Reasons to have a voice. Yes, you 🙋♀️
On overcoming self-promotion ick + the transformative power of showing up
“To have a voice means not just the animal capacity to utter sounds but the ability to participate fully in the conversations that shape your society, your relations to others,
and your own life.”
From Recollections of My Non-Existence, Rebecca Solnit
Hi Friend,
Last week I ran a brand story workshop with a very switched-on, super-commercial and successful female founder.
Who hasn’t posted on LinkedIn in 7 years.
Or proactively marketed a business she believes in. And wants to grow.
It’s not that she doesn’t want to. Rather, deep in the running a business, she lost her own voice. Got out of the habit of doing her own marketing. Of showing up.
I’m always curious about the barriers that hold us back from promoting our work. I hear it a lot from the women I work with.
Worried about over-sharing.
Being too much.
Not being enough.
Being judged for being “too self-promotional.”
The ick of drawing attention to yourself.
Imagine that. You’ve done great work. You’ve helped people. Made a difference. And now you want to talk about it?
You’re right. That’s just gross. 😉
Finding reasons to show up
There’s a lot going on in the world. It’s easy for this to leak into our “why bother?” thoughts.
The sense of over-saturation: does the world need another Substack? Or another LinkedIn post on all the lessons from 45 birthdays?
And while Instagram Reels suggest otherwise, it’s been a hard year.
Sales cycles are painfully slow. Calls keep getting cancelled. One second, clients are asking for project start dates. The next, leaving the ghost-like trail of silence in your inbox.
Friend, while it feels otherwise. These are reasons to keep showing up.
Why using your voice matters – a reframe
When I work with clients in my LinkedIn workshops, I love to remind them that using your voice/ taking up space/ sharing your work with the world is a vital contribution.
Often to something bigger than us.
Sure, you’re talking about a talk you gave at a company conference, but who else are you celebrating? Or when you promote a new service or product or course? Aren’t you inviting your audience into something that could help them grow?
Be closer to the person they want to be.
It’s the opposite of self-serving.
The transformative power of showing up
Ok, in my heart, I know Rebecca Solnit wasn’t talking about PR or brand or newsletter marketing when she wrote Recollections of My Non-Existence. But as I was re-read this quote (the one at the top of this newsletter), it reminded me that using our voices is a responsibility, a way to grow and to make things better for your:
Community – I use LinkedIn as an example here because it’s what I know. Still considered a platform for tech bro hacks or accountants from St. Albans, I’m seeing so many more female-led conversations happening across the platform. Sure, algorithms are at play, but the more space we take up, the more we create for others.
Using your voice, commenting, having conversations – all expand that space. And hold it for your community. This applies across all platforms.
Relationships – Using your voice means building relationships – whether that’s colleagues, customers, readers, prospects, your network – through work you (I hope) love. Speaking up, commenting, bringing your POV, helps build trust and credibility.
Thinking about a call I had with a legal client yesterday; because I’ve been following his LinkedIn lately, the conversation was richer, the connection deeper. Right now bots can’t do this.
Self – I honestly believe there’s a self-transformation that comes with showing up in and to your marketing. A commitment and accountability that spills out into who you become through consistent – not constant – visibility.
You create space to become the next version of you. As a leader, a content creator, a business owner, a writer, a creative.
If you’d told me five years ago, I’d be sharing poems and personal essays online, alongside my PR work and marketing writing, I wouldn’t have believed you.
Because that version of me didn’t exist yet.
I wrote myself into her.
In between ALL the silent weeks and bad hair days and months I didn’t feel I had anything to say and MASSIVE Instagram hiatuses.
In those spaces, and outside of them.
I got closer to the person I want to be.
Now, you.
Friend, thank you for staying here till the end. I would love it if you shared this newsletter with a friend. Hit reply for more info on my LinkedIn workshops - booking for September.
And, as always, in the comments below.
With love,
Antonia xo
Love this quote “the more space we take up, the more we create for others”. 🥰👏
‘I wrote myself into her’ feel this so much! X