opportunities. I start each day with affirmations like, “I am capable of achieving anything I set my mind to” and “My creativity and expertise bring value to every project I take on.” These positive reminders anchor me, especially on challenging days. Read more>>

Andre Kelton

Well I was raised in a very Blackcentric home. We were always taught to be proud of being Black and our environment was filled with Black representation in music, books arts, and magazines. We saw all the Black movies of the late 6o’s and 70’s and my Father worked hard to instill in his children a high self esteem that began with Black pride Read more>>

Chelsea Williams

In the past, I used to have extremely low self-esteem and confidence. Let’s be honest overcoming depression and low self-esteem is not the easiest thing to overcome. However, I truly put in the work to overcome these obstacles. The best thing about waking up to see another day is that we get another chance get it right. A chance to make ourselves happy and whatever you do not like within yourself you have the opportunity to change within. I started working out consistently, ensuring my hair and nails looked nice, and ultimately logging off social media platforms to get my mind together. Sometimes we allow social media to dictate where we are in life, how far along we should be or what we should look like as far as our appearance is concerned. My advice to anyone would be log off and tap in within yourself. I look in the mirror everyday and tell myself how beautiful and how much of a boss I truly am. I dont try to put on a show for anyone. I show up as my most authentic self. Read more>>

Matt Love

naivety. I refused to let what others thought of me dictate what I did for myself… but only after a certain age. for years I did what I was ‘supposed’ to do, go to college, get a degree, get a good job… blah blah blah. I think at some point we have to lift our head up and ask.. ‘if I keep going in this direction, and I get what I THINK I want, what does it look like?’. I realized that the path of architecture was NOT what I wanted to do with my life only after I graduated with a bachelors and masters. The profession let me down. so I could sulk and live a life of excuses, or pivot. I chose to pivot. I read the book “The Fountainhead’ by Ayn Rand, and the thesis is man’s ego and ability to follow what they think is right is the sole driver of human progress. I knew it was up to me to reach true fulfillment. SO I pivoted. I had NO idea where I was going to end up, the only thing I did know was, where I was, was not good enough. So, I believe we need to be directionally accurate in our endevors, even when we have NO IDEA where we’ll end up. the destination will change, it will look differently the further you follow the correct direction. it starts with how I talk to myself. that’s it. its all inside, and the more I let outside influence choose my direction the less true i’ll be to myself. Read more>>

Anna Paltseva

Growing up in Russia, I had an early start in building my confidence—reciting poems in front of family and friends as a child, later stepping into school concerts, theatrical performances, and eventually science conferences and competitions. In high school, I took on the role of hosting school events and even hosted on our school TV, which was both thrilling and a bit nerve-wracking! Competing in state and national science competitions also gave me incredible training in public speaking and taught me to overcome the fear of addressing a crowd. Read more>>

Saba Syed

My confidence and self-esteem are deeply anchored in my faith and trust in God. My faith teaches me that every person has inherent worth and dignity as part of God’s creation, and knowing that I was created with unique strengths is incredibly empowering. Read more>>

Sheel Yerneni

The only way really to develop confidence and self-esteem is to take what’s inside and lay it out all on the table. Exposing yourself, despite how you feel about your thoughts and mannerisms, is the only way to grow in the direction of confidence. And trusting that you’ll be able to figure out and navigate once you’ve done so builds self-efficacy which builds confidence like no other. No longer hiding anything about myself, I have both healed any parts that felt “shameful” or “stupid” and turned them into avenues to create unique art and just carry a more unique vulnerable more tend to appreciate. Read more>>

 Bradley Barks

My confidence and self-esteem took a rather exorbitant amount of time to build over many decades! Growing up having a speech impediment, I always felt like I wasn’t enough and broken in some way. It took many, many years for me to look back on my experiences and realize it shaped me into exactly who I needed to be to get to where I’ve gotten to today! Read more>>

Trevante Williams

I believe I developed my confidence and self-esteem from my family and from just being myself. Whether it was from watching my mom or dad carry themselves in a strong manner or watching everybody in my family honestly. I knew from a very young age that I wasn’t like everyone else. I thought differently and I saw the world differently, so I knew I was gonna approach things differently. At six or seven years old, I was listening to 50s and 60s music, and by the time I was 9, I had the whole anthology of “The Temptations” or the “The Jackson 5” instead of going outside like the other kids. So, I knew from an early age that I was different. I always looked people in their eyes when talking. I also always had a firm handshake and I always stood on what I believed. I definitely learned that from my family. Read more>>

Cheery Young

I strongly believe that everyone is unique and has special talent to do things different from others. Read more>>

Ivy Hunter

It’s been six years since I started my tattoo journey, but even now I’m not sure I’ve fully overcome the looming imposter syndrome. However, that feeling is the smallest it’s ever been, and I can already see the mass of progress I’ve made since the beginning. I gained most of my artistic confidence during college (2018-2022) where I learned the principles of art through various media, history classes, and critiques. In terms of sanitation -the most important aspect of the tattoo process- I’ve established my self-esteem through hours of research, a bloodborne pathogens certification, and with the first aid knowledge I gained during my four years of lifeguarding (2014-2018). The state I’m based in has their own parameters, plus my understanding of the standards of sanitation established in the Western tattoo industry. The business side of my tattoo confidence came through trial and error, hours of drawing, research, and practice, along with guidance from tattooist peers and experts throughout the years. I’ve learned and experienced the most since my growth after establishing my LLC in 2023, and I am so proud of how far I’ve come not only as a tattooist, but as an artist and businessperson. Read more>>

Grace Chimezie

Self-esteem, as described by Rosenberg in 1965, refers to the powerful inner attitude towards oneself, which can be positive or negative. My self-esteem and confidence has been influenced by various factors such as my childhood upbringing, media, society, and peer pressure. In my 20’s I dabbled in and out of being confidence for the earlier factors I mentioned, but now in my 30’s, I have solidified my confidence and how I feel about myself by doing the following: Read more>>

Divine Thomas

My self esteem and confidence come from my parents and my sister from young. They always instilled confidence within me. To always be myself and my self will always be enough. So that helped me command a room and allowed me to confidently be myself. Read more>>