The Seasons We Carry Forward
I didn’t walk on stage to talk about titles or checklists. I talked about seasons: the messy, powerful, unspoken ones. Because we’re not broken, not behind, not irrelevant. We’re human. And when we name our season, we find connection, courage, and the freedom to thrive.
I don’t get nervous walking into rooms. Not anymore. Like I said in my session, “I am no longer editing myself to make others comfortable in the rooms I have earned a right to be in.” But what I did feel walking into this keynote for NC Tech’s Women’s Summit was a kind of pressure I hadn’t put on myself before.
This wasn’t about whether my slides would land or if I’d hit every talking point. It was about whether I could pass something bigger along (a sense of belonging, of courage) to every woman in that room. And the only way to do that was to allow myself to go deeper than I ever had on stage.
I’m always real, always honest. But this time was different. This time I wasn’t just speaking to them. I was speaking truths I had only just begun to admit to myself.
