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Every time you walk into a room, people are forming an impression of you.

There is perception: what people believe about you based on what they have seen, heard, and experienced. There is reception: how it actually feels to interact with you and what people carry with them after the conversation ends.

But there is a third piece that I think we skip far too often: How do you see yourself?

We spend a lot of time thinking about how other people perceive us. We wonder if we came across as confident enough, if our idea landed, if we said the right thing, or what people might be saying after we leave the room. But before we can be intentional about any of that, we have to understand the image we hold of ourselves.

Do you see yourself as someone whose voice belongs in the room? Do you trust your own expertise? Are you clear about what you stand for, what matters to you, and how you want people to experience you?

The goal is to make sure the way you’re showing up reflects who you actually know yourself to be.

That’s where this work gets really interesting. When you become clearer about how you see yourself, you can become much more intentional about how you communicate, what you allow, the boundaries you set, and what people come to know you for.

This is exactly what we’re going to explore inside Own Your Image, the final SheFirst workshop of 2026, on November 6.

If you’re heading into 2027 thinking about who you want to be, what you want to be known for, and how you want to show up in the rooms that matter to you, I’d love to have you join us. Tap the link in my bio and choose “Own Your Image Workshop: Nov 6.”

#coachapproachtoleadership #womeninleadership #shefirst #selfleadership #executivepresence #leadershipdevelopment

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Every time you walk into a room, people are forming an impression of you.

There is perception: what people believe about you based on what they have seen, heard, and experienced. There is reception: how it actually feels to interact with you and what people carry with them after the conversation ends.

But there is a third piece that I think we skip far too often: How do you see yourself?

We spend a lot of time thinking about how other people perceive us. We wonder if we came across as confident enough, if our idea landed, if we said the right thing, or what people might be saying after we leave the room. But before we can be intentional about any of that, we have to understand the image we hold of ourselves.

Do you see yourself as someone whose voice belongs in the room? Do you trust your own expertise? Are you clear about what you stand for, what matters to you, and how you want people to experience you?

The goal is to make sure the way you’re showing up reflects who you actually know yourself to be.

That’s where this work gets really interesting. When you become clearer about how you see yourself, you can become much more intentional about how you communicate, what you allow, the boundaries you set, and what people come to know you for.

This is exactly what we’re going to explore inside Own Your Image, the final SheFirst workshop of 2026, on November 6.

If you’re heading into 2027 thinking about who you want to be, what you want to be known for, and how you want to show up in the rooms that matter to you, I’d love to have you join us. Tap the link in my bio and choose “Own Your Image Workshop: Nov 6.”

#coachapproachtoleadership #womeninleadership #shefirst #selfleadership #executivepresence #leadershipdevelopment

Do you ever feel like this flower? Surrounded by mud, still showing color anyway.

I stopped on my hike today just to look at it for a minute.

So many of the women I coach are doing exactly this. They are blooming through the mud of their circumstances: financial, relational, emotional, spiritual. Their minds are full and they have a lot that they manage, consider and think about. And in the mud is where the growth occurs.

You can bloom right where you are, mud and all. Keep growing where you’re planted.

And if you are ready to look honestly at what has been keeping you in the mud and decide it is time to step into a clearer, more intentional version of yourself, Own Your Image on November 6 was built for exactly that. Tap the link in my bio and choose “Own Your Image Workshop: Nov 6.”

#shefirst #thecoachapproach #womeninleadership #selfleadership #personalgrowth #shefirstworkshop

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Do you ever feel like this flower? Surrounded by mud, still showing color anyway.

I stopped on my hike today just to look at it for a minute.

So many of the women I coach are doing exactly this. They are blooming through the mud of their circumstances: financial, relational, emotional, spiritual. Their minds are full and they have a lot that they manage, consider and think about. And in the mud is where the growth occurs.

You can bloom right where you are, mud and all. Keep growing where you’re planted.

And if you are ready to look honestly at what has been keeping you in the mud and decide it is time to step into a clearer, more intentional version of yourself, Own Your Image on November 6 was built for exactly that. Tap the link in my bio and choose “Own Your Image Workshop: Nov 6.”

#shefirst #thecoachapproach #womeninleadership #selfleadership #personalgrowth #shefirstworkshop

Getting fired from a pizza place at nineteen taught me something I am still using.

It was the Fourth of July. We were understaffed. My manager had me running the register, bussing tables, taking orders, and making pizzas all at once. I was doing my best and still could not keep up.

Here is the pattern I see in that job and in almost every coaching business I work with. We stay busy with the parts that feel safe and let that busyness stand in for the parts that actually require us.

I will be honest. I have been waiting over a month to reach out to a past client who has been on my heart. I have an invitation for them. And I keep finding something else to do instead because some part of me feels the rejection before it has even happened. That client feels too big to lose, which means I am losing them anyway by not showing up.

The coaches I work with do the same thing. They spend their hours on the CRM, the funnel, the website, the scheduling tool. They tell themselves it is about being ready. It is usually about some version of fear.

Client connection is the job, and it comes before the systems are perfect. The conversation where someone feels genuinely seen is what turns a stranger into a client and a client into someone who stays.

This month in the Coach Approach to Leadership newsletter I write about getting out of the back of house and back in front of the people you are here to serve. Read the full newsletter on my website. Tap the link in my bio and choose “Read the Latest Newsletter.”

#coachapproachtoleadership #coaches #coachingbusiness #activatecoaches #leadershipcoaching #executivecoaching

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Getting fired from a pizza place at nineteen taught me something I am still using.

It was the Fourth of July. We were understaffed. My manager had me running the register, bussing tables, taking orders, and making pizzas all at once. I was doing my best and still could not keep up.

Here is the pattern I see in that job and in almost every coaching business I work with. We stay busy with the parts that feel safe and let that busyness stand in for the parts that actually require us.

I will be honest. I have been waiting over a month to reach out to a past client who has been on my heart. I have an invitation for them. And I keep finding something else to do instead because some part of me feels the rejection before it has even happened. That client feels too big to lose, which means I am losing them anyway by not showing up.

The coaches I work with do the same thing. They spend their hours on the CRM, the funnel, the website, the scheduling tool. They tell themselves it is about being ready. It is usually about some version of fear.

Client connection is the job, and it comes before the systems are perfect. The conversation where someone feels genuinely seen is what turns a stranger into a client and a client into someone who stays.

This month in the Coach Approach to Leadership newsletter I write about getting out of the back of house and back in front of the people you are here to serve. Read the full newsletter on my website. Tap the link in my bio and choose “Read the Latest Newsletter.”

#coachapproachtoleadership #coaches #coachingbusiness #activatecoaches #leadershipcoaching #executivecoaching

Most of what erodes a leader’s confidence is not a fact.

It’s the story we’ve attached to a scenario, and the meaning we give it, that breaks confidence down.

I was in a session with my own coach, who challenged the stories I had given my list of circumstances with a simple question. Is that 100 percent true? Whether it was understandable or reasonable didn’t matter in that moment. The only question was whether it was true.

We create stories to make sense of our circumstance, to defend our position as well as our behavior. And to us, and the way we tell it, almost every story makes sense when there is the right amount of fear and history underneath it.

The client who went quiet probably hated the proposal. The team member who pushed back is probably checked out. The room that got still when you walked in probably has a problem with you. Each of those stories can feel like truth. But I encourage you to question it. Usually the story is just a story with a feeling attached to it that supports a lower version of who we are. And instead of looking at it as a growth opportunity, we treat it like data.

Here is what changes when you separate the two.

You own your image. You get your authority back. Because the story usually has you at the mercy of something or someone. The fact almost never does. The fact is just what happened. It is neutral. It has options inside it. Once we’ve decided what something means, we start responding to our interpretation instead of what’s actually in front of us.

Before your next hard conversation, try this. Write down what you know is true, just the observable facts, and then write down what you are making it mean. Look at the gap between those two things. That gap is where most of your leadership energy is going.

The good news is you get to decide what you do with that.

This is part of what we’ll explore inside Own Your Image on November 6. Tap the link in my bio and choose “Own Your Image Workshop: Nov 6.”

#coachapproachtoleadership #executiveleadership #leadershipdevelopment #executivepresence #selfleadership #thoughtleadersh

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Most of what erodes a leader’s confidence is not a fact.

It’s the story we’ve attached to a scenario, and the meaning we give it, that breaks confidence down.

I was in a session with my own coach, who challenged the stories I had given my list of circumstances with a simple question. Is that 100 percent true? Whether it was understandable or reasonable didn’t matter in that moment. The only question was whether it was true.

We create stories to make sense of our circumstance, to defend our position as well as our behavior. And to us, and the way we tell it, almost every story makes sense when there is the right amount of fear and history underneath it.

The client who went quiet probably hated the proposal. The team member who pushed back is probably checked out. The room that got still when you walked in probably has a problem with you. Each of those stories can feel like truth. But I encourage you to question it. Usually the story is just a story with a feeling attached to it that supports a lower version of who we are. And instead of looking at it as a growth opportunity, we treat it like data.

Here is what changes when you separate the two.

You own your image. You get your authority back. Because the story usually has you at the mercy of something or someone. The fact almost never does. The fact is just what happened. It is neutral. It has options inside it. Once we’ve decided what something means, we start responding to our interpretation instead of what’s actually in front of us.

Before your next hard conversation, try this. Write down what you know is true, just the observable facts, and then write down what you are making it mean. Look at the gap between those two things. That gap is where most of your leadership energy is going.

The good news is you get to decide what you do with that.

This is part of what we’ll explore inside Own Your Image on November 6. Tap the link in my bio and choose “Own Your Image Workshop: Nov 6.”

#coachapproachtoleadership #executiveleadership #leadershipdevelopment #executivepresence #selfleadership #thoughtleadersh

One of the smallest recommendations that I give to leaders that completely changes the tone of a conversation is to pay attention to how often they start a question with “why.”

Why did you do it that way? Why isn’t this done yet? Why didn’t you say something sooner?

As a leader, wanting the answers to these questions is reasonable and appropriate. You’re looking for information and trying to understand what happened. But to the person on the receiving end, “why” can sometimes sound less like curiosity and more like they’re being asked to defend themselves.

A simple shift is to try “what” or “how” instead.

What led you to that approach? What is getting in the way? How did you want this to go?

You’re still getting the information you need, but you’re creating more room for the other person to think, reflect, and give you an honest answer. And when people don’t feel like they have to immediately defend a decision, you’re much more likely to have the kind of open conversation that moves results forward.

Becoming a stronger leader doesn’t always require a huge change or another complicated framework. It’s about becoming more intentional with something as simple as the question you ask next. That is what my Coach Approach to Leadership is all about.

This week I invite you to pay attention to the questions you’re asking. How often do you lead with “why,” and what might change if you tried “what” or “how” instead?

If you’d like to talk through what this could look like for you or your team, tap the link in my bio and choose “Book a Connection Call.”

#coachapproachtoleadership #executiveleadership #leadershipdevelopment #thoughtleadership #executivepresence #organizationalleadership

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