Kindergarten Melissa Has Entered The Chat
Hey, Bold Soul,
OH EM GEE... I have news! For the first time ever, I got to be the guest on someone else's podcast and I'm still buzzing about it!
Theresa Hubbard invited me onto her show called My Inner Knowing, and what started as an interview turned into one of the most soul-level conversations I've had in a long time. We talked about boldness, self-trust, curiosity, leadership, energy leaks, and what happens when we finally stop waiting for permission to become more fully ourselves.
I'll admit it felt a little vulnerable to be on the answering end of an interview. I've spent years holding space for other people's stories, so telling my own out loud, without a script, stretched me in all the best ways. And isn't that exactly what I'm always inviting YOU to do?
Let me introduce you to two versions of me
In the episode, I talk about "Kindergarten Melissa," the curious, bold, natural leader I remember being as a little girl. She asked ALL the questions, she trusted her gut, and she had zero interest in shrinking to fit in.
Then there's "Corporate Melissa," the more filtered, careful, conditioned version of me who was shaped by Catholic school, the military, corporate systems, and a deep need to belong. She served me well for a long time... she kept me safe, she helped me succeed, and she also kept me quiet in rooms where I had plenty to say.
Maybe you have your own version of this, dear soul. The tough girl. The likable one. The one who always has it handled. Those roles helped us belong at one point, and many of us are still living from them years after we've outgrown them.
Here's a peek at what we dug into:
- Why boldness has nothing to do with being loud or forceful. So many people tell me they don't feel bold because they aren't the loudest voice in the room. Boldness is so much quieter than that sometimes... it can be the moment you choose to trust YOURSELF.
- How curiosity gets discouraged early in life. A lot of us learned that asking too many questions made us "difficult." What if that curiosity was actually your inner compass trying to guide you?
- Why self-trust includes listening to your body. Your body often knows before your brain catches up. When was the last time you paid attention to that tight chest or that gut feeling before saying yes?
- Energy leaks in workplaces, leadership, and teams. People and teams keep recycling the same frustrations over and over, and it drains everyone. Big huge energy leak.
- Ownership without shame. Owning your part is one of the most freeing things you can do, and it has zero to do with blaming yourself. It's simply noticing the pattern and choosing differently next time.
- Seeing the human behind the behavior. Leaders who get curious about the people they lead build teams that actually trust each other. What might you learn if you asked one more question before reacting?
- How confidence and courage differ. Courage usually comes first, and confidence follows once you've shown up for yourself enough times that it becomes embedded... your new default.
The invitation at the heart of it all
If there's one thing I hope you take from this episode, it's this: remember who you were before the world told you who to be.
Boldness is simply the process of coming back to yourself, slowly and honestly, with enough trust to stop living from the old roles. Sometimes it looks like noticing an old pattern of overexplaining, saying yes when you mean no, or carrying what was never yours to carry, and saying out loud, "I don't do that anymore." You get to do that with ownership and courage instead of shame or blame.
Returning to your curiosity. Returning to your intuition. Returning to your BODY and to the part of you that KNEW something long before anyone else weighed in.
🎧 Listen to the full episode here: https://youtu.be/bH8yg70QPBU?si=JvYIQpf-w0ClaJdc
A huge thank you to Theresa for creating such a warm, thoughtful space for this conversation. If it resonates with you, I'd love for you to share it with someone who needs a little nudge back toward themselves.
That little kid who asked all the questions and trusted her gut is still in there, and she's been waiting patiently for you to come back. Let's freaking go get her!
Keep becoming YOU!
Melissa
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