Building Confidence and Visibility as Women of Color in Business and Leadership

Confidence is often treated like something you're either born with or you're not.

We look at people who speak effortlessly on stage, confidently market their business, or lead a room and assume they simply have something we don't.

But what if confidence isn't a personality trait?



What if it's something you build every time you choose to show up?

What you’ll learn about building confidence as women of color

That was one of the biggest takeaways from my conversation with therapist, confidence coach, speaker, and entrepreneur Amanda Fludd. We explored what it really means to find your voice, overcome the beliefs that keep you small, and create a business that feels aligned with who you are, not who you think you have to become.



In this episode, we discuss:

• 1:47 - Amanda's journey from hospital clinician to entrepreneurship and what finally pushed her to leave a career that no longer felt aligned.
• 3:59 - How asking questions and staying curious can open unexpected opportunities in your business.
• 7:50 - Why confidence is built through practice, not perfection, and how to keep showing up even when fear is present.
• 13:12 - How childhood messages about staying quiet can continue to shape confidence, visibility, and leadership as adults & the internal rewiring it too to unlearn them
• 16:15 - The weight of external expectations in building a business
• 17:58 - Why surrounding yourself with people who dream bigger helps expand what feels possible for your own life and business.
• 23:26 - The leadership skills Amanda learned the hard way
• 29:45 - How to build confidence, stop hiding, and start building your confidence online and offline
• 36:34 - Allowing yourself to be multi-passionate
• 39:52 - Building a business isn't easy. But it might be worth it.
• 43:02 - The hidden mindset shifts required when moving from employee to entrepreneur.
• 47:22 - Your fears are teaching you an important lesson
  

Building confidence as women of color starts with understanding the root of the fear

Growing up, Amanda was raised with the message that children should be seen and not heard.

She didn't realize how deeply that belief had followed her until she found herself sitting in leadership meetings at the hospital where she worked.

Even though she had valuable insights to contribute, she found herself waiting for permission to speak.

Waiting for someone to invite her into the conversation.
Waiting for confirmation that her voice belonged in the room.

Many of us carry stories like this.

They may come from our childhood, our culture, our family dynamics, or experiences of not feeling like we belonged. 

Over time, those stories become invisible rules that shape how we market ourselves, lead others, ask for opportunities, or even talk about our own work.

The challenge isn't simply becoming more confident.



It's recognizing the beliefs that have quietly been making confidence feel unsafe.

Confidence is built through practice

Unlike most of us believe, confidence doesn't magically arrive before you take action.

It grows BECAUSE you take action.

That means:

→ Saying yes to opportunities before you feel completely ready.
→ Speaking up even when your voice shakes.
→ Publishing the post.
→ Sending the email.
→ Asking the question.

Every one of those moments becomes evidence that you can do hard things.

Amanda also reminded us that fear doesn't disappear just because you've become successful. 

Even now, after years of speaking, coaching, and leading, she still notices herself hesitating before responding to invitations or accepting speaking opportunities.

The difference is that she no longer waits until the fear disappears.



She simply moves with it.

One conversation can completely change your business

Amanda never had a master plan to become an entrepreneur.

She simply knew that sitting in the parking lot before work every morning, dreading the day ahead, wasn't the life she wanted.

Instead of pretending everything was fine, she started talking.

Not to a business coach.
Not to a mentor.
But to another dance mom while waiting for their children.

That simple conversation introduced her to possibilities she had never even considered.

This reminds me how often we underestimate the power of saying our dreams out loud.

We think we need all the answers before speaking them.

In reality, the answer you're looking for might already be sitting across from you.

Curiosity became Amanda's compass throughout her entire journey.

Instead of asking,
Can I do this?



She kept asking,
"What else is possible?"

How to build confidence before showing up online

So often, we think confidence starts when we hit "record" or "publish."

Amanda believes it starts long before that.

If your nervous system already believes visibility is dangerous, simply forcing yourself to post usually creates even more resistance.

Instead, she encourages creating an environment where your body feels safe before you show up.

That might look like:

→ Listening to music that grounds or energizes you.
→ Taking a few slow, deep breaths.
→ Remembering why your work matters.
→ Visualizing one specific person you're here to help.

Instead of focusing on algorithms, likes, or whether anyone is watching, your attention shifts back to the human being on the other side.

That's where your energy changes.

And people feel that.

The people around you shape what's possible for you

One of Amanda's analogies really stayed with me.

If you've only ever seen one neighborhood, you naturally believe that's what the whole world looks like.

Until someone shows you something bigger.

The same thing happens in business.

If everyone around you believes six figures are impossible, charging higher prices is irresponsible, or entrepreneurship is too risky, those beliefs slowly become yours too.

That's why surrounding yourself with people who dream differently matters.

Not because you need to copy their path.

But because their belief expands your own.

And if you don't have those people in your immediate circle?

Borrow their belief.
Read their books.
Listen to their podcasts.
Join communities where bigger possibilities feel normal.



Sometimes that's enough to completely change what you believe is available to you.

Building an aligned business instead of chasing more

Many therapists leave agency work hoping for more freedom.

Yet without realizing it, they often recreate the exact same hustle inside their own business.

More clients.
More sessions.
More work.
More pressure.

Amanda challenges that mindset.

Sometimes growth isn't about doing more.

Sometimes it's about creating more capacity.

That might mean raising your prices.
Setting stronger boundaries.
Building systems.
Or simply deciding that your business should support your life instead of consuming it.

Alignment looks different for everyone.

Amanda loves having multiple roles as a therapist, coach, speaker, and author because they all connect back to one mission: helping people trust themselves and use their voice.

For someone else, alignment might look like seeing clients three days a week and spending the rest of the week with family.

Neither path is better.

The question isn't:
"What does success look like for everyone else?"



It's:
"What feels aligned for me?"

Visibility becomes easier when you stop performing

When we focus on alignment, it’s important to understand that visibility isn't about becoming louder.

It's about becoming more yourself.

Marketing starts to feel exhausting when we're trying to perform confidence instead of building it.

When we're following strategies that don't fit our values.
When we're chasing someone else's version of success.

But when you begin showing up from a grounded place, knowing who you're here to help, trusting your voice, and allowing yourself to grow one step at a time, visibility becomes much lighter.

Not because fear disappears.



But because your purpose becomes bigger than your fear.

Listen to the full conversation on The Marketing Couch Podcast

If you've been trying to build your private practice by becoming more instead of becoming yourself, I hope this conversation gives you permission to pause and question that. 

Becca's story is an honest reminder that the most sustainable business isn't built by following someone else's blueprint. It's built by returning to your own values, your own voice, and your own way of showing up.

If you'd like to hear the full conversation, I'd love for you to listen to the full episode of The Marketing Couch here.