Podcast 139: Showing Up as Your Unapologetic Self Online with Erica Reitman

When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time in two of the most boring places for a weird artsy little girl, the janitorial supply and the sewing and vacuum shop. My mom was a housecleaner – she actually had her own business.

As an adult, I look back on those days and see how watching my mom create a business that allowed her the flexibility she needed as a single mom with nothing but a high school degree and I think about how she inspired me to be my own boss, but as a kid, I hated my mom’s business.

I’d have to go with her to clean houses and like I said the errands were the worst. I made the best of it though. I rearranged the bottles of cleaner on the bottom shelf in rainbow order and at the vacuum shop I’d stand on the display table in the front and dance and sing – showing off whatever song I’d learned in tap class that week. My favorite one was, let me entertain you, let me make you smile.

I hadn’t hit double digits yet and that time when you become acutely aware of all the things that are different about you and start to tuck them away. Standing on that table in the vacuum shop I was unapologetically myself. I missed several steps of the dance and I never could sing on key but I was full of heart and determination just like I am now.

The me who tap danced in that vacuum shop got quieted by junior high awkwardness, by kids and adults telling me I was too loud or talked too much or didn’t have a good singing voice, by magazines and movies featuring girls who were smaller than me and who had fuller lips and smaller noses.

There are a million things and people who will try to get you to quell that essential unique part of you. It’s your job to keep fighting for her, to remember the feeling of joy you got when you did whatever your version of tapping at the vacuum store is. And, to look for people who embrace your unapologetic help and help you embrace her too.

Good news, today we’re talking to someone who won’t only help you embrace her, she’ll help you find no matter how deeply she’s been hiding. Our guest today, Erica Reitman is unapologetically herself. She’s a creative who is currently a coach and she’s chosen a non-traditional life for herself where she puts her dreams at the forefront. I‘ve been following her online for a while and have always been drawn to and impressed by how she puts her true self out there.