I’m Walking Toward the TEDx Stage

I’m saying this out loud so I can’t easily take it back:

I am walking toward the TEDx stage.

On February 21, 2026, I’ll be delivering a talk called “What Happens When You Stop Apologizing for Existing” in Lake Alfred, Florida.

Even typing that sentence brings up a mix of excitement and a familiar whisper: Who do you think you are?

I’m a Gen X, introverted, middle child who grew up learning how to be small, quiet, and “good.” For a long time, I carried those facts like evidence. Evidence that I had messed up. Evidence that I should be grateful for any seat at any table. Evidence that I needed to overperform and apologize for existing in spaces where people didn’t expect someone with my story.

And yet, here I am, building a talk that asks people to do the very thing I had to learn the hard way: to stop apologizing for existing and start owning who they are—fully, loudly, softly, imperfectly, but honestly.

Over the next few months, I’m going to share a short weekly update on this journey:

• How I’m shaping the idea

• The stories I almost left out

• The mindset shifts I’m still working through

• The small, practical changes I’m making—especially around language

This isn’t a “look at me, I’m so confident” series. This is a “walk with me while I practice what I teach” series.

I’m inviting you into the messy middle: the drafts, the doubts, the breakthroughs, and the decisions that go into 10 minutes on a red dot.

This blog series is my way of saying: I’m done apologizing for being here. And I want you to have permission to do the same.

I can see how often I’ve softened my joy, my ambition, and my story to make other people more comfortable. Preparing for TEDx is forcing me to decide: do I want to be comfortable, or do I want to be true?

If you had 10 minutes on a TEDx stage, what’s the one idea you’d want the world to hear?

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🗝️ Be sure to follow my journey and visit this blog every Friday at 1:00PM ET.

🗝️🗝️ Interesting in taking the TED or TEDx stage? Ask me how I landed this opportunity and I will tell you EXACTLY how! Hint: I hired some help...