Meet Aleya Harris

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Aleya Harris. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Aleya below.

Hi Aleya, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

Confidence didn’t arrive gift-wrapped. I had to build it in the dark.

After I had my daughter, I went through postpartum depression so deep it felt like my light had been unplugged. I was used to being the woman who could walk into any room and command it. Suddenly, I didn’t even recognize myself in the mirror. I was exhausted, anxious, and constantly second-guessing everything I once knew for sure.

But that season became the forge for my confidence. I learned that real self-esteem isn’t built when life is easy. It’s born when you keep showing up, even when your hands are shaking.

Through therapy, storytelling, and my spiritual practice, I began to rebuild from the inside out. I stopped performing confidence and started embodying it. I asked myself hard questions: Who am I without the achievements? Without the stage lights? Without the applause? And slowly, I realized the answer—I’m still me.

That revelation changed everything. It’s what inspired my book, Spark the Stage, which helps others turn their stories into sources of power instead of pain. Because the moment you stop hiding your truth, you stop handing your confidence to other people for safekeeping.

Now, my self-esteem comes from alignment, not approval. It’s not about being fearless; it’s about being faithful to who I am.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I help people find the power in their story and then teach them how to use it to lead, speak, and live with authenticity.

As the founder of The Evolution Collective Inc. and the creator of Spark the Stage, I blend strategy with soul. My work sits at the intersection of storytelling, leadership, and transformation. Whether I’m coaching an executive to communicate with conviction or guiding an entrepreneur to turn their life lessons into a keynote, the goal is always the same: alignment. I help people stop performing and start connecting.

What excites me most is watching the moment someone realizes they don’t have to become someone else to succeed. They just need to be fully themselves on purpose. That shift is electric. It’s why I do this work.

Right now, I’m expanding my Spark the Stage ecosystem with new ways to help both entrepreneurs and corporate leaders use storytelling to drive real results. My bestselling book, Spark the Stage: Master the Art of Professional Speaking and Authentic Storytelling, continues to open doors for new speakers. I’ve also launched a high-touch VIP experience, The Corporate Speaker Accelerator, for executives ready to step into thought leadership and paid speaking.

At its heart, everything I do, every keynote, course, or consulting project, is about helping people rewrite their internal narratives so they can lead their external lives with more confidence, clarity, and freedom. Because when you own your story, you own your future.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The three qualities that shaped my journey most are self-awareness, storytelling, and resilience.

Self-awareness is the foundation. You can’t change what you won’t face. I had to get honest about the stories I was telling myself—about success, worth, motherhood, and what I thought “strong” looked like. Therapy, journaling, and spiritual practice helped me see where I was living from fear instead of truth. My advice? Create quiet. Reflect. Ask yourself what’s actually yours and what you’ve been carrying that doesn’t belong to you.

Storytelling is the bridge. Once you know who you are, you can communicate it with power and purpose. Learning to tell my story saved my confidence and built my career. It’s not just about speaking on a stage; it’s about learning to narrate your life from a place of ownership, not apology. If you want to grow this skill, start small. Share your story with someone safe. Notice how it lands. Then keep refining until your truth feels both healing and useful to others.

Resilience is the muscle. Every big move I’ve made, from publishing my book to building my company, came after a setback. You build resilience by showing up when it’s hard, not when it’s perfect. My advice? Stop waiting to feel ready. Take the step, learn, and trust that courage compounds.

When you combine those three, self-awareness, storytelling, and resilience, you stop chasing confidence and start becoming it. That’s when the real transformation begins.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

Absolutely. Collaboration is at the heart of what I do.

I’m always looking to partner with purpose-driven community leaders, coaches, and organizations who serve authors, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders, especially those who want to help their people bring their message from the page to the stage.

My From Page to Stage™ Partner Program offers a ready-to-deliver workshop that helps authors and experts turn their books and ideas into paid speaking opportunities. It’s a win-win collaboration: your community gains real, actionable tools to expand their reach, and partners receive revenue share and support from my team to make the experience seamless.

Beyond that, I love connecting with event organizers and companies who believe in authentic storytelling as a driver of leadership, engagement, and culture.

If you’re reading this and feel the spark, reach out through www.AleyaHarris.com or connect with me directly on LinkedIn. Let’s co-create something that transforms how people tell their stories and how those stories change the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.aleyaharris.com
• Instagram: @aleyaharris
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleyaharris/
• Other: https://www.evolutioncollective.com