Meet Chelsea Austin

We were lucky to catch up with Chelsea Austin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Chelsea, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
Imposter syndrome likes to rear its ugly little head just when you’re on the precipice of doing something amazing or about to find success in one area or another of your life. It’s like a little dragon in your mind that wants to challenge you and make sure you’re ready to take that next leap of faith. I have often found myself standing on stages comparing myself to people like Brené Brown, Glennon Doyle, or Gabby Bernstein. Every time I exited the stage I would feel frustrated, disappointed, and not good enough because I felt like I didn’t live up to those individuals who do similar work. It suddenly struck me that it made perfect sense that I was feeling like an imposter because every time I got on stage I was comparing myself to someone else. Instead of going out there and being the most Chelsea version of Chelsea, I was trying to be Brené or Glennon or Gabby. So, I realized it was time for me to lean into being me. There is a certain unique value proposition that I think every human has and it’s in our best interest to lean into that uniqueness instead of constantly trying to emulate someone else. We can learn a lot from others, of course, but there’s also a certain way that we do things. A certain delivery we have. A way we walk, talk, behave, and offer information. It is for those reasons that we, and not someone else, get hired to do a job. It was an amazing reminder every time I spoke to a new audience. I look at what makes the way I do things unique, think about what I can offer each audience, and go from there. When I walk off of a stage with the meter for success being whether or not I was my authentic self rather than how good I was at emulating someone else my imposter syndrome began to loosen its grip on me. This isn’t to say that it never comes up, but I now have the tools to dispel it and go out there and perform and provide a service for which I can feel great.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m the author of the book “Inexplicably Me: A Story of Labels, Worthiness, And Refusing To Be Boxed In,” the co-host of the podcast “Worthiness Warriors,” and a certified coach. As a coach, I developed a 30-day “Flip the Script” course on how to move from self-doubt to self-acceptance, a topic very near and dear to my heart because it is something I have struggled with so often. I am also an LGBTQ+ advocate. I’m the daughter of two gay men, both of whom I am biologically related to, and I have made a career out of spreading love and acceptance. I believe that loving and accepting others starts with loving and accepting yourself and that is why so much of the work I do is about individuals turning inward and finding ways to grow before looking outward to see how we can build bridges with individuals or communities that might be different from us or that we don’t understand. I’ve spoken on large stages for the Human Rights Campaign since I was a teenager and continue my career as a speaker on self-worth, self-care, and acceptance for many different colleges, universities, and professional organizations. I love connecting with people, sharing my story, and having an opportunity to hear the stories of others. That’s one of the best parts of my job. Meeting people virtually or in-person at events and being able to use my podcast, which I co-host with my dad, Kevin Montgomery, to provide others a platform to tell their stories feels like magic to me. I think one of the best ways we can connect is through vulnerability and having open and honest conversations with each other, which is why speaking all over the world and podcasting have become such a huge part of the work I do. Not to mention, both are tons of fun.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
As an entrepreneur, I have found that three very important qualities/skills to have in your corner are self-discipline, time management, and grace. The first two came very naturally to me, the third was much more of a challenge. When you work for yourself, self-discipline can be a huge obstacle to overcome if you have a hard time getting motivated. Something that can help is setting a schedule for yourself to adhere to as you start your journey toward your goals. Knowing how to manage your time wisely is also incredibly important. We can get bogged down doing things that aren’t as critical instead of focusing on what has to get done and what the ideal timeline is for that task. I have often put much more on my to-do list than was necessary. Getting realistic about deadlines and knowing that you only have so much time in a day can help you work more efficiently and give yourself more time for self-care. You will often hear people say that working for themselves, they work more hours than they ever did working for someone else and that can be true. But you also have an opportunity to give yourself more grace and to provide yourself with more reasonable deadlines. Knowing that you cannot be sure when inspiration will strike, be honest with yourself about when things need to get done and how much time each task will take. I cannot tell you how often I’ve underestimated the time something will take and then find myself scrambling. When in doubt, give yourself more time to get something done than you think is necessary- you’ll end up under-promising and over-delivering, which is always more enjoyable than the alternative.
This leads me to giving yourself grace. Grace is so underrated. We are always competing for who has done the most in a day, who is the most stressed, tired, and overwhelmed, and let me tell you, I think we were all dropped off at the wrong competition. What if we focused on how we could work efficiently without overwhelming ourselves, how we can allow ourselves to make mistakes and know it’s not a referendum on who we are as people, or just take a break before we need it? When you allow yourself grace, you open yourself up to finding more joy and less stress in your work. Things become a lot more fun and less overwhelming. There will always be stressful moments, but we don’t have to accept that as our norm. Being an overachiever it was hard to give myself grace…then I got pregnant and I didn’t have a choice but to do so. However, you don’t have to be pregnant or sick or exhausted to give yourself some grace (which can mean anything from moving a task to your list for tomorrow, delegating a project, stopping work a bit early, or just taking an actual lunch break to name a few). When you practice self-care and love you become more productive, the work you put out is of higher quality, and you’ll have more fun doing it. It takes a lot of self-discipline to practice grace, but that’s why it’s called practice. You aren’t expected to be perfect at it right away or ever.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?
This is a great question because it’s hard to talk about, but so necessary to know that other people are facing challenges all the time too and you are not alone. One challenge that seems to be coming up for me over and over is where to put the majority of my energy. I have noticed that at different times throughout the last few years, different parts of my work have provided the largest return (and that could be monetary return, return in terms of energy input/output, or just joy I experience doing a certain project). Sometimes it’s my book, then it’s speaking engagements, or the podcast, or social media offerings, or courses, or something I haven’t yet discovered! I love all of these facets of my work, but not knowing what exactly is going to be the best use of my time can have me dividing my energy between many projects simultaneously. On the one hand, this keeps every day interesting, on the other hand, I can at times feel like I’m banging my head against a wall unsure of what is the highest priority. Right now I am finding myself doing a lot of soul-searching to see where I feel I need to put my energy and I’m realizing a lot of it has to do with where I have the most enjoyment. However, this challenge seems to come up and then subside in waves, which I believe as an entrepreneur is to be expected.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Hannah Rummel Photography Leo and Laine Florida Behavioral Health Association

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