Self-Worth, the Human Experience and UNBLOCKED Courage: Finding Clarity in Career Paths and Career Pivots
Episode Details
Transcript
In this deeply personal and powerful episode, we sit down with our long-time friend and leadership coach, Natalie Dumond. Natalie is a certified Dare to Lead facilitator, speaker, and the creator of The Worthy Project, a transformational coaching program for women.
Natalie shares how she walked away from a successful HR career to follow a calling she couldn’t ignore. A calling filled with courage, vulnerability, and a whole lot of uncertainty. We talk about what it really takes to leave the "safe" path, how to overcome the voice in your head that keeps you stuck, and why naming your shame is the first step in reclaiming your worth.
In this conversation, Natalie shares:
- What was behind her leap from corporate to coaching (and how a glowing door helped her decide)
- How she got quoted in Brené Brown’sDare to Lead and what it taught her
- What the “itty bitty shitty committee” is and how to stop it from running your life
- The role of self-talk, action, and intuition in getting unblocked
- A reminder that your personal story has the power to heal others BUT only if you show up and share it
This one’s for anyone who’s staring down a big decision, battling inner doubt, or ready to take the leap toward something that actually lights them up.
Every other Thursday, we talk to people who got UNBLOCKED. You'll hear stories about finding clarity, career paths, career pivots and living with intention. Our guests tell us how they realized something had to change, made bold moves, and built lives that feel more aligned, more alive, and more intentional. We’ll share some of our own stories, too, because we’re right here, figuring it out like everyone else.
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Speaker 0
I think what's been powerful for me is, you know, not only do I get to teach this work around vulnerability and shame and empathy and all of that stuff, but I get to practice and live it. And so when these big emotions come in or these thoughts come in, it's here for me to explore. It's uncomfortable every single time, but when I get on the other side of it, it feels better. But it's just being able to trust your intuition, check the thoughts that are coming in, and then, like, have action. You have to do something. Speaker 1
Hi. I'm Whitney. Speaker 2
And I'm Greg. Welcome to the Unblock Yourself podcast. Speaker 1
Too many of us are stuck on autopilot. We're following a path that seems like it wasn't our choice, leaving us feeling stuck even when life looks good on the outside. Speaker 2
In each episode, we sit down with people who escaped autopilot and are unblocked. They share the stories about what they're doing now and what they did to get Speaker 1
there. You'll leave feeling inspired by the stories you hear, but more importantly, you'll have real tactical steps to get unblocked in your own life. Speaker 2
Today, we're talking to Natalie Dimond, who who's an authority on the power of communication, and her signature workshops empower teams to have courageous conversations with one another, which is no easy feat. Her work has impacted organizations across North America and began after fifteen years in the corporate world. Natalie's work is deeply personal to us as she's been her friend for over a decade, and as we discussed in this episode, served as a coach to Whitney to help set her on a path to unblock her from the shame she's carried through her whole life, work that continues to this day. Natalie shares the steps that she took to get unblocked moving from a job in corporate HR and then stepping into the unknown, creating her own courageous path. What was so exciting about this episode is how after just a few minutes, we kinda forgot the script that we'd set out for ourselves, and the whole conversation just took on a life of its own. Natalie shares an idea that will help you put a label on that voice inside your head that is there to hold you back, not push you forward. Natalie, we are so thrilled that you're here. We've known each other a long time. This is the first time we're having a recorded conversation like this, and it's just such a thrill to have you here. Thank you for joining us. Speaker 0
Thank you for having me. I'm excited. I always love talking to both of you. So and now we're just gonna do it, for the Internet to see. So let's do it. Speaker 2
Yeah. The for the world to see. Speaker 1
Yeah. Exactly. That's perfect. Well, I will start by saying, we met, I guess, it was twenty twenty one, and I actually have experience working with you as a client. And I remember I think I was I was talking to I think it was a recruiter or someone, and I was feeling a bit, like, lost in my career. And Greg and I are establishing, like, our relationship, and we've just bought a house, and there's a lot going on. And the recruiter was like, I think you need to talk to Natalie Dumond. So I reached out to you, and, I didn't know that actually there had been a connection with Greg, before. So it was sort of this, yeah, sort of this surprise. But I reached out to you, and we hit it off right away. And I started your I signed up to take your worthy project, which was awesome. So I just wanted to share that that was the most that was the most impactful program that I have ever done. Oh. You helped me, uncover so much shame that I had been dealing with, and it was just it was it was incredible. So I just wanna thank you for that. You were wonderful. Speaker 0
Thank you. That's so nice. No. It was it was, yeah, it was a a a wonderful surprise when I started that discovery call with you and found out more about you. And then once we found out our background and our more of our connection, with with Greg, I was like, oh, okay. And it just it all worked out. It was it was always a joy to talk to you and find out where you were at and then watch your growth and your development and just be able to hold space for that. It was it was an honor to do that. Speaker 1
That's awesome. Well, thank you. And, honestly, without going through that, Vienna Waits would have never happened. Like, you were such a catalyst for everything that we're doing. So just a a huge thank you to you. But I think that's a good place to start. Sure. I'd love for you to maybe talk a little bit about The Worthy Project and where that came from. Speaker 0
Yeah. So The Worthy Project is a program, a coaching program that was created for mainly for women to really just explore more clarity, more courage, and more confidence in themselves so they can go after the life that they really want to be living in. And so, it's a twelve week program that just really or no. Eight week program, sorry, that looked at helping women just feel better about who they are. And how it came to be is I'm also a facilitator and a speaker, and every single time I not well, most a lot of the time I was getting off the stage or wrapping up a, a workshop. A lot of women were coming to speak to me afterwards and just asking about confidence. Like, how do I feel more confident with who I am? And so I decided to take a leap of faith and put a program out to help women specifically. Like, I'm a big fan of women. I I love them. I think they're absolutely amazing, but I saw a lot of women questioning their worth, living in a lot of unconscious shame, and they didn't need to be. So I decided to take what I've learned and just turn around and pass that knowledge down to whoever wanted to listen. And so that's kind of how it came to be. Speaker 2
Natalie, thank you for thank you for sharing that. And I think the work to support and acknowledge where women are at and women's growth is so important. And you you embody so much of that grit and resilience determination. So it you're a great role model for women in doing that, and we certainly wanna hear more about what you're building, what you're doing now. But you didn't start doing that work, certainly. Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
But I think you started, if we're not mistaken, in HR, where you got your start professionally with human resources. So there's a connection there. There's people in HR. The work you do now is to support and develop people. Is there a common thread there for you? Is it always been about people supporting people, developing people, growing people? And if so, what what drives that or what's behind that? Speaker 0
Yeah. I think it was always kind of who I was. You know, the you know how you get little breadcrumbs throughout life to kinda indicate, like, where you should be heading? You know, I was the kid on the playground that people would talk to. Right? I was the dorky girl, but everyone told their problems too. And, I still was at all the way through, you know, high school and into university. And then when I found human resources, when I got into that career, I just my favorite part of my job was when someone said, hey, Nat. Can I talk to you? And I'd lean in and be like, yes. Like, I wasn't about writing, you know, policies or anything like that, but I love training, and I love watching people develop. And I loved having really meaningful, impactful conversations where I got to be curious or just understand how they were thinking. So that kind of led into and I loved also understanding communication, watching people have hard conversations or why they weren't having hard conversations. I loved understanding performance management. What made people perform a certain way and what didn't? What caused conflict? So I've always, I think, on like, underneath it all, loved understanding human behavior. So I was curious as an observer, but also with my own life, my own struggles, like, how can I improve? So I really jumped into self development. And anytime I did that, I you know, almost in an obnoxious way, I turn around and, like, try to show everybody else what I learned. And so that's kind of how it came to be. So through HR, I developed a bunch of skills in that industry, which is great, and a network. And when I decided to go out on my own, it just it made sense that I would focus on development and training and and communication. And it was just a nice blend of the whole thing. It was it was time for me to leave that career for sure. Speaker 1
Curious, Natalie. Was there, like, a a thing? I think so many people kinda get stuck on this thing we call autopilot. Was there a thing that was going on at that point where you're like, you know what? I wanna take this risk. I wanna take a chance. I wanna go out on my own. Like, was there a a reason for that switch or a catalyst or something that kind of put that in motion? Speaker 0
Well, a couple of things happened. I had recently come back from my second maternity leave, and I had been doing some work on maternity leave or just interest. It was around the work of Brene Brown, and I did this amazing course called brave leaders. And I was able to her team reached out to me to get input on what I thought of the course and what transpired from that, was just me being incredibly inspired by the work that Brene was putting out with her research around vulnerability, courage, where leadership was heading. And I and I took that back to the organization that I was working at on my maternity leave, and I really brought that to life in certain ways in performance management and feedback. And when, eight months later after I returned and implemented some of her teachings, they reached out to say, hey. Did you apply anything? And I and I said, yeah. I did. And they asked what I had done, and it all just rolled into her inviting me to, be in her book, Dare to Lead. And I wrote three pages of her book on performance management. Speaker 1
You're famous. You're in her book. Speaker 2
We're fans. We have we have a couple copies. Speaker 0
I'm in the book. That was really cool. Yeah. It was it was pretty a pivotal moment in the career for sure. And I was like, well, what can I do with this? And I didn't do much at the time. I remember getting the book, the signed copy from her, and I it was October ninth. And I just, what year was that? Two thousand and eighteen. And I just sat there holding the book. I didn't do anything with it. I didn't announce anything. There was nothing. But luckily, she and her and her team invited me down to train in Texas, in March of that year to take their lead and bring it to life as a facilitator. So that was an honor to do as well. So between that, I was also getting my coaching certification in the background because one of my mentors, Jackie Lauer, who is absolutely amazing, she came along and asked me if I would ever experience coaching, thought about becoming a coach. She thought I might be good for it. And I remember walking into that room the first time, and I was like, oh my gosh. Here are my people. Cool. It just felt like more of a natural fit. So, eighteen months I became a coach and and did all that. And I really was going to take that work back to the company. I was like, I'll bring a coaching program back. But as I did my own work and with the dare to lead and Brene Brown, I was also having this deep in, like, calling or my intuition was telling me something was off. I just didn't feel satisfied with HR anymore. It wasn't lighting me up. And I was like, I know a change is coming here, and it was scary and uncomfortable. I wasn't passionate anymore about HR the way that I typically am about things I work on, so I knew a change was coming. So I made the change, I think, in December of two thousand and eighteen, and then I went and talked to the CEO. And I left in March of two thousand and nineteen and decided I was gonna go start my own, and I ran around telling everybody about vulnerability. And, that was kind of the start. I just basically jumped. I jumped and didn't have anything fully baked. I had the dare to lead program, which was great, but I had to do a lot of convincing and get people to buy in on vulnerability and curiosity and what's the ROI on any of that. So Speaker 2
Right. Speaker 0
Anyway, that was that was a start. Speaker 1
Oh, man. So did you actually meet Brene Brown? Speaker 0
I did. Yeah. That's so cool. I've met her twice. So she's lovely. She's strong. She's boundary. She's just like what you you see. She's all the things. She's one of my biggest mentors, so she's great. Speaker 2
I think it's an amazing story of transformation for you, Natalie, because HR was a thing that let you up and was connected to your foundation and who you were. And then you were doing this work, and then at some point, it just sort of petered off for you. The passion went away. Life changes were happening, but you're also doing some of this work in the background. Something about who you are, though, caused you to take action and go and meet with your CEO in December and then choose to leave in just a few months later. I think you've probably observed, we certainly have, that lots of people just don't have the conversation with the CEO or don't pull shoot in March. If you can remember what motivated you to go and have those conversations and then to to leave. Speaker 0
I was just I was unhappy. I was really unhappy, and, I just didn't wanna stay there in that, like, that feeling. And every time I had a coaching conversation or thought about the idea of facilitating dare to lead with with other people, like, that calling just felt bigger. It felt more inspired. And so I remember I got this visualization of, like, three doors. And I was being coached, and she asked me to close my eyes. And just because I was sitting with a lot of anxiety, I felt there was just big emotions with leaving, and I felt, like, unsure about things and where I was really gonna go. And she asked me to close my eyes and what I saw. And the image that came up was three big doors for me, and I was kinda standing in front of them. One and they were kinda colored. One was blue, one was green, and then the other one didn't really have a color. But the way that the best thing I could describe was it was kinda like there was color coming behind it. It was, like, vibrating. It was so bright. It was almost like shaking. Right? The first door was stay with the company that I was at. It it I knew it. It would probably be safe. I'd probably, you know, I'd, you know, make great money, but I'd be unhappy. I just it wasn't resonating anymore. The green door was a company that was inviting me to come and work with them, but it was in a similar way. But so it would be a different organization. It would be new and fresh, so a little bit better. And then the other door was, like, go and start your own organization. Like, you don't know what's really behind it, but it felt exciting. It felt like it was vibrating, so I did that. Speaker 1
I love that visual of the three doors, and it's kinda the ones glowing, but you don't know what's behind it. That's very that's very cool. Speaker 0
Wow. You have to go and check out door number three. Speaker 1
It's always door number three. Speaker 2
Yeah. This idea of taking door number three and choosing that vibrant door, I mean, there's gonna be all kinds of things on the other side. What are some of the things that have been behind door number three for you that are firing you up, that are filling that tank for you, that are exciting and why? Speaker 0
Yeah. Well, the first words coming up is, like, freedom, autonomy, sovereignty, creativity, like, making a bigger impact. Like, HR is lovely and great, and I have the most respect for people that work in that career. I just wanted to do something that had more impact with individuals. So, yeah, that's what was behind the door. And fear was behind the door. Uncertainty was behind the door. All of it. Speaker 2
The the words you use, like sovereignty and freedom, autonomy, those are big words. I mean, what does that meant for you literally? Like, what is it I think you went to Mexico recently and we're delivering programming. You've so you've been you've been traveling a bit, but just what does it mean in a practical sense in your day to day now? Speaker 0
It's just you know, it's it's scary in the fact that it's all on you, and then it's freeing in the fact that it's all on you. It just depends on how you look at it. Right? Are you gonna create from this space, or are you gonna, like, think about lack? And I've definitely, you know, oscillated between two of them. I've majority staying in, like, creativity and the freedom and, you know, all of that and the abundance of it. But I've def I remember I had about six months where I didn't wanna hustle. I didn't wanna prove. I didn't wanna do anything. And the money just kinda, like, stopped flowing in, and it got really I got really into scarcity mindset, lack mindset. Like, is this even gonna be good enough? What can I do? So you can go back and forth, but, like, it's just such an empowering place to know it's all on me. Speaker 1
I think you had a few things going on, within your personal life through the last, call it, five years or so. You and your husband made a big decision to move with two young kids. And I remember when you were telling Greg and I about that move and the way you described it, I just loved it so much. It was something to the effect of why would I visit the place I love and live in the city? Why don't I live in the place I love and visit the city? So I just thought that was so beautiful. But what was that time like? Speaker 0
Yeah. You know, twenty twenty, twenty twenty one, huge changes for I don't know anyone that wasn't affected by that time period in some way. And for us, we were both running our own businesses at the time, and it was like, in the why are we staying here when we're always, you know, packing up to drive four hours north to be in nature and to be in a community that felt more connected. So we decided to, yeah, make the shift. And, in twenty twenty one, we landed up here in Muskoka, Ontario, and it's just been great. It's a reset for the nervous system. And I've been able to do the work from up here just as much as I'd be able to do it from the city, and it's been lovely. And now it's been really positive as I'm even seeing the work being asked for up here. I'm working with different organizations in the Muskoka region. So it's nice. Because, you know, there was that fear of, like, oh, will I get will I get work? You know? Will I miss my network? Can I still have the impact? And so far so good. Speaker 1
Probably meeting people you never otherwise would have. Speaker 0
Yeah. Exactly. So it was a person working out of Gravenhurst for the city council there, and they were on an HR call years ago that I had happened to be doing a a a speak or talk with. She remembered me, reached out, and, yeah, and now she's just been a huge advocate for me to other HR, professionals in Muskoka region. So it's just kind of, yeah, I'm getting out there by word-of-mouth, which has been lovely. Speaker 1
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I'd like to go back to that, the question before of things have turned out and you've had you've been able to create a business and a lifestyle that fits the vision that you had about what was what might be behind door number three. But, again, not to go into this dark place, but you've had those times where maybe the hustle stops and the money dries up or you're questioning yourself. I think when when we think about people getting unblocked, it's like this idea that, oh, I'm going to now it'll be fine and things will be great on the other side. What if what if some of the challenges been? Speaker 0
I think what's been powerful for me is, you know, not only do I get to teach this work around vulnerability and shame and empathy and all of that stuff, but I get to practice and live it. And so when these big emotions come in or these thoughts come in, it's here for me to explore. It's uncomfortable every single time, but when I get on the other side of it, it feels better. But it's just being able to trust your intuition, check the thoughts that are coming in, and then do may like, have action. You have to do something. Right? Because believe me, like, I love to sit and thought. I love to think about things, talk about the things, read the books, you know, listen to the podcast. I do that. I love doing that. It's just that's the space I wanna be in. However, if I don't act on something, I just stay in the cycle of thought, and I can't and I don't move forward. So it's like, you know, be thoughtful about what you want and dream, but then take some actions. You know? Pick up the phone. Have a call. You know? Ask Chat GPT to write a business plan for you or, like, you there's so many things that you could do to take those steps forward. Right? So everybody can do it. They just have to believe that they're worthy of doing it and then just start taking those little bit, you know, baby steps. Follow those breadcrumbs. Speaker 1
Yeah. Like, that was gonna be a question that I had. Is it is it hard for you to put the things that you teach into practice for yourself? Speaker 0
Yeah. Sometimes for sure. Yeah. Like, right you know, one of the areas I teach is around core values. You know, like, what are your core values? And I know mine. And sometimes it's like, I'm not living them. And so it's humbling. Right? You're like, okay. And it's just a a regrounding of that. When those itty bitty shitty committee, you know, thoughts come in as I call it, when they when they come through, I need to I grab a sticky note, and I write them out. I see what the the mean person is saying to me, and I take a hard look at it. So, yeah, I just what I'm grateful for now more than ever is to have the tools. I know that they're there. I can go pick them up. Sometimes it's just hard to do that. Speaker 2
There's something to this that when you are aware of your values and you're doing that work and you feel out of alignment with them, it could put you into a place of saying, well, I'm living out of alignment. I'm a fraud. Or I'm not I'm not good enough and just set that aside and say, I should just stop it and go back to it. But the the message of well, no. These are actually ways to identify that I'm off track, but I'm human. And these now are my are are these are my my my way and my tools to keep myself on track and keep myself moving forward. So you see it as a as a thing that empowers you and doesn't hold you back. And I think there's a lot of maturity in that. And I think it's a barrier that a lot of people would face to making a change is, well, as soon as I see a failure or feel that I'm off track, well, it's just a signal that I should stop. But I think what you're saying is these are signals that you're are on track, you're growing, and you're moving in a direction that I mean, ultimately, is you're proving to yourself how worthy and capable you really are. Speaker 0
Yeah. Like, everyone's going to make mistakes. Everyone's gonna have setbacks, failures. Things don't go the way that you had hoped. But checking in and just grounding yourself doesn't you know, you're just growing. You're just finding it. Like, who I was when I was twenty is so different than who I am at forty. You know, I'm forty four now, but it's like and I, you know, I'll probably be different at sixty four, and that's okay. But just to be able to check back in and be like, who am I now? What do I need now? It's it's okay to do that. I'm not failing. I'm just growing. Speaker 2
I feel like I need a coaching session with Natalie because I haven't heard that one, and I think that's Speaker 1
good. I I forgot about the itty bitty shitty committee, and I need to put that back into my into my pocket to use when I'm when I'm feeling that way. So thank you for that reminder. Speaker 0
Oh, it's so good. So all of us have this internal dialogue with ourselves. Right? And a lot of it's in an unconscious way. And what's really powerful is understanding how you talk to yourself all day, right, or in hard times or just what are you saying? And so I, you know, I've called it the itty bitty shitty committee. It's that voice in your head to say you aren't enough or who do you think you are. Right? Who do you think you are to be asking for that promotion? Who do you think you are to be starting that business? Right? Or you're not capable enough. You're not experienced enough. You're not funny enough. You're not thin enough. You're not something. You know? There's always something for us. And what happens for so many is it just runs on this unconscious loop, and it really helps us. That's how we show up in a room. For me, it was always around my intelligence. I always thought that I wasn't very smart. I was pretty average, and that's what I told myself. I was just average looking. I was average, you know, in intelligence. I was just average person, and that's how I walked in every single room. And so it was, like, this shame that I was bringing in. And when anyone would kinda touch upon it, maybe I did make a mistake. Or maybe someone would ask me a question in my HR days, and it was in front of the entire company, and I didn't know the answer. That warm wash of shame washes over, and I just wanted to hide or shrink. Right? Or if if the shame you know, whatever narrative was going on for me was touched by somebody that was close to me, you would go into attack, defensive, blame. Right? So what this work has done for me is show me where to dig in, what are my narratives, and then here's the empowering thing. You get to check if this actually is true, somewhat true, or it's not true at all, and you can drop it. Right? So there's different categories because sometimes it feels like a really true statement. But a lot of the time, it's not true. So for me, when I uncovered how I was talking to myself about my intelligence, I was like, okay. Let's look at this. So I got my sticky note out. I wrote it down and said, you know, something to the effect of, like, I'm really not that smart or whatever. And that's what shame is. You're worried about someone finding that out about you. So I'm gonna own it first. So I took a look at it, and I was like, is that true, somewhat true, or not true? And I was like, that's that's not true. That's not a true statement. I don't believe that to be true. There are certain things that I am not intelligent or want to be intelligent in. Like, I should never be doing your taxes. That is not my zone of genius. Right? But if you want to talk to me about how you feel or you wanna talk about conflict or emotions, I can do that all day every day. I'm great at that. So I change the narrative, and I don't you will never catch me saying that anymore because how you talk about yourself is what you call call in, and it's how you show up in every room. So understanding your itty bitty shitty committee is so incredibly powerful. And, yeah, I do it in every workshop and with all of my one to one clients. So when you're ready, Greg, let me know. Speaker 2
Well, I I think we just did it. That was amazing. But Okay. I think I think you gotta you gotta walk me through. This is a conversation that that we have often is as a as a man, just to go a little therapy for a moment. But as a man, the word shame is not something I'm familiar with. It's not something that was introduced to me that I was that I talked about, that I even in books that I read, if I see the word shame, I think of it as something that doesn't necessarily apply to me. But I think we all carry shame in some way. But I think I believe, at least in my case, and I can only speak from my experience specifically, but I I've seen it in some of the men that we are now working with in our programming that that's a there's a bit of a there's a disconnect there, I think, for a lot of men Mhmm. With that notion of what shame is. And I think you've got to be able to name it in order to tame it, like, to be able to call it out and Mhmm. And actually work on it. And I think that there is a gap. Do you see that in your work? Women are maybe more open to that idea of naming and identifying their shame, but men are either reluctant to or don't have the tools. I'm just so curious because that's definitely been my experience of what we see. Speaker 0
It's been my experience, and maybe why I have been you I work more with women is because, one, just being I think when you can see in yourself and the other person, I think that really helps. But I know with my clients, women can go deep into vulnerability and understanding their shame very quickly. The male clients I have to work with, you know, I feel for them because it is so hard for them to, one, understand it and how it affects them and how it's showing up because it hasn't really been that talked about or even safe to bring up for a lot of them. So I think there's a lot of healing that could be done for a lot of men, you know, with each other too. Like, that would be really a powerful movement if more men started talking about vulnerability and shame and what that means for them. Because when you can see yourself in other people, like, it's just so powerful. But I it takes a lot of courage to step into that, so we need more men doing that work. So I'm glad you're starting it. Speaker 2
Yeah. We're here we're here for it. And we've had some incredible men in our programming that are have leaned into that conversation and have started to open up and be vulnerable as as men and as just people. It it's amazing to see how healing that can be and how that can move people past something that's blocking them. Speaker 0
Because everybody experiences shame. There's only the only group that doesn't experience shame based on the research is, sociopaths or sociopathology. So all other most humans do experience shame. You know? And one, we're you know, everyone experiences it. Two, we're all afraid to talk about it. And three, the less you talk about it, the more control and power it has over you. And so I think that's what's running unconscious for so many people. And that's why, you know, in hard conversations or in the workplace setting, you get, you know, you get everyone walking around with their own individual stuff that they're not dealing or healing with, and then they meet it with somebody else, and you just are getting a lot of this in personal lives, in professional lives, since people aren't getting grounded with how are they talking to themselves, how are they showing up, What's the energy that they're bringing into the room? You know, it's really easy to be defensive or blame other people. It's so hard to sit with yourself. It it takes a lot of courage to do that. Speaker 1
Well and I know the analogy that you had shared is this idea of shame sitting in, like, a petri dish and, you know, you put it in this dark place and it festers and grows. And, you know, the only way to really stop it from from growing and having so much control over you is by bringing it out, bringing it into the light, shed the light on it, talk about it, like, open it up. So, yeah, I just I really loved that that visual when you had shared that too. Speaker 0
It's so hard, and you and it's a really good way to think about it. It's kinda like, yeah, it's in this petri dish and, you know, it's festering and growing. You think it's disgusting. People are just gonna look at it and, like, judge it. And so it feels like I know when I was working a lot through my shame stuff, it it felt like I was going to be exposed. That felt so unbearable that if people knew this about my past or just, you know, my upbringing or just certain things, the narratives that I'm holding on to, they won't like me. They won't wanna date me. They won't respect me. They won't want to work with me. Like, these narratives so it's like push it down, keep it hidden, mask up for everybody else. And it's it's just not it's hard to function in the way that you want in an authentic way when shame is in the driver's seat. It's really blocking a lot of people and their connections with other people, which is what we're here to do. We're all here to connect to other human beings. Not it doesn't have to be thousands or hundreds, but deep connections with other people, but that shame is keeping us out of it. And it's through empathy and self compassion. Empathy to others and self compassion that moves us through our empathy. I mean, through our shame with other people. Speaker 1
That voice inside everyone's head is so powerful. It's like, you know, that's the voice that you're gonna hear the most, and so you have to be really careful about about what it's saying. Speaker 0
Yeah. Because how you talk about yourself comes about. Right? And so that's really empowering. You get to choose how you talk about yourself. So why not be empowered with it? Speaker 1
So I feel like you've shared a ton of advice, and I think we're gonna wrap up here. But just a couple questions, couple, last questions. So if there's is there a piece of advice that you would give, to somebody who's maybe feeling a bit blocked or, you know, scared of starting something or really not living intentionally? Is there one piece of advice? I'm sure you have a ton of advice that you could provide, but what's the one thing that you could share? Speaker 0
One thing. It the word is action. Right? Confidence comes from a a couple of things. One of the main things is just taking action. Right? Try something. Test something out. See if you like it. See if it resonates with people. And if it doesn't, that's okay. Try something else again. Like, just take the action. Move forward. That would probably be the best advice I could give somebody that's feeling blocked in something. Just put yourself out there, and see what comes from it. And, you know, I'll and the other thing, if I do two things, check the narrative, check how you're talking to yourself. Right? Do you think you're worthy to even go for it? Because if you don't, then that's that's where the work has to start. Like, you have to like, the biggest thing for so many of us is we get worried about what other people are gonna think about us. And it's like, can you flip the narrative to be like, what if people need this? What if, you know, this service, this product, this idea could help somebody else? So stop making it about you. Make it about how I could be in service to other people, and that just seems to kind I don't know. It makes your chest go a little bit broader. It makes you think that there's possibility. There's more impact. Right? Instead of, like, oh, people are gonna think this is stupid that I tried this or you know? Like, what if it doesn't? What if it just helps like, one of the things I tell myself when I go into any room, just connect with one person that. One just help one person that could have hundreds of thousands of people in the room. Just one. And that seems to get me over some of the itty bitty shitty committee stuff for me is what if it impacted one person? I'll leave you with this too. It's like, a coach said to me and it's kinda cheesy, but I loved it, and I've never forgotten it. But it's like, every human being has medicine on their own heart that they can only give out. That's it. It's for you to share with the world. And if you don't give out that medicine, there's so many people that are gonna suffer or not heal because you didn't show up. Right? And so I just I've always remembered that everybody has something on their heart to share, and so many people will miss out because you didn't show up. So go go share that. Speaker 2
I I think you wrapped that up so nicely, Natalie, and this I heard this, just the other day, this notion that the greatest way to differentiate yourself or the the greatest competitive advantage is authenticity. And I think that that notion of we all have medicine to give if we authentically give it is just such a beautiful way to think about that. And I think not to give this way for everybody else, but you might have said that to us. That might have been the push that got us started on this journey. What if just one person shows up? And and I think that we talk about that all the time, and I think it's a powerful reminder. Speaker 0
It's powerful. It's just a way to reframe it. Yeah. One person. What if you impacted just one person? Would you do it? Most people would do it. Speaker 1
We had to have that conversation a few times early on. Definitely. We're like, just one person. That was it. And then we changed the number to a million, so we're working towards that. But, but just one. We've we've hit one, so that's good so far. Speaker 0
You're well on your way. Speaker 2
Well, Natalie, having you as part of as part of this community of people that are contributing to this work and to the the narrative and this idea of just moving forward, getting unblocked, is deeply meaningful to us and to anybody listening to this. They'll just have found what you shared to be so insightful and helpful. So thank you for spending this time with us. We're so grateful that you're here and a part of our world, and we look forward to just continue to be a part of yours. Thank you. Speaker 0
Yeah. Thank you, Natalie. Thank you. Loved it. Love the conversation. Thank you. Speaker 2
Thank you for listening to the Unblock Yourself podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to follow and rate the podcast. Your ratings and feedback mean the world to us. We'd love to stay connected with you via our biweekly newsletter called the VNF five, where we share ideas and advice that we found helpful on our own journey to live with more intention. You can also find us on LinkedIn and Instagram. For those Gen Z listeners out there, no, we're not on TikTok. But if enough of you ask for it, we'll just have to do it at some point. The links to find us on social are in the show notes. The Unblock Yourself podcast is edited and produced by Bespoke Productions Hub. Thank you for being here. 
