We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shelby Leigh. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shelby below.
Hi Shelby, 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?
I have always experienced anxiety and self-doubt in many facets of life – relationships and friendships, career goals, public speaking, and more. I always wanted to be a writer, but had so much fear about sharing it with anyone. But I’ve learned that confidence doesn’t just happen – just like self-care, relationships, career, it’s something we have to proactively work on.
So, I do that by taking steps outside of my comfort zone – baby steps at first, though sometimes it feels like a gigantic leap! I always wanted to be a writer, but didn’t have the confidence to share my work. My first small step was sharing a poem anonymously online, and 7 years later, through more and more small steps, has led me to be the author of multiple bestselling books, get multiple book deals, build a following of more than 500,000 online who know me and connect with me (no longer anonymous!), start a company, and has led to many speaking opportunities, such as speaking at one of the largest book festivals near Dubai (Sharjah International Book Fair) last year.
None of this would have been possible if I hadn’t taken the small steps necessary to get out of my comfort zone and commit to proving my self-doubt wrong.
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’m a mental health poet who writes books about anxiety, self-doubt, insecurity with the goal of both healing myself and helping others on their self-acceptance journey too. I’m best known for my bestselling book, changing with the tides, and I’m so excited that my 4th book, from sand to stars, is now available to order and hits shelves Oct 1!
Lately, I’ve been writing a lot about time, and the pressure of time, as I check off goals in my life (and “fail” at other goals!). Society likes to tell us to have everything figured out by a certain age, or make us feel like we are falling behind, and that’s a concept I dive into in my work and in my new book.
Aside from writing books, which is incredibly meaningful to me, I am the founder of Marketing by Shelby, a creative coaching company that teaches others how to sell their products on social media to reach more customers and make a bigger impact! We’ve helped over 5000 authors and creatives to date through our programs.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. Persistence – Whenever I am feeling down about my progress, I take a look back at what would have happened if I had given up, or not persisted through challenges. It always motivates me to keep going! I truly believe that if you want to succeed at something, it comes down to showing up first and foremost and not wavering in your determination.
2. Being open to learning – I soak up knowledge wherever I can. Joining classes, networking with others, watching YouTube videos on a certain topic, hiring coaches, and reading lots and lots of books. Always being open to new perspectives, experiences, and being willing to experiment or say, “There must be another way!” is so helpful and keeps me feeling challenged.
3. Creativity – We all have it, even people who say they aren’t creative! But it has to be practiced, and then it will come more easily. I’m a writer, but when I feel stuck, I explore other forms of creativity. Marketing is something I love and find really creative, but I also like coloring, trying new crafts, baking and experimenting with recipes, and solving puzzles to get my brain working! Let yourself be creative, build it into your calendar, and you’ll find those creative ideas will come more easily to you when you need them.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
This past year, I’ve implemented boundaries and stepping away from my business more than ever before. (And I still have a way to go!) In the early days of starting my business and during book launches, it was so normal for me to work all day every day, but that led to overwhelm and burnout and exhaustion.
Now, I set intentional breaks during my day and I learned about when my brain works best so that I can be more productive when I am working (even if it’s the evening, which I’ve found is actually really a productive time for me!) and be able to finish work easier.
That has also come with setting boundaries, reducing the number of 1:1 clients I’ve taken on, and even ending a program I really loved but that I knew was for the best. These are not things I ever would have considered a year ago, so it shows the progress I’ve made!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shelbyleigh.co
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/shelbyleighpoetry
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@marketingbyshelby
Image Credits
Brooke Nicole Creative Co.
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
