The Heartbeat: "What do you do when you achieve a big milestone?"

If you’re a woman who feels like you have to prove yourself, then perhaps this story will help…

Recently, I won the San Diego Magazine’s 2024 Celebrating Women Award in the Media & Marketing Pioneer category.

Then, I was told I’d been invited as a TEDx San Diego speaker finalist among hundreds who'd applied and had to attend the callback auditions this past weekend.

Basically? A dream come true.

There are things in my life that have come extremely easily almost as if by magic... like when I stumbled onto my travel writing career and was suddenly invited to 5-star experiences at hotels around the world.

And then some things have been so hard fought and won.

I don’t want to operate by the mindset that things HAVE to be hard to feel deserving.

Yet, for so many of us who come from communities of color, this became our norm.

The fight to simply get to the starting line.

The person who experiences the invisible offenses.

The woman who does more to get less.

A couple of years ago, I met the Director of TEDx San Diego at a Founders Institute event, where we were both experts brought in to coach entrepreneurs. From there, she invited me to women’s gatherings she would host and continued to champion me forward, following me on social media and my newsletter. She’s the one who asked me to apply for TEDx; she’s the one who called me to tell me my news.

Yet, when I was in the callback audition — the first to go on stage — I began to second guess EVERYTHING.

Why was I even here?

Who was I even to deserve this?

20+ people were in the audience, jotting down notes on clipboards, and I felt like I failed.

I started to spiral in my head.

How I would’ve done things differently.

How I wish I had more time to edit my speech, but it was also my week with my daughter, and being a divorced parent, I’m “on” solo when I have her.

Then, she shared a post about our callback auditions LinkedIn, and one of the volunteer judges in the audience commented this:

We can be so, so hard on ourselves so much of the time.

I ended up meeting my partner and his friends after the callback; they happened to also be friends with the COO of San Diego Magazine who was at the event where I was given the award and saw me get on stage.

When I shared my internal mind storm, my partner's friend looked at me curiously.

"Are you just doing that Judy thing, where you're super hard on yourself and everyone else thinks you did awesome?"

I shrugged.

"You know that most people's brains don't work like yours does, right? Most people would see what an accomplishment this was."

I know there’s another way to be — I’ve experienced it.

And, I’m excited to experience more of it, as I begin to trust myself more.

There's a technique I use in Neuro Linguistic Programming to get out of my conscious mind and into my unconscious mind, where the vast potentiality of who I am exists. It helped me move through the anxiety and nervousness. It helped me find the calm of knowing that I am worthy.

Which means that you are, too.

Hopefully, this provides a little inspiration to you today to be gentler with yourself.

To know that you’re doing so much.

You’ve already accomplished so much.

You’re awesome as you already are.

My Kickstarter campaign for my book, How to Disappoint Your Parents in 10 Shameless Steps: A Modern Asian American Guide, which is the basis of my TEDx talk about healing intergenerational trauma, ends in 7 days and I’m learning to celebrate the win, because as a friend recently pointed out:

“You’ve basically doubled your ask!” It's not just about reaching the financial goals — it's about the people who are riding this journey along with me. It'll be a fun moment when I look out onto an audience and see the faces looking back at me who've been proud of me all along. ❤️

I hope you find your champions and advocates. They make the entire adventure worth it.

Love,

Judy

P.S. If you're ready to shift your mindset and celebrate more wins, book a complimentary Right Fit Assessment Call.

Celebrating an epic rebrand for our client, Susan Lieu!

Susan Lieu is a Vietnamese-American author, playwright, and performer who tells stories that refuse to be forgotten.

Her book has been reviewed by The New York Times, LA Times, Elle, and more, and she's now been selected as one of the 20 titles contending for Goodreads Reader’s Choice for Choice Memoir for 2024 among names like Whoopi Goldberg, RuPaul, Ina Garten, and Liz Cheney.

Explore her intergenerational healing journey in her book, The Manicurist's Daughter and you can also vote for her today.

We're working on a soon-to-be-revealed exciting new brand identity and website, and we cannot wait to share it with you! Stay tuned...

Only 4 days left of my Kickstarter campaign!

We have 131 backers and only $583 to go to reach my stretch goal for “How to Disappoint Your Parents in 10 Shameless Steps: A Modern Asian American Guide.” If you've ever benefitted from my emails and social shares, now's your chance to support me in a big way. 😊

By reaching my $10,500 goal, I can hire a hybrid publisher that includes a top-tier editor, book designer, and marketing promotions support to get into schools, libraries, and book fairs.

Would you please help support today? Click here to back the campaign and get first copies of the book.

Order your copy of the book before the campaign ends!

F*ck Saving Face episode 128 is live — give it a listen!

Let's stop tip-toeing around the need for mental and emotional health support by breaking through taboo topics, shall we?

Listen now

About Wild Hearted Words, soon to be NiceTiger:

Welcome to a team of strategic creatives who create mighty results for your branding, marketing, sales, and platform. In a world of algorithms, you can be the anomaly.

You’re receiving this email because you signed up on my website, booked a call with me, or joined one of my events — and you're curious how to create a life and business you love, especially one that may not look like the one you were told you were supposed to live.

I started Wild Hearted Words because I believe in the power of storytelling. I also believe in living authentically. And, most importantly, I believe in helping empower others to thrive.

We're currently preparing to rebrand our company to reflect the talents of our lead gen experts, sales strategists, SaaS professionals, SEO analysts, creative thinkers, and big hearts (get ready!).

From the beginning of time ever after, there will never, ever be another you. #bewildlyyou

If you're looking to write your life and business story into one of success, then you're in the right place! I'm doing it right along with you.

Through my various marketing channels, podcast, and upcoming Kickstarter campaign for my next book, I share the tactics and tools I've acquired over the last 25 years to build a mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually healthy life. It's all rooted in the power of connection and being true to you.

As I always say in my F*ck Saving Face podcast, "Life may not always be pretty, but it is indeed beautiful — make your story beautiful today."

You can do this. I have. And it's great over here. Join me.