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Own Your Impact equips experts and leaders to transform their expertise into meaningful influence. Host Macy Robison reveals how successful thought leaders use deliberate systems—not luck or volume—to amplify their authentic voice and create lasting impact. Through practical frameworks and strategic guidance, you'll discover how to build a self-reinforcing ecosystem of Core Resonance, structured Content, a Central Platform, strategic Connections, and intentional Commercialization. Whether you're just starting to share your expertise or scaling an existing platform, this podcast delivers the roadmap to turn your ideas into purpose-driven influence that resonates far beyond what you might imagine possible.
[00:00:01] Before we really dive into today's episode, I wanna share why I'm bringing this topic to the podcast right now. A couple of weeks ago, I sent out my newsletter, the Resonance Signal, and I wrote about something that had been sitting with me since a conversation I'd witnessed at a conference
[00:00:16] within hours of sending it, I got a message from a subscriber I hadn't heard from in a while. Who told me how much they needed to hear it. They said it caused 'em to really examine what was happening in their business and some of the decisions they were making right now, and stepping into thought leadership and how it related to visibility, conversations that they'd been having with their spouse over the past couple of weeks, and then this newsletter.
[00:00:36] Showed up and it , made this person look at some of the things they'd been avoiding and that message I received made me think we're really in that time of year where we naturally reflect back in order to look forward. We're taking stock, we're thinking about what we want next year to look like, and as I reflected, I wondered if this particular insight might be helpful to more people
[00:00:58] so here we are bringing the [00:01:00] content from the newsletter to the podcast because sometimes an idea needs more than one container to reach the people who need it. Here's what I talked about in the newsletter. About two months ago, I was sitting in a room full of creators watching my friend Michelle Gifford teach about growing on Instagram.
[00:01:14] She's brilliant. Go follow her. I am Michelle Gifford. And Michelle asked a simple question that stopped everyone cold. They were asking a lot of questions about posting online, and Michelle said, how many of you are refusing to post online because you're scared of what strangers who follow you think I.
[00:01:31] Hardly anybody raised their hands. I was kind of surprised because that's the concern that I hear people bringing up. And then she asked a second question. Now, how many of you are scared to post online because you're worried about what your friends, neighbors, and people who actually know you are going to think?
[00:01:47] And almost every hand in the room shot up and everybody looked around, got uncomfortably quiet because Michelle had just exposed the thing that most of us don't talk about. We're not really afraid of trolls or [00:02:00] strangers. We think we are, but I think deep down we're afraid of the person who knew us before we had something important to say.
[00:02:06] The neighbor who remembers when we were just figuring things out, or the colleague who might think, who do they think they are? That same pattern showed up again. Just a few weeks ago, I was on a call with a group of authors talking strategy for getting press and publicity for their books. Really smart people, good books, proven expertise, but every conversation kept circling back to the same question.
[00:02:30] How do I let myself be seen? I. Here's what I'm seeing as I watch this pattern repeat across rooms and calls and conversations. We want visibility without the vulnerability of showing up. We want people to pay attention to our ideas, but we want it to happen magically without having to really put ourselves out there.
[00:02:50] We want to be known for our work without anyone actually watching us at work. And this is a fundamental tension of thought leadership. You cannot build [00:03:00] influence when you're hiding, but showing up really showing up means people get to have opinions about what you're doing, including people who knew you before you figured out what you had to say.
[00:03:10] And I think this is why so many smart, capable people with genuinely important ideas stay invisible longer than they need to. It's not that they don't know what to say, it's not that they don't have expertise, it's that they're worried about being seen by the people whose opinions feel really personal.
[00:03:27] Here's where this shows up in any kind of authority building or thought leadership work. And I want you to pay attention because you might recognize yourself in this. I know that I do this fear. About being seen. Sometimes when we don't want to be seen, the excuse we make is that I'm not ready to put it out yet. I'm a perfectionist. I have to have it perfect before anyone can see it. But what Elizabeth Gilbert says about perfectionism and not wanting to be seen as this perfectionism is just fear dressed up in high heels.
[00:03:58] She talks about [00:04:00] perfectionism being a fancy disguise for when we fear judgment, when we fear failure, when we fear not being good enough, we will often just say, I'm not ready to do that yet because I'm a perfectionist.
[00:04:10] When we say we're being strategic about when we want to share something, or we're just quote unquote waiting for the right moment, or we need to refine it a little bit more first, we're often scared of what happens when we let people see us thinking out loud. We address our fear up in business language.
[00:04:27] We say that we're waiting for the right strategy, or we're talking about timing or quality control, but sometimes underneath all of it is a much simpler reality. We're worried about what happens when people we actually know, watch us become someone who has something to say. But here's what I want you to understand, because every visible thought leader figured this out on some point in their journey.
[00:04:50] The resistance you feel to sharing something is often proportional to how important it is? Let me say that again because I [00:05:00] think it matters. I think sometimes when resistance comes or difficulty comes, we think that we're on the wrong path, and I don't think that's true. I think the resistance you feel to sharing something is proportional and opposite to how deeply important it is.
[00:05:17] The more you feel like you don't wanna put it out there, the more it probably needs to be seen. Steven Pressfield writes about this. He has a really great book called The War of Art. He talks about it on his blog. He calls it Resistance with a Capital R. It's this invisible force that shows up every time we try to create meaningful work, and he makes an observation that has always stuck with me.
[00:05:39] Resistance is an equal and opposite reaction to the significance of what you are trying to create. To the significance of what you are trying to create. So the bigger the work, the bigger the impact, the stronger the resistance, which means that not in your stomach when you think about posting something, that urge to wait to refine, to hold back just a little bit longer.[00:06:00]
[00:06:00] Sometimes that's wisdom and data, but sometimes it's a signal that you're onto something important and you just need to share it. So if you're listening to this and you're recognizing yourself, if you're someone with real expertise, important ideas, who's been holding back? Because you're worried about what the people who actually know you will think, let me offer you a way forward because awareness of this problem is not enough.
[00:06:22] You need a way to actually start choosing visibility even when it feels uncomfortable. Here's what I'm trying and what I've discovered works for other clients for myself. First, try to get as clear as possible on who you are actually for who you are actually helping. If you're worried about what your neighbor thinks, or your former colleague or your sister-in-law, you've lost sight of something important.
[00:06:47] Those people are not who your work is for. Your message has a specific audience. People who are struggling with something you deeply understand and have walked through. People who need the framework that you've developed or the transformation you can guide [00:07:00] them through. And when you get crystal clear on who those people are, when you can see their faces and understand their struggles, even if they're a version of you 10 years ago, it becomes easier to choose them over the opinions of people who were never going to be served by your work in the first place.
[00:07:15] The question isn't, well, what will everyone think? The question is, what does the person who needs this deserve from me? Second, start with what's already true. You don't have to manufacture visibility outta nothing. You don't have to suddenly become someone who posts bold, hot takes every day or dances on TikTok.
[00:07:34] If that's not who you are, start with what you already know to be true from your own experience. The patterns you've observed across the people you've helped, the mistakes you see smart people making over and over, the brilliant things you see smart people doing over and over. The questions people keep asking you that you've gotten really good at answering.
[00:07:51] That's a starting point, not some imagined version of thought leadership. You think you're supposed to perform just the truth of what you've learned and what you [00:08:00] know. Third, choose your container to share all of this and let your archetype guide you. Something I've learned that helps a lot of the people that I work with.
[00:08:11] You get to decide where you're visible and the right container, the right medium for you actually depends on how you're wired, which is what we talk a lot about here. If you've taken my archetype assessment and you know your primary archetype, this is where that self knowledge becomes strategic, even if you only know your primary archetype.
[00:08:30] So if you're a resonant order. Audio, video might be your most natural path, a podcast, a YouTube channel, speaking opportunities, places where your voice might be able to carry your message.
[00:08:41] If you're a wisdom writer, long form written content might feel most aligned. Essays or articles, newsletter, places where you can develop ideas with nuance and depth.
[00:08:51] If you're an experienced facilitator or a transformational guide like me, your visibility might come through the containers you create for others. Workshops, [00:09:00] retreats, group experiences where people encounter your ideas through their participation. Or if you're a digital learning architect, you might build visibility through courses, through frameworks, through structured educational content that people move through systematically.
[00:09:12] And that can go on and on with all the other archetypes. The point is this, visibility is not one size fits all. And if you've been telling yourself a story that it's hard to be visible 'cause I can't do it because of this platform, it might be because you're trying to show up in those mediums, in those spaces that don't match how you're wired.
[00:09:31] The right room, you're in the right space, you're in matters. So if you haven't taken the archetype assessment, you can find it at macy robinson.com/quiz. And I've done episodes on each of the 10 archetypes that go deeper into how to build thought leadership and authority and alignment with your specific wiring.
[00:09:48] And I'll link those in the show notes. Fourth, make this about learning, not about performing. And I think this one shifts everything. When you think of visibility as a performance, every [00:10:00] post becomes a test. Did people like it? Did I get enough engagement? Did anyone judge me? But when you think of visibility as learning in public, as sharing what you're figuring out and inviting people into the process, it takes so much pressure off.
[00:10:14] You're not claiming to figure it out. You're saying, here's what I'm learning. Here's what I'm noticing. Here's a question I'm sitting with, and then share what you're sitting with. That kind of visibility is sustainable because it's true, and when we start with what's true, it's easier to sustain. And I think it often resonates more than polished expertise anyway, because people connect with the journey, not just the destination.
[00:10:36] And finally, fifth, I want you to remember that consistency compounds the first time you share something that feels vulnerable. It is terrifying. The 10th time, it's uncomfortable. The 50th time, it gets a little bit easier. It's really just what you do. I think visibility can get easier with practice, not because the fear goes away entirely.
[00:10:55] It really doesn't. I heard Cynthia Erivo talking to Hugh [00:11:00] Jackman. In Varety's series,, actors on actors. And she was talking about how she still gets nervous when she sings, and that's how she knows that something matters to her. So if there's still a little bit of fear, that's actually a good thing. It's a signal that you are doing something important, that what you're talking about matters, but you start to build evidence that you can survive being seen, that you have something to share.
[00:11:23] And another thing Cynthia said in that episode that I loved was, I know what I have and so I have to share it. You pose something scary and the world doesn't end. You share an imperfect idea and someone tells you it helped them. You let people watch you think out loud and slowly over time you become someone who has things to say.
[00:11:41] I don't feel like that identity shift or any identity shift for that matter happens in one brave moment. It happens through consistent small choices to show up anyway, so here's the invitation I wanna leave you with today. Your message has to matter more than other people's opinion of [00:12:00] you. Your message, the calling on your heart to share it. All of the things that you feel equipped to do, all of that has to matter more to you than other people's opinions of you I believe the only real failure in thought leadership isn't getting it wrong.
[00:12:15] It isn't saying something imperfectly or sharing an idea you later refine. The only real failure is choosing not to share something that could help someone. 'cause you're worried about being judged for it. That person who needs what? You know, they don't care if your neighbor thinks you're showing off.
[00:12:30] They don't care if your college roommate rolls their eyes when they see you post. They don't care if someone, from your past wonders who you think you are. They care that you cared enough to be seen so they could find you. So here's my question for you this week, and I want you to really sit with this one.
[00:12:47] What would you put out there if you knew for certain the right people saw it? If you knew for certain the right people who needed to see it actually saw it. And what would you share if you trusted that your message mattered [00:13:00] more than other people's opinions? And if you're in this reflective space right now, if you're looking at your business, your thought leadership, and you're thinking about what you want next year to look like.
[00:13:10] I wanna offer you a, a quick invitation to something. It's a quick turnaround. I talked about it last week, but in two days, I'm holding a workshop called Resonant Planning Building your 2026 around who you actually are. This is not gonna be a typical goal setting session. We're gonna look at the year ahead through the lens of your archetype and your natural wiring, because the best plans aren't the ones who push you to be someone you're not.
[00:13:32] They're the ones that align with how you actually work, how you create, how you build momentum. So if you've been listening to this episode and recognizing that you've been hiding or playing smaller than the ideas that have been given to you deserve, or if you're waiting for permission, that's never gonna come.
[00:13:48] This workshop might be exactly what you need to design a year where you finally let yourself be seen. You can find all the details and register@macyrobinson.com slash workshop. I would love to have you there. [00:14:00] So invitation this week. Share something not someday this week. Pick one idea, one insight, one thing you've learned.
[00:14:07] One book, you've read something. Choose a container that fits your wiring and put it out there. Make your work matter more than other people's opinions. I'll see you next week.