From Hiding to Hosting: My Journey with Being Seen
Today, we're proud to feature a guest post by
, the founder of MultiDimensional Leaders on Substack.When we talked to Michele for the first time, we quickly realized that her expertise in gaining visibility and sharing your voice can be incredibly valuable to our audience, so we hope you’ll find great value in her insights - let’s dive in!
Just six weeks ago, I hosted a virtual summit called Build Your Influence Ecosystem. If you’re discovering my work now, you might assume I’m naturally at ease on camera. But that confidence? It’s been earned—through years of healing, discomfort, and experimentation.
I didn’t start out feeling comfortable being seen, I had to build that muscle over time. And truthfully, I still see myself as a work in progress, continuing to expand into sharing my voice in bigger, fuller ways.
For a long time, I operated within the boundaries of what felt safe and manageable - I focused on building relationships behind the scenes. Networking was my entry point, I began showing up inside entrepreneurial communities which felt more natural than broadcasting my voice to a larger audience.
As much as I loved intimate conversations, growth felt slow. My subconscious was working overtime to keep me safely hidden - fueling perfectionism, busy work, and delay.
I poured my energy into what felt productive, building elaborate funnels, fine-tuning branding, creating systems, all the “busy work” that gave the illusion of progress.
Eventually, I knew I had to face the thing I was resisting: putting myself out there in a bigger way.
I still remember the day I guested on my first podcast.
It was only a few years ago, but the memory is vivid. That same familiar anxiety I used to feel before job interviews came rushing back, heart racing, breath quickening, nerves on edge.
I tried to stay composed, to speak clearly, to not ramble off course. What made it so nerve-wracking, I think, was the unpredictability. I didn’t know what I’d be asked. I didn’t know how I’d sound.
But by what seemed like fate, the host of that very podcast reached out to me afterward, and became one of my first high-ticket coaching clients. I took it as both a reward from the universe and a quiet nudge of affirmation: I was taking steps in the right direction.
While it was a breakthrough moment, it didn’t erase the inner work required of me to keep showing up. I still cycled through phases, times when I felt brave and ready to be seen, and others when I found myself retreating back into the shadows.
I was facing invisible battles: chronic procrastination that kept me stuck in a sense of delay, emotional overwhelm that left my body drained and fatigued, and the endless spiral of consuming other people’s content under the guise of “seeking inspiration,” when really, I was avoiding my own voice.
Does this sound familiar to you?
You stick to what feels safe, maybe you’re comfortable writing posts or articles, but when it comes to speaking up in real time, your voice retreats. You tell yourself you're “not ready,” but deep down, you know it’s more about fear than preparation.
For me, much of that work started with healing old wounds. You may relate to some of these:
Feeling Silenced: Maybe you grew up in an environment where your voice wasn’t welcomed, or where speaking up led to dismissal or ridicule. That can condition you to hold back, even when you have something powerful to say.
Trauma Around Speaking Up: Many of us have had moments where we did find the courage to share and were met with backlash, embarrassment, or misunderstanding. These experiences can leave lasting imprints that trigger fear anytime you approach visibility.
Insecurity and Self-Doubt: When you compare yourself to others or second-guess your message, it’s easy to shrink your voice before it even has a chance to be heard.
Persecution Wounds: For some, they’re ancestral or spiritual, carried from lineages where truth-telling was dangerous. For others, they’re rooted in lived experience: being marginalized because of race, ethnicity, language, gender identity, or cultural expression. These are not imagined fears, they’re real, often reinforced by societal dynamics that still exist today.
What helped me break through
Healing visibility wounds isn’t linear, but here’s what made the difference for me:
Somatic healing – especially holotropic breathwork, to gently regulate my nervous system
Mindset coaching and therapy – to rewrite the stories keeping me small
Low-stakes practice spaces – like small group interviews and warm communities
Affirming mirrors – people who celebrated my voice instead of questioning it
Reframing mistakes – seeing every stumble as proof I was growing
Sometimes, one of the most powerful things you can do is pause and ask yourself:
“What’s the worst that can happen?”
It sounds simple, but this kind of self-inquiry can be incredibly freeing, because it brings your vague, swirling fears into the light where you can actually see them.
Maybe the answers that come up sound something like:
“I fumble over my words.”
“I don’t get asked back.”
“I ruin my reputation.”
When you actually name them, you get to challenge them.
Okay, so what if you do fumble? Most people won’t even notice. And those who do? They're usually far more forgiving than the critic in your own mind.
So what if you don’t get asked back? That doesn't mean you're not worthy. It just means the fit wasn't aligned, and there will always be more opportunities.
And ruining your reputation? One imperfect moment doesn’t erase your value, your integrity, or your purpose. If anything, showing up with humanity strengthens your credibility.
And once you’ve walked yourself through the “worst case” and realize you’d still survive, you take back your power.
Seeing Yourself Clearly
Before anyone else can truly witness your brilliance, you have to be willing to see it first, not just the polished parts, but the messy, unfinished, in-progress pieces too.
It’s about recognizing your voice as valid even when it shakes.
It’s about honoring your story before it’s gone viral.
When you begin to see yourself with reverence - something shifts. You stop chasing validation. You stop trying to prove yourself, and instead begin to simply show up fully, freely, and unapologetically.
And that’s when it happens: you become magnetic.
Ready to Step Into a New Chapter of Your Visibility?
Here’s how to dive deeper:
Join the Multidimensional Leaders Community
A space for creatives, visionaries, and founders to expand their voice and amplify their impact.Follow me on Sell Your Brilliance
Newest publication where I will share meditations, voice activations, insights from my evolving book, to guide your inner visibility journey.Take a Tour of Build Your Influence Ecosystem
Learn how to position yourself as a sought-after thought leader— through building an ecosystem around you.
 | A guest post by
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Congratulations on all your success and on taking that leap. I love what you said about those little affirmations from the universe. Whether its fate or cognitive bias or whatever, there is power in the patterns of encouragement when good things like this happen and affirm that we're on the right path. There's a kind of magic in it.