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.
Ashley Joseph
As a child, you take your first breath and it’s almost like you just embody confidence and you know what it is. My parents really instilled that in me from a young age but as we get older disappointments happen, life happens and you have to find your way back. Read more >>>
Nicole Ying
My confidence and self-esteem have come from years of real work—putting in the hours, doing the hard things, and knowing deep down that the work is in me. It’s not to say I don’t feel doubts, pain, or disappointment, because I do, often. Read more >>>
Susan Whigham
Bill Parcells is quoted as saying, ‘You can’t dream up confidence. Confidence is born of demonstrated ability’. And the only way to demonstrate ability to myself was rolling up my sleeves and getting to work. Putting in the miles on my brushes, being honest about my efforts and works, and continuing to push myself are all part of my practice. Read more >>>
Matt Haynes
My confidence really began to grow when I discovered CrossFit in 2011. CrossFit was the first ‘sport’ that I excelled at. Up to that point, I had enjoyed the training side of sports like football, cross country, and swimming, but I never truly connected with the structure of mandatory practices and scheduled games or meets. Read more >>>
Abdull Albeloushi
Confidence didn’t come overnight. For a while, I struggled with self-esteem, but I made a choice not to settle for anything less than success. I stepped out of my comfort zone, connected with leaders in my field, joined professional communities, and invested in learning new skills. I see every challenge as an opportunity for growth. To me, there is no failure, only redirection. Read more >>>
Cinthia Torres
Building my confidence and self-esteem is something that has taken a while to build up. Having a great support system has helped me tremendously. My husband has helped in building my confidence in being able to put my work out there. While I was pregnant, I got a Kindle as a birthday gift. Read more >>>
Angela Satterlee
Like many creatives, I spent years second-guessing myself, chasing external validation, and letting powerful ideas fade because I didn’t believe I could bring them to life. It wasn’t until I stepped away from the comfort and chaos of a corporate career that I discovered the most valuable resource of all: time. Time to reconnect with passion. Time to trust my instincts. Read more >>>
Josh Rodriguez
Honestly, my confidence and self-esteem weren’t built overnight. They were earned the hard way. When I was a kid, I was pretty confident. I loved sports, I played football, and I even started out as a quarterback. But over the span of a couple of years, I went from quarterback to offensive line. Read more >>>
DAndrea Scott
My relationship with God. Family that encourages me. Believing in myself, also the lessons that I learned from. Read more >>>
Lilly Field
One place my confidence really shows is on a stage with a microphone in my hand. What blows my mind is there was a time I barely had the courage to talk to someone one on one. I had speech impediments that left me anxious, straight-up weird, and challenged by all things communication. The journey to self-esteem unfolded with baby steps. Read more >>>
Lindsey Rapp
I built my confidence and self-esteem by merging my background in nutrition with advanced esthetics to help people feel good in their skin. When I opened Lindsey Rapp Skin in Waterford, Michigan, I saw how treatments like Korean facials, microneedling, and anti-aging facials not only transformed skin but also gave clients a new sense of self-assurance. Read more >>>
Chirag Patel
A lot of my confidence came through photography before I even started working as a DP. I used to shoot a lot of stills. I spent hours going out, meeting strangers, observing life around me and capturing those moments. That process really shaped me in two ways. Firstly, it gave me communication skills. Read more >>>
Connie Rawson
I’ve always believed that some of the greatest leaps in our lives aren’t chosen—they are thrust upon us. That was certainly the case for me about ten years ago when I became the de facto leader of my team. Both my manager and the head of our department resigned, leaving a hole that I was suddenly asked to fill. Read more >>>
Aimee Barr
I recently learned that being humble basically means seeing yourself as you actually are—not as the superhero you pretend to be in the shower or the disaster you convince yourself you are at 3 AM. Who knew? Read more >>>
Faye Lauren
I would say my confidence comes from really loving myself. I like who I am as a person and believe that I am a kind hearted unique person. I radically accept myself fully. I also forgive the old versions of myself that didn’t know till I knew. I wish people would take more time to foster a deep relationship with themselves. Read more >>>
Alina Garcia-Burke
Confidence and self-esteem do not always come easily, especially for artists. The world tells us to shut off the parts of ourselves that are more out there, and to measure our worth due to our productivity. Daydreams then, are not valued. Because of this, it can be difficult to grow up as a creative person. Read more >>>
Laura Marzullo
Honestly, confidence and self-esteem have never been something that just “stayed consistent” for me. They come and go, especially in a creative space where you’re constantly putting yourself out there. Running my business has been a journey with a lot of self-doubt, worries, and even some tough mental health moments. Read more >>>
Erin Wright
Confidence is developed through experience and understanding. Experience gives us the base to build and grow. Each experience, whether successful or not, is a lesson to learn. The more we learn the better we are able to deal with similar challenges in the future and the more confident we become that we will be successful. Read more >>>
Tulimubona Namulemo
I struggled with confidence and self-esteem during my pre-teen and teenage years. As a Ugandan immigrant girl navigating the transition to life in the United States, I often felt out of place, which deepened those struggles. In an effort to overcome them, I initially turned to external solutions—changing my appearance and seeking validation from others. Read more >>>
Shaunii Rawls
I didn’t wake up one day magically confident. My self-esteem has grown little by little, through seasons of stretching, stumbling, and learning to love myself fully. Pageantry and modeling gave me the first push standing on stages and being seen when I wanted to hide taught me courage. Most of my confidence came from life itself. Read more >>>
Edwin Lafontant
As a kid I used to just sing my dad’s favorite songs while he’s listening to them. Then watching boy bands on mtv through my teens. Once I turned 21 I just started going to bars with karaoke and started singing songs in front of people and it felt really good to hear people loving your style and voice on the microphone. Read more >>>
Beverly Kirk
Two guiding quotes have been impactful on my life. Three generations of African American female parents placed a weight on my shoulders to stand tall, be brave and to keep moving forward. I now recognize my own self-esteem as I have dreams and sense of urgency into the lives of my three children. Read more >>>
Clay Icon Crow
Know thyself wasn’t a phrase that came natural for me. I wanted everyone else to be happy without understanding what made me happy. What came out of that was the awareness that I was already happy and my ability to see the best in others made me happier when I reflected that for them to see. Read more >>>
Charles Pigott
A little over seven years ago I was hospitalized due to liver issues. I found myself faced with the ultimatum of continuing down a path of alcoholism to my demise, or to try something different and live. Up until this point I had struggled with self-image, feeling like an outsider looking in, and just never really feeling like I belonged. My self-esteem was crap. Read more >>>
Zoe Garcia
I moved a lot throughout my youth, and being the new kid at school taught me early on that perception is everything. I learned that confidence builds trust, so I choose to act with confidence even before I fully feel. My sense of self continues to evolve, and nurturing it remains one of the most important things I can do. Read more >>>
K. Larru
I wasn’t always confident. In fact, I grew up being extremely shy, and to be honest, I still carry some of that with me. But joining the military was a turning point in my life. I’ll never forget the day I met Drill Sergeant Skids. He was loud, bold, and fearless; the exact opposite of how I saw myself at the time. Read more >>>
Emma de Crespigny
I believe that when you are passionate about something there’s not much choice but to pursue it. I think that creates self-confidence – belief in Self. And your vision accordingly. Read more >>>
Antonio Mere
With warm, analog-inspired production and storytelling that honors both classic sophistication and contemporary truth, Antonio Mere doesn’t just make music—he curates emotional experiences. Read more >>>
Paula Espinoza-Pizarro
As this is a one person operation and I work two jobs, one being a booking agent, and the other supporting my music career, I am slowly going back to doing interviews again, plus looking for help in editing the videos. Read more >>>
JULIA MORGAN
When it comes to decision-making skills, the first thing I think about is BASE jumping. As an athlete and coach in this sport, I know that decision-making can quite literally mean the difference between a safe jump and a serious accident. Good decisions start well before you leave the ground. Read more >>>
Brooke Morman
If it doesn’t make my heart sing and my soul sparkle, I will find a way to change the pace immediately. I make decisions solely based on three things: 1. Is it rational? Does this decision contribute to the short and long-term goals I have? 2. Will this add something to my life- emotional or financial stability, good karma, etc.? 3. Read more >>>
Shireen Crutchfield
I developed my decision making skills through a lot of bumps and bruises, I’ll tell you that! Although we are besties now, growing up, my big sister hated me, and she let it be known. I was the ‘pest,’ the ‘brat,’ ‘stupid…a slob…’ and many other painful things. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to fix it. Read more >>>
