I have peers who think I'm a joke.

They've said it to mutual friends. They don't take me seriously because I've reinvented myself too many times. Because I talk openly about my health challenges. Because I share my failures and my struggles instead of performing polished expertise.

And you know what? I still sometimes doubt whether being this open is smart. Whether I should be more "professional." Whether the vulnerability is costing me credibility.

But I've learned that the people who judge me for being real are not my clients. They never were. And the people who are my clients? They found me because I'm real.

They trust me because I've lived it. They believe I understand them because I clearly do. My reinventions aren't a weakness. They're lived expertise. My openness isn't unprofessional. It's the thing that makes me the right fit for the people I'm meant to serve.

The thing I was most tempted to hide is the exact thing that makes my ideal clients say, "Finally. Someone who gets it."

And I'm not the only one discovering this.

One of the Essentialist CEO Collective members is Meg Moore, a former journalist turned communications strategist and ghostwriter (and stand-up comedian and soon-to-be mystery novelist). She's brilliant at what she does and hilariously funny. But over the past year, she's developed something she was terrified to talk about publicly.

She's built an incredible process for creating custom AI tools, tools she uses with clients, tools clients can use themselves, that actually sound like the client. Real voice. Real personality. Not generic AI garbage.

The problem? Her peers — other journalists, writers, communications professionals — won't shut up about how AI is ruining everything. How it's destroying the craft. How anyone using it is selling out.

She was terrified of what they would think if she admitted she'd figured out how to use AI well. Ethically. In a way that actually serves her clients better.

So she stayed quiet.

Until she didn't.

She posted one thing about what she'd built. One honest post about her process and her perspective.

Three potential calls booked, clients AND strategic partners, within days.

Another client is Dominic Vogel, a cybersecurity consultant. Sweet guy. Built his public brand around being genuinely kind in an industry that's often aggressive and fear-mongering. He literally calls himself a positivity troll.

He avoids controversy. It's just not his style.

But he has a strong opinion he's been sitting on for years. See, he works with a lot of clients who come to him after they've been burned. They hired Big Four consulting firms, paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, and got... nothing. Reports that sat on shelves. Recommendations that were never implemented. Money completely wasted.

He sees it over and over and over again. And it PISSES him off.

But talking about it publicly? Calling out the big firms? That felt too controversial for his "nice guy" brand.

Until he sat on a panel of local business leaders and said the thing he'd been thinking, out loud and to a room full of his ideal clients.

Three dream clients walked up to him immediately afterwards. "That's exactly our experience. We need to talk."

And then, after I urged him to make a joke that he actually loves these Big Four consultants because they bring him so much business, he said it again on another panel with yet another Big Four consultant! (What are the freaking odds?!)

This time? The consultant laughed, agreed with him, and proposed that they start sending him all the prospects that had projects a bit too small to be worth his firm’s time. The 2 other consultants on the panel wound up suggesting something similar.

Now, Dominic is in discussion to map out the details where 3 of these big time, fancy-pants consulting firms can become steady lead sources for Dominic.

All because he said the quiet part out loud. Not freaking bad!

Both of these people had figured something out that their industry hadn't.

Both had a contrarian view, a perspective that went against what their peers were saying.

And both were hiding it. Not because it was wrong, but because they were managing how their peers would perceive them.

And both got immediate results the moment they stopped hiding.

Not "over time." Not "eventually." Immediately.

This is the thing that generic "be yourself" advice misses: you're not hiding your authentic differentiators because you think your clients won't value them. You're hiding them because you're worried about what your peers will think.

And that fear of peer judgment is costing you the exact clients who would say, "Finally. Someone who gets it."

So here's the practical part. I want you to audit yourself across five categories—five places where your authentic differentiators are probably hiding.

1. Your Unconventional Background

What's in your history that you think disqualifies you?

Early in my career, I was deeply insecure about the fact that I had no actual training as a marketer. I'd started in B2B sales and just... figured it out. No mentors. No formal education. Just scrappy, trial-and-error learning.

I thought that made me less credible. Turns out, it made me perfect for early-stage startups who wanted to be scrappy and innovative—who wanted to do big things on shoestring budgets in ways nobody else had tried.

What you think disqualifies you might be exactly what qualifies you for the people you're meant to serve.

2. Your Contrarian Views

What does your industry say that you think is wrong?

What "best practice" makes you roll your eyes? What do your clients believe that's actually holding them back? Where is conventional wisdom failing people?

The journalist knew her peers were wrong about AI. The cybersecurity consultant knew the Big Four were failing clients. They just hadn't said it out loud.

Your contrarian view is your positioning. It's what makes people pay attention.

3. Your Unusual Combinations

What's your weird skill stack? What do you combine that nobody else does?

Former dancer turned business strategist. Journalist who builds custom AI tools. Sales person who became a marketer with no formal training.

The things that seem unrelated in your background often create a perspective nobody else has. That's not a liability. That's a moat.

4. The Hard Things You've Overcome

What have you survived that gives you insight others don't have?

My health challenges. My business failures. The many ups and downs and reinventions. These aren't embarrassing footnotes—they're why I understand my clients. They're why I can meet people where they are instead of preaching from some imaginary mountaintop.

Your struggles aren't weaknesses. They're credentials.

5. Your Spiky Opinions

What do you believe strongly that you've been softening?

What would you say if you weren't worried about peer judgment? What's the thing you rant about to friends but never say publicly?

Spiky opinions attract attention. They repel wrong-fit clients and magnetize right-fit ones. They're how you become known for something specific instead of being generically "good at what you do."

Here's the wealth angle, because I know you're thinking about it:

Unique = premium pricing. Generic = commoditized.

When you hide what makes you different, you become interchangeable. You compete on price because there's nothing else to compete on. You sound like everyone else, so clients shop around and choose the cheapest option.

When you amplify what makes you weird, you become the only option for a specific type of client—and those clients pay premium because they can't get what you offer anywhere else.

The journalist isn't competing with other ghostwriters anymore. She's the one who figured out ethical AI for authentic client voice. That's a category of one.

The cybersecurity consultant isn't competing with Big Four firms. He's the antidote to Big Four firms. Different game entirely.

What most people miss is that your authentic differentiators aren't just about positioning. They're the foundation everything else builds on.

When you get clear on your authentic differentiators, everything else gets easier. One input creates multiple outputs. It all compounds from this foundation.

When you hide them? Everything stays hard. Every piece of marketing is a struggle. Every sales conversation feels like convincing. Nothing compounds because there's no foundation to build on.

This isn't just about money. It's about the life you're building.

When you perform "professional" instead of being yourself, it's exhausting. You're spending energy maintaining a mask instead of doing your actual work. You're playing a character instead of showing up as the person you actually are.

And over time, it erodes your confidence. You start to doubt yourself because you're operating outside your zone of genius. You're doing things that aren't quite right for you, and something inside knows it. That knowing eats away at you—even when you can't name what's wrong.

You can't be the Chief Experience Officer of your life while being a fake CEO of your business.

You didn't leave corporate—or start your business, or bet on yourself—to build another cage. If your business requires you to hide who you are, you haven't built freedom. You've just built a different prison with better branding.

Take 10 minutes. Grab a pen or open a blank doc. Answer these five questions:

1. What's in my background that I think makes me less credible—but might actually be my edge?

2. What does my industry say that I think is bullshit?

3. What's my weird combination of skills or experiences that nobody else has?

4. What have I overcome that gives me insight my competitors don't have?

5. What opinion have I been softening because I'm worried what people will think?

Your answers are your authentic authority.

The question is whether you have the courage to use them.

———

In love, growth, and being unapologetically you,
Kasey