How To Deal With Haters In A Courage Boosting Way
Jul 28, 2025
Have you ever opened up your social media, noticed you have some new comments, and excitedly scrolled down to read them? But it’s not what you expected…
It’s a mean comment. And it hits you right in the gut.
If you are online at all, you know that it’s full of people who have nothing else to do but troll other people who are showing up and making an impact.
”You have to have the courage to allow haters to hate. Because when you are doing something that is making an impact, you are going to have people who don't agree with you.” Kim White
The danger for entrepreneurs is that having haters can make you want to give up on showing up for your community, and making an impact on their lives with your product or service.
So what do you do when the haters show up? Here are 3 more lessons on courage from A Knight’s Tale.
1. Be Prepared For The Haters
In the movie A Knight’s Tale, Count Adhemar was the enemy. He was very prideful, he cheated, and he did a whole lot of wicked things.
“Every one of us has a Count Adhemar around us.” Kim White
Somewhere on your business adventure, you will find someone who is not going to play nice. You'll find someone who is going to cheat or lie. They’re going to be ugly or unkind.
Count Adhemar represents the haters.
You are going to have to face one of those people, and it can unsettle you if you’re expecting everyone to like you, play fair, and be respectful.
So you should have a plan before it happens.
Courage challenge #14 is to be prepared for the haters. First, identify who the wicked Count Adhemar is in your life. And then ask yourself what courage it will take to not let them stop you from your business?
When you’re prepared for the haters, you can have the courage to deal with them.
2. Let Your People Stand Up For You
There is a horrible line that Count Adhemar says to William to intimidate and humiliate him. It’s a way for him to boast about his power and success and show William he has no place in the jousting world.
“You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting.” A Knight’s Tale
William doesn’t say anything back to him, but keeps on jousting in the tournaments. And at the end of the movie, it’s William’s group of friends that stand up for him. They say that exact same line to Count Adhemar when he is lying flat on his back on the ground after being knocked off his pony.
That’s what happens on the business adventure, too.
When haters show up and you keep your 'act right', others will stand up for you. It could be your team, your clients, or someone else who knows you very well.
“There have been times when I've had haters on socials where someone else responded, and they've defended me.” Kim White
You do have to stand up for yourself. But stand up for yourself with kindness, and not being ugly back.
Courage challenge #15 is to have the courage to allow others to defend you instead of defending yourself.
It’s hard to step back, to not take on the fight, and to not let emotions or pride take over. It takes courage.
Dance Like Nobody’s Watching
During one of the feasts, Count Adhemar puts out a challenge to William to make him look like a fool. He suggests William teach them a dance from his hometown.
Then, to Count Adhemar’s horror and William’s surprise, they set the dance floor on fire with his spontaneous choreography. Everyone at the party wants him to succeed, so they try their best to make him look good. And everyone ends up having a lot of fun, too.
“When you find your tribe, you can relax and shine.” Kim White
It takes courage to allow people into your life when you’re on the business adventure. But it is so important to allow the right people in, because they are the ones who you will borrow confidence from.
And when the enemy is trying to make you look bad, you can chill out with your tribe and dance like nobody's watching because you have the confidence of the group you are with.
Courage challenge #16 is: Who are you going to have the courage to allow in your tribe?
Community matters. That scene is a great visual because when you have the right community, you can dance like nobody is watching.
“A lot of us are online entrepreneurs, and there's a lot of hate that goes around. It takes some courage to reply to things in a tasteful way and not in a nasty way. And not be another Count Adhemar right back to someone else.” Jill Olish
When you have a plan to deal with the haters, then having them show up can help you build courage, instead of tearing it down.
If you missed the conversation about this between Kim and Jill on their podcast Buckets and Boom Gates, you can catch it here.
Our Groundwork Brigade is a home for entrepreneurs who want to build a business that they own and that doesn't own them. It’s a community of like-minded entrepreneurs finding freedom in the entrepreneurial adventure by practicing putting the right things in the right order.
It’s a safe space to learn how to build a relational business using irresistible marketing strategies, tailored to your individual needs, in a group setting, with lots of accountability and support.
To connect and find out more about Kim or how to create a sexy business for a sexy life, you can reach her and the My Sexy Business Team at www.mysexybusiness.com.
And to connect with Jill Olish go straight to her website www.mamaoutspoken.com and you’ll find her there!
