My Identity Crisis Turned Into My Leadership Philosophy

I'm sharing something more personal than usual: my “leadership journey” — and how it’s shaped the way I’ve shown up online, built my voice, and learned (sometimes the hard way) what it means to practice agency in public. This is the longer arc behind the “why”: growing up in Colorado Springs, navigating identity and belonging, learning to “perform” a persona to fit in, and how that ultimately fed into empathy — the ability to step into other people’s shoes, understand users, and communicate with clarity. From Boulder to San Francisco, this is a story about becoming more honest, building resilience, and choosing a path that prioritizes impact, legacy, and being fully yourself. Video available at ssentially.com