The Brightside 3.19

Me Against The Music - Britney Spears ft Madonna

Hello hello! We’ve made it to another Friday.

If February’s focus was not measuring my self-worth by my productivity, March has shaped up to be the month of putting myself outside of my comfort zone (and I have the heart rate monitor data to prove it, lol).

I am someone who really doesn’t like to rock the boat. Why is voicing my opinion so hard?! I can think of many cases where I’ve held back what’s really on my mind for fear of “backlash”, getting in trouble, or not being able to “defend” whatever it is I’m expressing when faced with differing opinions.

Recently though, I’ve found myself more and more outside of my comfort zone—partially in thanks to coaching, and partially because I refuse to lose sight of my 2021 goal: to blow myself away. These situations have manifested in all sorts of ways recently …

• Dealing with a ticky situation at work—I applied for (and got!) a dream rotation with another team at Google, but I had to navigate some tough conversations to get approval from my team's leadership

• Going live on Instagram for the first time (I know this seems so trivial, but I was actually so nervous)

• Shooting a video and lifestyle photos with my friend Lucy —wow, being in front of a camera felt AWKWARD

• And just pushing myself to be as open and vulnerable as I can be with The Brightside

...and all of these things have been work. I woke up on Monday with a few tough conversations ahead of me and some daunting tasks to check off my to-do list, and I genuinely thought that I wasn’t going to follow through. So much so that I spent the first few hours of the day bracing myself for how I’d position my shortcomings to my coach, Imari, and justify my lack of follow through to myself.

But somehow, in the middle of this mental spiral, I convinced myself to at least try. I built up the courage to book a meeting with one of the managers of my team to see if there was any flexibility on the rotation - and I thought I was going to throw up. He is a super nice guy, but the thought of, you know, asking for what I want after being told “no” was uncharted territory for me. By the time the meeting rolled around, I was definitely anxious, but to my surprise we had a great, human conversation. And I found out the next day, that thanks in part to that conversation, I got approval to do a hybrid role, so I can at least participate in the rotation 50%—which feels like a really huge win (more to come on this - I am so excited to get some experience in a new area that I am really hoping to pursue long-term).

And in regards to all of the ways this week that I pushed myself with The Brightside - it's a constant battle with myself to not let my insecurities get in the way of putting this out week after week. But at the end of the day, this is something that brings me so much joy - and like I said on my IG Live - I have no Idea what this is going to turn into, but I can't ignore the voice that keeps telling me to show up for it - so I'm doing that, in all sorts of new ways.

In tackling these outside-of-my-comfort-zone-things, I pulled out one of the most valuable tools I’ve gotten from coaching—simply taking a few minutes with myself to breathe and visualize how I wanted those experiences to go. This way, instead of showing up apologizing for my needs or fumbling over what to say, I showed up calm and collected (or at least more calm and collected than I would have been in the past.)

As much eye roll-inducing content is out there right now about “the power of manifestation,” I gotta say, that shit works.

Long story short, putting myself outside of my comfort zone in those ways was difficult, but it would have been even harder to sit with myself if I hadn’t tried.

“If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water then you feel you are capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you're just about in the right place to do something exciting.” - David Bowie

From top: my rainbow jacket came out for the first time this season / look at this cute little clock I found for my bedside table!!! / Louie, being a Turbo Noodle / Mask chains! Look out for a pre-order on IG this weekend!

As I was navigating my own stuff this week, I felt SO empowered by all of the ways the Brightside community was stepping up, too. How lucky am I to be surrounded by such amazing, inspiring, driven women?

Here’s a roundup from Instagram:

• I took up horseback riding! - Cat B., Washington, DC

• Starting dating again, and reached out to new clients to pitch a social media package - Nikki T., Boston (Nikki and I met during Brand Camp and she’s got an adorable Instagram account!)

• Trusting my body - went off hormonal BC & seeing how things go! - Oliva, New York

• Starting a small business doing something I love! - Kira M., Hoboken (check it out!)

• Drove into NYC and was super nervous but it was surprisingly easy - Emily R., Pittsburgh

• I took up a new crafting hobby even though my imposter syndrome told me no! - Natalie P., Philadelphia

• I actually participated in a meeting instead of sitting on mute the whole time - Sam C., Staten Island

• Moved to a different state on my own only knowing a few people! - Cara B., Florida

• Started my own business! - Julianne F., New York

• Wrestling, reaching out to celebs for collaborations, investing $$ in myself! - Lucy T., Jersey City (I’m working with Lucy on some Brightside content, she’s a genius - check her stuff out!)

• I started roller blading again. It’s not exactly as easy as my 10y/o self remembers! - Meg F., Mountain View, CA

• Reached out to an artist I admire for an interview.. She said yes! - Olivia G., London (SO cool, check out the interview here)

• My job, LOL - Kelly S., Columbus OH (Shoutout Kelly for starting a BADASS new job doing UX design at Victoria’s Secret!!)

• REELS. - Alex L., Boston (Alex is the beauty and brains behind Digital Brand Stylist, who hosted the Brand Camp I did in November. If you are in need of ANY branding services, check her out!)

• I did an IG live, too! - Audrey G., Mississippi (check out her amazing chart art!)

• Ran a race faster than I could have believed two months ago - Natalie M., Ohio

• Rose the subway for the first time in over a year - Kelsey B., NY

• First time since the pandemic - I upped my client load by 20%, it’s wonderful - Mary H., NYC (If you need an acupuncturist in the NYC area, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - MARY IS YOUR GIRL!)

• Moved into new apt, first time living on my own!!! - Ally P., Brooklyn (ALLY!!! My first roomie, my first love - so proud of you <3)

• Started a 9-5 desk job for the first time! Not my nature but health insurance / stability r cute :) - Joy W., Brooklyn (YES JOY!)

• I finally watched Framing Britney - UGH! I am so sad for her. Proof that you never know what’s going on behind the scenes. #freebritney

• I ordered these okara-flour cookies from Goldune, a sustainable retailer that I’ve been following for a while, and they are DELISH! I ordered a few more things from their site that I’ll be reviewing in more depth next edition since they just came in.

• ILANA’S GONNA BE A MAMA!

• My boy Justin dropped a new album today and you KNOW I am gonna have Justice on repeat all weekend. (These Billboard pics tho!!!!)

hay crates 

manifesting a more organized workspace

From our dear Samantha, who this newsletter would not be the same without:

Before we edited this weeks newsletter, Bogs went on another Justin Bieber bender, which Zach and I kind of bullied her about a little. Zach and I are on the same page about the Biebs... we're not on board with Justin both musically and as a person.

IMO: Give me purpose era Bieber music or give me silence.