Bonus: Carling Middlestead "The Price of Conformity"

Our bonus episodes feature the voices of the most recent graduates of our Keynote Queers program. This is our 8-week online course just for LGBTQ+ participants, to learn public speaking skills as well as the knowledge to build public speaking into an extra form of income. Whether our participants were pitching their own small business, upleveling their skills for their corporate career, or just learning how to effectively move audiences to take action, our Keynote Queers gave a hell of a graduation presentation and we are here to share it with you! Can you imagine squishing an entire keynote into just 10 minutes? This is considered expert level skills in the public speaking world and it was our graduates' capstone project. Check back here on Thursdays in the summer of 2023 to hear from another Keynote Queer graduate. Carling (she/her) is a Canadian, Queer Identifying 30 something year old host and producer of the "I Did Not Sign Up For This" podcast. With a passion for storytelling and a desire to explore the human experience, Carling's podcast features candid conversations with individuals about life's unexpected twists and turns.In addition to her podcast, Carling also speaks on the topic of conformity and its toll on mental health and personal fulfillment. Her presentation, "The Price of Conformity," draws from her own experience of never quite feeling like enough as she tried to live up to society's definition of success and happiness. It wasn't until she came out as gay that she realized she had been on the wrong path the whole time, and that she had been enough all along.Through her podcast and speaking engagements, Carling hopes to inspire others to embrace their true selves and live authentically, even if it means straying from the path that others have laid out for them. Instagram  https://www.ididnotsignupforthis.com Pride and Joy Foundation Leaders for Inclusive Change OUTWrite Authors - our companion course to Keynote Queers.  A 6-week online course for queer authors of nonfiction, a focused path-to-publishing.