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Why using your voice is the key to unlocking your next level

Why using your voice is the key to unlocking your next level

How many times have you shrunk or downplayed your personality? And how many times did you think doing this would help you advance in the business world? One of my earliest memories of being told I was being “too much” was the feedback I’d get on my school report cards. They often read, “Nina is great, but she talks too much.” Well, all I can say is look at me now (lol). I literally get paid to speak and coach other women to use their voices to pitch the media and tell their stories. 

But I’m not the only woman who’s turned her “too much” into her superpower. I recently asked my IG community what they got in trouble for when they were younger and how they’ve turned that into their superpower as adults and businesswomen. Here are some of their responses:

How to get brand clarity

How to get brand clarity

The first step to getting brand clarity, especially if you have PR in mind, is to know that PR is not about you.

I know that might seem counterintuitive because it will ultimately put you and your brand in the spotlight- but it's really not, sis!

PR is about service.

When you pitch yourself to an editor, podcast host or influencer to be on their platform, it's to demonstrate how your expertise can serve their audience.

If you get the chance to contribute to their platform, you serve their audience by giving them value i.e. using your content to teach them new skills, help them solve a problem and so on.

This is the very essence of content marketing.

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome

Through their video, “If Cinderella were a Guy,” Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo (of Rebelgirls.co) highlight the fact that women are impacted by misogyny as early as childhood

Which, to summarise a previous post, is because of:

This then gives way to confidence issues by the time most girls reach primary or elementary school

(More so than boys)

Which manifests into issues such as imposter syndrome by the time that these girls become women

According to Cate Luzio’s Forbes article, “A Missing Factor in Women’s Leadership: Confidence“:

“The constant second guessing and self-reflection on what we [as women] can or cannot do and our fear of self-promotion has a significant impact on our ability to advance our careers”

She also adds that “although there are various factors missing in women’s leadership, [she] would argue that confidence is one of the most pressing”

One of the things that I love about Mahlah and her 4 sisters (Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah), though, is their show of confidence

For example

Lessons from Mahlah and her sisters on the first step to self-advocacy

Lessons from Mahlah and her sisters on the first step to self-advocacy

In August 2017 I wrote an article called “Lessons from 5 Rebel Girls of the Bible”

Which you can access here, sis

Among those that got an honourable mention were Mahlah and her 4 sisters- Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah

To summarise Numbers 27:1-11, they were the daughters of Zelophehad and when he died they advocated for themselves regarding their inheritance

by standing

“before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the leaders and all the congregation, by the doorway of the tabernacle of meeting, saying: 'Our father died in the wilderness...and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be removed from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father’s brothers'"

Causing God to instruct Moses to give it to them

Like it literally says that, when Moses brought their case before the Lord, He spoke to him saying:

“The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right; you shall surely give them a possession of inheritance among their father’s brothers, and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them."

Which shows that God is an advocate of women's rights, equality and leadership- despite what we may have traditionally been taught

Lessons from Esther on how to create relatable content

Lessons from Esther on how to create relatable content

Last week I mentioned that one of the things that we should be doing while waiting for our breakthrough(s) is seeking wise counsel from mentors

Rather than wallowing in discouragement

Esther is a prime example of this on at least 3 occasions. For example:

Esther 2:20

Which says “Esther had not revealed her people or family [before becoming queen], for Mordecai [her uncle] had charged her not to reveal it”

Esther 4:14

When she used her power, privelage and position as queen in service of her people at that same uncle’s behest.

But the specific passage that I had in mind when I mentioned this last week was Esther 2:15-18, which states that:

After their year of prep, when it was finally time for the ladies of the harem to meet the king “each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the women’s quarters to the king’s palace”. But-

When it was Esther’s turn to see the king, “she requested nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised”

which was more than likely something more catered to the King’s taste than hers, helping her to secure the crown

This coincides with my previous post re what Esther teaches us about why we shouldn’t feel bad for promoting ourselves

Remember that, sis?

When it comes to promoting yourself through PR content is also king

Because it:

  • Positions you as an expert in your field

  • Increases your authority and credibility

  • Gives you a larger platform to share your thought leadership and message

  • Attracts your ideal clients

  • And more

Like Esther, though, we shouldn’t be approaching it thinking about how we can serve and elevate ourselves but how we can serve and elevate others (the people attached to the platform we are pitching)

Because your success, in life and business, correlates with the amount of people that you serve by solving their problems

The best way to achieve this?

Do like Esther…

Research, sis!

Lessons from Esther on why how you do one thing is how you do everything

Lessons from Esther on why how you do one thing is how you do everything

James 1:23-24 says that the word of God is like a mirror

Because “if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was…”

Walking in purpose, especially if it involves entrepeneurship, is something that also holds a mirror up and reveals what’s on the inside of us

This is something that we see in the life of Esther

Lessons from Samson's Mother on How to lead authentically

Lessons from Samson's Mother on How to lead authentically

In my most recent post, I talked about How to be a trailblazer

You can read it here if you missed it, sis

Of the 5 things that I mentioned, one of them was the fact that being a trailblazer often means going first or being the first

which may mean discrimination, isolation, discomfort; people questioning your validity and/or the validity of your vision until God vindicates you- just like Zipporah suffered.

Going first or being the first also means leading by example, which is something that we see through Samson’s mum

To summarise a previous post about her:

Lessons from Zipporah on how to be the change you want to see

Lessons from Zipporah on how to be the change you want to see

In my most recent blog post I talked about the importance of taking a stand with your messaging, even if it’s polarising

You can read that here if you missed it, sis

The truth is, though, that sometimes your presence can be polarising not just because of what you say- but who you are

Don’t believe me?

Just look at Zipporah

Number’s 12:1 is very explicit about the fact that “Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married…”. In other words-

They disliked her, not because of the content of her character, but because she was a minority

The worst part?