There's always sort of this moment of arrival, often the distance, this vanishing point at the horizon, always beyond our fingertips, you know, that tells us that then I'll be happy. I'll be happy when you fill in the blank. I turn back over my shoulder, Diane, and I can finally see it. I am the girl in the red cape, but I am also the wolf. And that voice in my head telling me to run and not stop running. That voice is

my own. It's somewhere along the line. Like a bad geometry proof con awry we mistook comfortable for safe. Therefore, by the law of transitive property, chaos must equal safe. If you did not grow up with a sense of safety, then as the grown up, you can reteach yourself this sense of safety, this belief that you have the capacity to hold and steward well more.

I read this article once that said, you know, the best ideas are switched, not a dial. They don't just turn the volume up on what we were already thinking. They find a way to flip that thinking on its head. Let's call it what it is. We think if we're perfect enough, no one will ever leave us again. The problem is we abandon ourselves in a thousand different ways, trying to become that perfect version of us.

What of the very things that made you feel small were actually the foundation of your strength?

In today's episode, author, business coach, and podcast hosts, Mary Morantz, joins us to share powerful insights from her new book,

underestimated, the surprisingly simple shift to quit playing small, name the fear, and move forward anyway. From growing up in a West Virginia trailer to graduating from Yale Law School, Mary

knows what it means to be the underdog, and how easy it is to get stuck trying

to prove your worth. Together, we unpack the mindset shifts that help you break free from

perfectionism, imposter syndrome, people pleasing, and the sneaky lies fear tells us.

I can't wait for you to hear from her. But before we get there, if you have yet to leave a review

for the Clear Intentions podcast, pause the episode. It doesn't take long. This is the best way to help this new

podcast grow on its new feed. I so appreciate the encouragement when you do this. I'd love to

hear who your favorite guests or what your favorite topics have been. Your support means everything

in a very oversaturated podcast landscape right now.

So thank you, thank you to those of you in advance.

And with that, let's get into this conversation with Mary.

Mary, it's so good to talk to you today.

Yeah, you too. Thanks so much for having me, Diane.

Yeah. Okay. So your book is called Underestimated, the Surprisingly Simple Shift to Quit Playing Small, Name the Fear, and Move Forward Anyway. I feel like this first question that I have for you might be, take a minute to answer it. But after writing this, do you still feel like you're underestimated? Yeah, you know, it's so funny. I've had a couple people say, like, hey, like, where in your story did people stop underestimating you slash when did you stop doing it to yourself? You know, was it when you got into Yale? Was it when you signed with your publisher? I signed for five books, so that

feels like it should be a moment of arrival. You know, like, was it when you finished writing

this book? And I was like, uh, try this morning. You know, I don't think, here's a working

theory that I have is that I'm not sure we reach a level where people stop underestimating us, especially if we have, if we're people of big vision and we know where we're headed. And I sort of, you know, I think about this, I think that there's always going to, if we sort of define underestimated as someone not being able to see what you bring to the table, to see kind of this like, you know, I call it, like the magic that you hold inside. I honestly don't think there's a level you can reach where there's not going to be somebody who does that to you. You know, if we can see that kind of play out with like people at the top of their game as actors, politicians, whatever the case may be, you know, there's always someone who looks at them and goes, nope, not for me, you know. And so, and the sort of the same thing becomes true for

...