It’s okay to be scared, often that’s a sign that you are pushing yourself towards greatness. However, it’s equally important to build up your confidence and we hope the conversations presented below can help provide some food for thought around how you can level up your confidence and self-esteem.
Christopher Peck
I like to say that confidence equals courage plus consistency. When I was in the fifth grade, I humiliated myself in front of the entire school during the annual spelling bee. The competition began with a practice word so participants could see how the process works and gain a little confidence. I was so nervous I misspelled my practice word— “JOB.” Read more>>
Molly Piszczek
Building confidence is something I’m constantly working on. Though I was a shy kid, I never thought about myself as lacking confidence; I loved playing sports, being goofy with friends, making home videos, and even got excited about giving presentations in class. But being a young person is hard. You attend brand new schools every few years, struggle to make friends–while also trying to get good grades–and for me, play club volleyball multiple times a week. As early as sixth grade, I generally felt socially anxious and like I didn’t really know what to say in groups of new people. Usually, it was easier to say no to new experiences than risk saying something awkward. Read more>>
Allison Martinek
It’s taken me a long time to get to a point where I can say that I am confident in my abilities as an artist and who I am as a person. It’s something that I had to build up over time and make small strides toward. Growing up, my confidence was non-existent, and my self-esteem was timid at best. In fact, I hated myself for a long time. I hated the way I looked. I hated dealing with multiple chronic conditions. I hated that no matter what, I always felt out of place. Read more>>
Laiya Reneè
You know, the journey of confidence and self-esteem is not linear. It’s not something that always comes naturally or even comes at all. Sometimes you really have to fake it till you make it. I really struggled in my younger days constantly comparing myself to other artist or just other people in general and could never be happy with who I was. Talk about a humbling experience right. I quickly learned that comparison really is the thief of joy and it really can strip your blessings. Accepting that God made me perfectly and wonderfully in his image was the best switch in perspective for me. Really loving on Laiya how God pours his love into me and his people. Read more>>
Marissa Price
Art has played a huge role in helping to develop my confidence and self-esteem. I have always been an avid reader (I thank my Mom for introducing me to books at a young age), and my self-image was bolstered as a child by reading about others who looked like me and whose life stories I could relate to. Music has been a consistent anchor throughout my life as well. Whenever I have a day when things feel ‘off’ and my confidence is lacking, I can always turn to music to uplift me and remind me of who I am and from whom I descend. I recently started writing again (I have a book of affirmations titled COCOON: Affirmations for Transformation), which has also been a way for me to reclaim the parts of myself that I lost along the way to adulthood. Art has been a sustaining force on my journey of self-confidence, and I’m so grateful for its impact. Read more>>
Gexuan An
Building my confidence has been a long and evolving journey, especially since I started my path in music much later than most of my peers. In the beginning, I felt a lot of doubt, particularly because I didn’t have the same formal foundation others seemed to have. But I realized that the best way to overcome this insecurity was through constant practice and exposure. By repeatedly immersing myself in challenges—whether it was learning orchestration, composing for indie films, or working with professional musicians—I slowly began to trust my abilities. Read more>>
Jingyi (tifanny) Chen
Developing confidence has been a continuous journey for me. Growing up in Beijing,
China, I was frequently compared with other students and often dealt with peer
pressure. Beijing, known for its abundant educational resources, is also highly
competitive. Imagine an 8-year-old kid taking extra lessons in every subject that was
already taught at school, like math and English, while also attending piano and ping-
pong classes after school and on weekends. At school, the ranking of our exam scores
was public. So I focused solely on achieving a high GPA, getting into a prestigious
university, and landing a respectable job to create a “perfect” life. Read more>>
Jazzmyn Red
Well let me first say, I’m an only child with two parents who poured a lot of love into me so I often tell people I inherently feel like I’m the best thing since dresses with pockets! But all jokes aside and despite my parent’s willingness to break generational curses so many of us know, there have been numerous times in my life I’ve struggled with confidence and imposter syndrome. It was instilled in me at an early age that I was great, I was special, and that I can do great things so I give a lot of credit to the people that raised me for teaching me my power before I even knew how important that was. But I would also say I’ve developed my confidence and self-esteem in a few ways. One of which is setting goals and making sure that I attain them. Read more>>
Mark Larwood
After I had moved to LA, I didn’t know a lot of people out here Some of buddies from high school had moved out here but trying to meet new people and making new friends has always been a struggle. I went to a bunch of difference schools growing up and most of my life and moved to a bunch of houses all over the Bay Area, like Redwood City, Atherton (twice), Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, and Saratoga, I always would isolate myself from others because I wasn’t sure if anyone was like me or wanted to be friends with me. But as I got older I realized that I was the one that needed to do the work to fit in. And when I say that I don’t mean in order to impress people, I meant just that I have to accept that I had flaws and that I needed to work on them like not getting upset over little things and trying to have more of a sense of humor about things. And luckily because of all of these experiences I’ve had, people have remained in my life and have stayed in touch with me as a result. Read more>>
Melissa Rathbun
I started my business in 1999, long before working from home was the norm. At the time, I was going through a divorce and, as a stay-at-home mom who had taught herself HTML, I wanted to create a life where I could put my daughters on the bus in the morning and be there to greet them in the afternoon. So, I started a web design business. Divorced, raising two girls, and stepping into the unknown—honestly, what choice did I have? If I didn’t believe in myself, who would? Read more>>
Xiaohan Lu
As a photographer in New York, building confidence and self-esteem has been a gradual journey. Here’s how I’ve developed it: Practice Makes Perfect: In the beginning, my photos weren’t always great, but I kept trying new angles and techniques. Over time, I found my own style and improved my skills. Practicing a lot helped me overcome my initial doubts and feel more confident in what I could do. Read more>>
Isabel Ponticello
I developed my confidence and self-esteem by treating myself with kindness and avoiding harsh self-criticism. Recognizing that everyone makes mistakes and use them as learning experiences. Also, I love developing new skills than can increase my self-confidence by taking on unfamiliar challenges as learning opportunities rather than threats. I believe these practices can help you stay grounded in the present moment and build inner peace, contributing to greater self-confidence. Read more>>
Darrell Dennis, Ii
I develop my confidence and self-esteem through setting goals (whether personal or for my business) and working until I achieve those goals. I then remember these achievements during difficult or unfamiliar instances. I also implement appropriate advice and guidance. Read more>>
Hao Zhang
Well, I used to be a bit sensitive person. Cause when I was at my university, my professor didn’t like my work cause my work was different and fall outside of the scope of tradition type of graphic design. I believe I’m exceptional and better than others. My professor didn’t like my work, didn’t mean I was wrong. Maybe my professor were out of dated. Chinese people simply knew that the knowledge taught at school would not help you find a job easily and not be kept up with the trend. 21st century is about new media, digital technologies, AI, and the Internet. Read more>>
