Confidence in a Backpack (And Things I’m Learning the Hard Way)

I’m drafting a blog about—well, I won’t spoil it for you—but I’m going to borrow two quotes from it here.

Starting with this one of two from Priyanka Chopra Jonas on Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast, I recently caught:

“Sometimes we conform to rules that stop our ability to grow.”

Holy moly, wild timing.
Because I’ve been in the thick of breaking those very rules, and also breaking down in the process.

If you’re in sales, entrepreneurship, or building anything that matters, you know what I mean.
And if you’re also a solo operator, a single dad, a Kident (that’s the term I created for a child of a parent you’re caregiving for), or someone carrying your world on your back while chasing a vision?

Keep reading. This one’s for us.

Confidence in a Backpack

“Confidence is not something you always need…. Put it in your backpack.”

Put my confidence in my backpack?
Priyanka… The audacity… Fire!!

As a new founder and a former sales pro, corporate raised me to do the opposite:
Lead with confidence.
Posture with certainty.
Close with conviction. Always.

Confidence wasn’t optional. It was the uniform.

But lately?

I’ve realized real growth doesn’t strut in.
It sneaks in on a day you almost didn’t show up.

Last month, as many of you know, was a big one:
First guest speaking gig.
Two features.
A solid gold 3-month strategy.
A new t-shirt.
And, one—well, we’ll get to that.

You’d think I’d feel on top of the world.
But instead, I felt exhausted.
Not shining. Not sleeping.

I was quietly building something behind the scenes: my new website for Workplace Woke. A vision I’ve had for a while now, and that needed to live outside of my blog, but still reflect what I do best:

Helping workplaces evolve into something more human, more honest, more… woke.
(In the truest sense of the word.)

For a while, I thought I’d just do a quick redirect.
Maybe a /subdomain.
But neither felt right.

I researched. I debated.
Almost convinced myself to compromise to save time and money.

But something in me said:
No. You’re building a separate thing. Give your poppin’ new company the space it deserves.

So I built it.

Me. Myself. No dev team.
Just hours of trial and error, missed sleep, declined invites, and paused projects.

Not sure why, but it also felt quite different from when I built my blog website.

And that confidence?
Yeah, it was deep in the backpack.

The Feature and the Freak-Out

Now let me be honest about what really pushed me to finish this website…

Weeks ago, someone I know kindly asked if I’d like to be featured in his weekly LinkedIn spotlight.

He requested a few bits of info, including my bio.

I was honored.
But I waited.
And waited.

Why?

Because I kept telling myself:
“I can’t send him my bio until my new website is done.” Guess I felt I needed a shiny link to prove I was legit.

So while technically, that bio had been ready for weeks…
I wasn’t.

Finally, I just told him the truth. Here’s the summary:

‘I’ve had this bio done, but I convinced myself I couldn’t send it until my new website was complete. And it isn’t. Yet. I’ve put so much pressure on myself trying to finish it, and honestly? I’m overwhelmed and burned out. But I also know you didn’t ask to feature a website. You asked to feature me. So, ready or not, let’s do this. Here is my bio.’

More or less.

His reply?

“🫵YOU are Worth it! You are MORE than enough! There is room for you at the top.”

And other wise drops of supercharged encouragement, followed by:

“Outstanding. You’ll be featured TOMORROW.”

Cue the panic

It was 2:43 p.m. when that last message came in. And honestly, if I’d known he was planning to feature me the very next day, I probably would’ve held off on sending the bio. I know. Not proud.

So, do you know I spent the next 13 hours finishing my website? With the last two spent on a whole-behind mobile optimization.

(“Whole-behind” is something my mother would’ve said. As a proper Christian woman, instead of saying the word “ass” she would always substitute it for “behind.” Deadbehind!)

At 1:14 a.m., I even messaged him trying to get out of it:

‘Please feel free to wait until a future Friday. I’m still fixing things on the mobile front. No pressure at all.’

By 3:19 a.m., I gave up and sent:

“Ok, it’s not perfect, but it’s better now.”

By 3:30 a.m., I had crashed.

He didn’t wait. The next morning, he sent me this:

“Perfection is the enemy of greatness. Most people are paralyzed by paralysis by analysis. Instead of doing something—anything—and then improving on what they did. We are so proud of you.”

And by 11:20 a.m., the feature was live: my work, my video, and yes—my newborn: WorkplaceWoke.com.

It was just a small mention at the end of his rich, decadent article.

(Yes, I’m allowed to use words like rich and decadent to describe a feature written about me, and if someone wrote a feature that made you look like a total G, you would too.)

I couldn’t ignore the tiny but mighty voice in my head repeating:

“What did we learn, Erin? What did we learn…”
SMH.

All the pressure, the perfecting, the delays? They were never necessary.

The feature was about me. My mission. My impact. My voice.

Again—I was enough already.

So why am I sharing this?

This isn’t just my public announcement that the new Workplace Woke site is finally live.
(Though it is—go look. Celebrate it with me.)

This is also a love note to anyone building something meaningful right now.

We put so much pressure on ourselves to follow the old rules.
To prove we’re legit.
To show the world we “belong.”

When really, we’re here to write something entirely new.

So let me say this to the founders, creators, and get-er-done’ers:

The journey isn’t linear.
You don’t have to be well-rested.
You don’t even have to be fully “confident”, which, honestly, might be my favorite part.

Put your confidence in your backpack. It’s okay to let it recharge for a bit—Priyanka’s point, really (more on that next time).
Let your courage do the pre-work.

And when the moment comes,
Walk in. Not because you’ve nailed it.
Walk in because it’s your turn.

A note from Erin: Thank you for being here! If these ideas or perspectives resonate with you, I’d love for you to subscribe or share them with someone you care about. If you want to make a change or when the time feels right, I’m here to help. Check out my NEW WEBSITE to explore how we can work together—or swing by my “CONTACT” page to say hello, ask a question, or start a conversation.