2019 is the year of doing scary things and so far I've done two things which absolutely terrified me but I'm so pleased I did them!
If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen that the founder of Notonthehighstreet.com, Holly Tucker, invited me to be a guest on her inspirational podcast, The Conversations of Inspiration!
The podcast talks to small businesses and entrepreneurs all about the highs and lows of running a business whilst sharing advice and lessons learnt along the way. This was an incredible opportunity and I knew I just had to find the confidence to go for it!
You see, most people don't know that I didn't think I was going to make it. I'm a super shy person anyway and find talking to people difficult at the best of times, let alone recording a podcast! I managed to tie myself in such a knot over this that I made myself ill through worry and anxiety! Thankfully my husband Ross and friend Becka were just down the phone line to keep my mind busy as I travelled to London!
Once I was in Holly's home I felt a lot better, although still incredibly nervous! It took me a day or so to get over those knots but it was worth it. Why? Because I pushed myself out of my comfort zone. How am I supposed to get better at these scary things if I don't push myself to do them? You can't get better at something if you don't try. If you'd like to listen to the podcast episode, you can find it on spotify & itunes or you can do so by clicking here!
So when Fiona from messaged me about joining her as a panelist for her midweek mingle, I was terrified. But did I still do it? Yes! Why? Because it's the only way I can overcome the fear and make myself proud. You've got to 'feel the fear & do it anyway'.
Being a panelist for the She Can She Did midweek mingle was a whole new level of scary because it wasn't just me and another person chatting. It was in front of a live audience and I hadn't spoken in front a crowd since we had to do presentations on our projects at University!
I went up to Bristol early to see Aime from Studio Cotton and then met Annah from Girl and Bird for dinner. Although dinner turned into a sandwich in the park which got stolen after I was attacked by a hungry seagull! Which to some extent took the edge off of what I was about to do!
From the start Fiona was absolutely lovely and made me feel as comfortable as she possibly could and I couldn't have asked for anymore and the other panellists were really lovely too and before I knew it, the whole thing was over and we were back to mingling again!
Looking back there are things that I would have liked to have done differently but that's the thing with doing things that you're not used to. You know how to do it differently next time! That and that I'm super self critical. But everything is a learning curve and I'm content with the lessons I have learnt so far by stepping out my comfort zone. I'm excited to see in which scary direction I step next!