#TheAuthenticLife: The Journey Begins

What if embracing your true self could unlock a life filled with joy, purpose, and peace? In this pre-release episode of the Authentic Life podcast, we celebrate the realization of a dream and the hard work and patience required to bring it to life. As your host, I'm thrilled to share my journey of resisting the pressure to conform and encouraging others to live boldly and authentically. We reflect on the burdens of societal expectations and explore the transformative power of authenticity, setting the stage for a movement that fosters a safe space for meaningful connections.

Join me, Keisha, as we lay the foundation for a community rooted in empowerment, especially for women of color, through my nonprofit Authentic Life Inc. We dive into essential conversations about setting boundaries, navigating relationships, and embracing identity, all while focusing on progress over perfection. Together, we'll create a thriving community on Instagram and beyond, where your stories and experiences become part of a larger narrative. Use the hashtag #theauthenticlife to share your journey, and let's inspire each other to live boldly and authentically. Thank you for joining this exciting adventure towards an enriched and fulfilling life.

Chapters

• 0:10 Embracing Authenticity in the Authentic Life
• 4:52 Journey to Living Authentically
• 17:11 Building a Thriving Authentic Movement

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

Hey, hey, hey. It's your girl, keisha, and I want to welcome you to the Authentic Life. It's the podcast where we explore the art of living unapologetically. We are embracing our truths and, if you know me, we are showing up 100 proof every day. This topic is so important to me and I want to help all of us get closer to being OK with living as our authentic selves Because, let's be real, when we are our most authentic selves, everyone gets the best version of us every time. So, at the Authentic Life, we're all about being true, we're living bold and, ultimately, we're trying to embrace ourselves. This is a space where we're going to keep it real, we're going to find our voice, but we're also going to learn how to navigate life's ups and downs with authenticity, courage and a sprinkle of Keisha. So, whether you're here to learn, you're here to grow or you're just trying to vibe with your girl, I am so glad you're along for the journey. So let's laugh, let's reflect. Hey, we may even cry, but we're gonna get real about the challenges and the joys of living the authentic life. Ready to dive in, let's go. Hello everyone, and welcome to the official release of the Authentic Life. This is the pre-release episode to the very first episode that comes out on December 31st. This is just giving you a little bit of taste of the Authentic Life, but I'm super excited. I am Keisha, I am your host and let me tell you I am beyond excited to share this moment with you.

Speaker 1: 1:42

Creating a podcast is not easy. It takes a lot of work, it takes a lot of time and, most importantly, it takes a lot of patience to get something like this put together. But this podcast has been a dream of mine for quite some time and today it's no longer a dream. It's now a reality. So can we just take a moment to celebrate that together, our reality. So can we just take a moment to celebrate that together? Yes, the authentic life is so much more than a podcast. I really don't want this just to be another podcast, right. For me, this is really about it being a movement, a safe space and a call to action for us all to live boldly, unapologetically and as our most authentic selves.

Speaker 1: 2:24

So if you're someone who's ever felt the weight of trying to fit in, the pressure to shrink yourself into different spaces and places, or just struggled with living by someone else's standard, listen, you are not alone, and this space is for you. This is why this space was created. Now let me ask you something have you ever felt like you had to make yourself smaller just to fit in, just to be around certain people or to maintain relationships or friendships? So if that's you, what's one thing you'd do differently if you weren't weighed down by the expectations of others? Now I want you to take a second to think about it. Maybe jot it down in a notebook in your phone or just sit with it for a moment, right, and I'm going to give us a little minute to kind of do some reflection and think about that. All right? So hopefully you have taken some time and you have really thought about that. That's going to be the kind of thing that we're going to do in this podcast. So this release episode is all about welcoming you into this community and giving you a little sneak peek of what's ahead.

Speaker 1: 3:36

But before we dive into the exciting details, I want to take a moment to reflect and share a little bit about the journey that brought us here, because, let's be real, as I mentioned before, this did not happen overnight and it definitely has taken some time. So let's think about the birth of the authentic life. What inspired the authentic life? Well, like many of you, I've had moments where I felt stuck, I felt unseen, I've had to shrink myself, I felt the pressure to fit into certain spaces and places and really all of that put me out of alignment with my true self. So over the years, I've tried to learn that living authentically is the key to not to unlocking my joy, to unlocking my purpose, to unlocking my peace and really having some meaningful relationships. So if I think about this podcast and kind of the stories and the things that we're going to talk about, ultimately it's rooted in my own experiences. We're going to talk about some of my triumphs, the things that have gone really well for me, but we're also going to talk about some lessons. And, yes, we are going to focus on those failures, right, because the failures, all of those things together, make us who we are.

Speaker 1: 4:52

Additionally, the authentic life really is an extension of my nonprofit called the Authentic Life Inc. Where I really would like to empower women, especially women of color, to live boldly, to take up space and really thrive in their spaces and not feel like they have to wear a mask or shrink themselves. So, through that work that I've done in that space and some of the coaching that I've done, I realized how powerful it is to share our stories and to be vulnerable and to connect on a deeper level when we're really thinking about the challenges that we face every day. About the challenges that we face every day. So here we are we're launching this podcast as a space to inspire, challenge and support each other. My goal is very simple really it's to help you live authentically in every area of your life, and so that is how the Authentic Life became to be.

Speaker 1: 5:42

As mentioned, it is rooted from a nonprofit. I have a newsletter on LinkedIn titled the Authentic Life. So a lot of what if you follow the newsletter. A lot of what's in those newsletters we'll talk about in the podcast, amongst other things. But yeah, that's how we started. So when thinking about that and really thinking about, okay, what can we expect from the authentic life in this podcast, one of my biggest things that I really hope is that this, just this, just this, just this does not become just another self-help podcast that we really take time to deep dive into real, raw and transformative work of authenticity, right? So we're going to talk about some of the podcasts and some of the things that you can expect from that, because this isn't just about being a feel-good conversation. It really is about a journey and how we can grow along that journey.

Speaker 1: 6:38

So here's the lineup of some of the topics we're going to dive into. The first one, or one of many topics, will be around setting boundaries, and why is it so hard to say no and how can we protect our peace when trying to maintain boundaries. So I will, of course, share a life experience related to that. What I've learned from that experience. Things like that potentially bring someone else in to kind of talk about setting boundaries. I also make recommendations of books and things like that potentially bring someone else in to kind of talk about setting boundaries. I also make recommendations of books and things like that that I've used on my journey of trying to set boundaries.

Speaker 1: 7:13

Another topic that we will dive into is around navigating relationships right. When we think about authenticity and thinking about living the authentic life, a lot of times our relationships impact our ability to do that. So how do we stay true to ourselves while also fostering the connections with the people that we have in our life? So I'll talk about some of my aha moments in balancing some of my relationships and some of my friendships, but also trying to balance that with self-respect right, and maintaining my self-worth while also trying to foster those connections.

Speaker 1: 7:48

Then we're going to talk about the role of ego. That is something that I've been talking a lot about with my therapist, because have you ever, like, had something come up in your life and it's the principle of the thing? Right, it's not the thing you did, even though the thing that occurred could have been egregious and really caused a problem, but, like, the thing that is bothering you is the principle behind the thing. So it's that ego driven right. So, really, talking about the role of ego and how to spot when your ego's in the driver's seat and what to do about it, right? So how do you manage that? It's not necessarily about getting rid of the ego, it's really about managing it, and so we're going to talk about that, because that is something that I've talked a lot about with my therapist.

Speaker 1: 8:38

And then, most importantly, when we're thinking about authenticity and thinking about the authentic life, it's about embracing your identity and who you are. So we're going to do some self-reflection, we're going to do some self-work, right, whether it's cultural, personal or professional. We're going to unpack what it means to own our story unapologetically All of the pieces that come to come with us, all of the trials, all of the tribulations, all of the things. We are going to work through those, because if we don't work through those, it's going to be hard for us to take the mask off because we're not comfortable with who we are, so really want to focus on that. And so, when thinking about that, have you ever struggled with boundaries or have you ever struggled with some of the topics that we've talked about in that space? Right? And so my hope is that, in talking about these different topics, that you will send me topics and there be things that you find me on Instagram, linkedin, all of the places and we can share and learn together. But my goal is to also have guests come on, other everyday people who are living authentically in their own way and allow them to share their stories, their strategies and their insights that will help us all to grow, their strategies and their insights that will help us all to grow. And you know, I'm going to share my journey, of course, because this isn't about perfection, it's about progress. So together we're going to learn, grow and celebrate each other and celebrate our progress along the way.

Speaker 1: 10:09

So why does authenticity matter? Why is this even a topic? Why are we talking about that? Well, here's the thing when we live authentically, we don't just free ourselves, we inspire others to do the same.

Speaker 1: 10:20

So if I think about another reason as to why I chose to do this, I speak a lot, I do presentations, I do keynotes, I do workshops, I do trainings. I do all the things, and one of the things over the years that I get, when I go speak and people come up and they talk to you after you speak, it's never about my topic. Sometimes it's about my topic, but most of the time it's about the fact, especially from women, and in many cases race is not a factor, it's just various women who come up and say I really appreciate that in this professional setting, you still are true to you, you still show up authentic, you still embrace who you are, you don't shrink yourself in spaces and places in order to do this job that they're going to either get all of you or none of you right, and so for me, that's extremely important because, as I mentioned, living authentically gives other people. It not only frees you, but it inspires other people to do the same thing. And so for me it's like how can I get more people to embrace that? Because I know for me it took a really long time for me to get to a place of being okay? Is showing up as Keisha and showing up as much of Keisha as I could in the spaces that I was in, without fear of loss of access or something of something, or that if I showed up as myself, there was going to be some issue or she's not professional, how she looks is not professional, her hair is not professional Really thinking about all of those things and how it's going to play into my ability to progress, especially professionally. So for me it's really about that inspiration level, right, and how do we help each other.

Speaker 1: 12:13

So authenticity isn't about being perfect. It's really about being real. It's about showing up with our flaws and all, but at the end of the day, knowing that with all of that stuff we are enough, right. So if I had to ask you a question, if you were here with me and I had to ask you a question, what's one area of your life where you could show up more authentically? I want you to write that down and then going into this week, I want you to take one little small step it doesn't have to be big, it can be one little inch into making that thing happen, because the idea with this podcast is really for us to progress step by step. Podcasts is really for us to progress step by step, holding each other's hand all at the same time. So, as we kick off this journey, I want to leave you with this Authenticity isn't a trend, even though you may see the word all the time and you may hear people talk about it all the time.

Speaker 1: 13:15

It's a lifestyle. It's something. It is not a final destination. It is a journey. It's something that we will always work on.

Speaker 1: 13:18

I'm on here and I'm talking about authenticity and I'm talking about the authentic life and all the things. But that doesn't mean that I still don't shrink myself in certain spaces and with certain people. That doesn't mean that I don't wear a mask anymore. It just means that I think it's important that we all figure out ways that we don't have to do that and that we do those things together. So, ultimately, it's about showing up as yourself every single day, even when it's hard right, because, trust me, it's going to be worth it in the end. I will tell anybody.

Speaker 1: 13:51

When you can show up as much of you as you can authentically, as a hundred proof, people get the best version of you. You have to shrink yourself and wear a mask and use a lot of mental capacity and bandwidth to be in places to interact with people. People don't get the best version of you. They get a watered down version of you version of you. They get a watered down version of you.

Speaker 1: 14:19

And so this is really about how do I help, or how do we help each other get to a place of really embracing being ourselves and being okay with that. But then that comes with making hard decisions, right? Because if showing up a hundred proof is a problem for you, then I got to ask myself is that a space that I want to remain in? Is that a person I want to remain? I want to continue to engage with? Right? So it not only comes with us really doing some self-reflection, but it also comes with us having to make some hard decisions and some hard choices. So, but we're going to do that together and that's what this podcast is all about.

Speaker 1: 14:56

So I want to invite you into the conversation. You can use the hashtag the authentic hashtag, the authentic life to share your thoughts, your stories or your favorite moments as we are going through these episodes, because I want to create a community, and I want to create this community where we can support and inspire each other. So, with that, I really thank you all for being here for this pre-release episode of the Authentic Life. I'm very grateful for each and every one of you who decided that you wanted to support this vision and believed in this message and came to just hear the pre-release right. So if you're excited, if you are as excited about this journey as I am, don't forget to subscribe, share the podcast with your friend, your friends, leave a review, because it will mean the world to me.

Speaker 1: 15:41

As we think about the release of the official episode on December 31st. We're really going to talk about the authentic life. Right, we're going to start with the authentic life Hashtag the authentic life and what is that? What does that look like? How do we start that journey? And so that's what that first episode really is going to focus on. This episode was really about introducing me, talking about what we're going to be doing, trying to get you all excited about the podcast and what's to come. If you've read any of my newsletters, you have an idea of what's to come, but definitely we'll have some other voices for you to hear so that they can share their stories and their strategies to help us all.

Speaker 1: 16:33

Thank you for listening to the Authentic Life. Before you go, let me ask you this Are you ready to live boldly, unapologetically and fully step into your truth? If today's episode gave you even the slightest spark, don't stop here. Make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode, and if you love what you heard, leave a review. Your feedback helps us reach more people and grow this incredible community of authentic living. And don't keep it to yourself. Share this episode with someone who needs a little extra inspiration today. Let's spread the message and empower others to live life on their own terms.

Speaker 1: 17:11

Want to connect with me outside of the podcast? Follow me on Instagram at thekeishajones or at theauthenticlife for daily encouragement, behind the scenes moments and real talk. You can use the hashtag theauthenticlife to join the conversation and you might just get a shout out in a future episode. So remember this is more than a podcast. It's a movement. Together, we'll build a space where authenticity thrives. Thanks for being a part of it. Until next time, we always say stay true, stay bold and keep living the authentic life. Thank you.