04/25/2026
Called out.
At a local speakerโs association meeting, I prefaced my response to an audience question with: โ ๐ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ง๐ข๐๐ข๐๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฌ.โ
The speaker stopped me mid-sentence. His response, though bluntly delivered, cut to the truth: โ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐, ๐ง๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐.โ
Zinger.
I sat with that and with myself.
The truth is: I AM a first-generation kid. I AM amongst the first in my family to complete high school, earn undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, build a career in corporate America, and now own a leadership and career development practice.
That took grit, gumption, and grace, wrapped in faith and a willingness to keep learning and adapting.
๐๐ก๐๐ง ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ, ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ. ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ, ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ.
Thatโs the work I do with leaders: I help them stop shrinking from the story that shaped them and start leading from it.
๐ป๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฐโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐. ๐ด๐ ๐๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ด๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.
๐๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ: What are your โI AMโ realities? How are you letting them inform your leadership, or are you shrinking from them?