Nothing is by mistake. Life is a series of lessons. Last year I received an email from @seriousbusinessconf asking if I’d be open to being a keynote speaker in January 2025. At first I thought they emailed me by mistake 😅. After a zoom meeting both @bennemtin and I were hired to speak at the same conference 🤯. Ben’s agent emailed confused asking if I have ever even given a keynote. Despite the lack of experience, I decided then and there that I was giving this keynote come hell or high water. I enlisted in the top speaking coach in the U.S. and #2 speaker globally to coach me through this process: @bennemtin. I couldn’t afford him, so I had to figure out other ways to repay him 😉. Ben began to regret signing me up as a client. I’d be lying if I said I was the easiest student. Constantly hounding me to get started and confiscating my phone so that I would sit down and work, I began to revert to a teenager and rebelled coming up with every excuse not to work. The reality: I was terrified. I wasn’t terrified of getting up on a stage necessarily, I was terrified that it wouldn’t be perfect. I, like many others, have battled perfectionism my whole life and it’s still a constant battle. As the time grew closer, Ben made some final edits, @feedyourbelly_withmellie created my power point (takes a village), and I was ready to go. Then LA caught fire. One of the greater disasters I’ve lived through. I kept thinking of ways to cancel, but instead began to use the fire as fuel. Bad things happen everywhere all the time and it’s only going to continue. I’ve been given this incredible opportunity and to not take it would be a form of self betrayal. As soon as I got up on that stage, I became incredibly present. I was fully embodied. For what it was, I nailed it. Who knows if I’ll give another keynote again, but this just reaffirmed my belief that I always need to go towards what scares me. To make fear my friend and always turn my pain into purpose. That the only one ever holding me back is myself and it has always been myself. Also that @bennemtin is insanely good at what he does. I COULD NOT HAVE DONE THIS WITHOUT HIM. 🙏🏼❤️