How To Have The Courage To Be You
Oct 06, 2025
“I need to be more like her.”
“If only I were as organized as he is.”
“If I can just do it exactly the way she does it, my business will definitely grow!”
Do you ever have those thoughts? It’s only natural as an entrepreneur to play the comparison game.
“Imposter syndrome is real.” Jill Olish
Did you know that when you have imposter syndrome bubbling up, you are trying to disqualify yourself.
But the biggest flex your business has is that you are the one running it. Nobody can be you better than you can.
Having the courage to be you is at the heart of business growth and success because that’s what builds trust between you and your clients, customers, and team.
Here are 3 points from the movie - A Knight’s Tale - that will help you to have the courage to be you on your entrepreneurial adventure.
1. Don’t Wait Until You Get The Paper
"A knight in your heart, but not on paper. They only care about the paper." A Knight’s Tale
You do not need to have a master's degree to run most businesses.
Are you disqualifying yourself from something because you don't have a degree?
Are you waiting for someone to give you permission to start something?
Are you thinking: “I don’t have enough training. I can’t be the expert in this!”
Why?
Why are you listening to “them” when there's proof in front of you of people who've had great success in life without the piece of paper?
“This is why we don't like the word ‘expert’ in our community, because we are just experienced. We have experiences that make us qualified, and that alone squashes that imposter syndrome.” Jill Olish
Obviously, there are some things that you really do need the piece of paper for, like brain surgery. But short of that, there’s not a lot that cannot be learned in a different way.
“Confession: I'm a princess who is not papered. I am a business owner who's not papered. I do not have a degree. I do not have a certification. I do not have any of those things. I do have 42 years of experience.” Kim White
Courage Challenge #28: What are you allowing "they" to tell you that you have to have credentials for? And if you have been disqualifying yourself for something, where can you have the courage to stop doing that?
2. Parrots Don’t Belong In Business
" You speak of what you don't know.” A Knight’s Tale
If you've never tried something but you heard someone else say, "all you need is xyz," so now you say, "all you need is xyz,” then that's called parroting.
The parrot doesn't have a clue or any experience of what they're talking about, so don't be that parrot.
“I see too many people building businesses and parroting something they've heard someone else say.” Kim White
You can get yourself into a lot of trouble by speaking of what you don't know, because you lose all kinds of trust with people. You lose one of the building blocks of business by doing that.
If you find yourself feeling like you have to parrot something that you don't know, rather own up to the fact that you don't know, and you can find out.
It’s really hard being ok with "I don't know." The good news is that you don't have to have all the answers. And that is absolutely a place of courage.
“Courage is the not knowing all the answers and being okay with it.” Kim White
Courage Challenge #29: Are you parroting anything in your business? Do you have the courage to write it down and figure out a new way?
3. Believe In Who You Are
At the climax of the movie, A Knight’s Tale, everyone wants William to run away from his sentence. And that would mean being on the run for the rest of his life because he pretended to be a noble. But (spoiler alert) he refuses to run because he believes he can be a legitimate knight. He truly believes in changing his stars.
“The truth is, running from problems does not solve them. They follow you everywhere you go.” Kim White
Your problem might be a conflict in your team. It could be a tech tool you're not familiar with. It could be anything that is standing in your way, from not understanding something to not knowing how to figure it out.
Courage Challenge #30: What are you running from? What do you need to stand and face so that you can really change your stars and not just pretend to?
Is it something you need to learn?
Is it something you need to admit?
Is it something you need to apologize for?
Your fear might be making you run from what you need to face, but this is another place of courage that will allow you to take a stand in your business for who you are and what you are all about.
Having the courage to be you is what will set your business up for success because that’s what builds trust with your clients, customers, and team.
You don’t need to have the right piece of paper or know all the answers to build up trust.
It’s more about what you believe about yourself, how honest you are, and what you do with those tough situations.
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!
