Authenticity & Vulnerability

What I learned about authenticity and vulnerability at the Magnetic Marketing Workshop

So I went to a marketing workshop on Saturday and I learned so much. Yes, I learned about networking, perfecting my elevator pitch, and how to create easy content for Instagram. But I also learned so much about myself during, and in the days following the workshop. I found myself feeling incredibly vulnerable while recording videos and snapping pictures for my social media pages. I found myself wondering if I would be taken seriously if I started sharing more online as a professional. I wasn’t sure if I’d be good at making any type of content besides writing for a blog. I worried about what was safe to share, what is too personal? How can I truly be me, maintain my privacy to my comfort level, and share about myself and my brand online without coming off as manufactured and fake? Is it even possible?

For so long, I have held very negative beliefs about social media and all the harm it can do. I have experienced the addictive qualities. I have struggled with automatic behaviors with my phone. I have been unable to set boundaries in the past. All of these experiences, and more, have led to the beliefs I held about social media and why I had been so against it for so long. In my personal life, I had rejected it completely which honestly has not been a bad thing. It has allowed me to deepen my connections in real life, when in the past I may have used things like sharing reels with friends as a substitute for genuine closeness and the illusion of maintaining contact. It has allowed me to be more mindful and present in all aspects of my life. It has allowed me to return to hobbies I had in the past, and even try new ones.

In reflection over the weekend, two words continued to stand out to me. Authenticity was the first. This one actually came up during the workshop among myself and my colleague/content partner because we both felt so weird doing it! We joked about at least being authentic, if nothing else. But I continued to think about authenticity over the next day or so, and I realized the only way that I can do this is if I’m being authentic. The only way this will ever feel right to me is if I let authenticity lead me. Because the reality is, I am not a content creator or influencer. I have no interest (nor do I have the time) to keep up with trends online or make fancy edits and things like that. What I do want, and what I will make time for, is to increase the visibility of my brand. Not because I’m trying to sell something, but because I’m trying to help people. And I want my ideal client to be able to see me online and know that I’m for them. I want other professionals and small businesses to see me online and know that we would do well in community together. That is what’s important to me in this process.

The other word that came up for me while reflecting is vulnerability. Part of the reason I have been so against putting myself out there online is because it requires vulnerability in a way that I haven’t been comfortable with in a very long time. And that is because I stopped using social media in my personal life. It feels like a totally different landscape now! The features of these platforms have changed since I last used them, and there is so much for me to learn. Going back to the point of privacy, boundaries are extremely important in my professional life. I have held a fear that using social media would allow potential clients into my life in a way that would be too close. I have also held a fear of being judged, and negatively perceived in the online space. But what I realized after sitting with all these feelings over the weekend, is that vulnerability is required in order to really be authentic. How can I truly be me, if I’m worried about making everything just right, whether that’s the aesthetic of what I post, the angles I photograph myself at, or even the actual content I share? When I start to worry about curating a persona rather than just being me, I lose both vulnerability and authenticity in the process. 

Something else that I realized is how vulnerability and authenticity can be so impactful to our well-being. I promise this isn’t going to be a sales pitch about why you should work with me as a therapist. But that's just the way my brain works. I am always thinking about how to be better, and I don’t mean that in terms of success or achievement or externally tangible things. I mean how to be my best self. How to feel my best and show up for myself in ways that benefit me. So I considered how vulnerability and authenticity are required in order to truly be well. When we live in that space of fear and doubt, that can impact our self-esteem, self-confidence, and even self-worth. When we aren't truly ourselves, we don’t get the chance for people to really see us–which means we don’t give them the chance to actually like what they see! If we don’t take the risk (and yes, vulnerability is a risk) of showing our true selves, we are teaching ourselves that we aren’t good enough the way that we are. That we need to be changed in some way in order to be acceptable. And to be quite honest, that is simply not true. We are all wonderfully unique and valuable, just the way we are.

So, I signed up for this workshop to gain some knowledge on marketing to help my business, but I left with so much more than that. I left with even greater personal insight than I had expected. I know that the sound healing I experienced while I was there was part of the impact, because it calmed my system in a way that I was so desperately needing after feeling unsure and anxious at times throughout the day. I left there with the confidence and clarity that I had been lacking because I had let self-doubt creep in and tell me what I shouldn’t do. I left there reminded that authenticity and vulnerability are required in everything that you do in order to remain true to you.

I encourage you to think about how you might practice authenticity and vulnerability in one small way this week.