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Courage and Confidence Podcast – Season 3, Episode 5: "Fitting In"

What happens when one photograph online sends your thoughts spiralling? In this wonderfully honest and personal episode, Lee shares how a single image from an event she'd chosen not to attend triggered a cascade of self-doubt — and asks the question so many of us quietly wrestle with but rarely say out loud: would I have fitted in?

What follows is a warm, candid and genuinely thought-provoking conversation in which Michelle gently unpicks the difference between fitting in and belonging — and why that distinction matters more than we might think.

Drawing on the research of Brené Brown, the poetry of Maya Angelou, and a rather unexpected detour into Enid Blyton and The Faraway Tree, Lee and Michelle explore:

• The difference between fitting in and belonging and why one costs you everything while the other asks nothing of you
• How a single image on social media can trigger a whole chain of limiting beliefs about age, appearance and self-worth
• The Faustian bargain of fitting in Brené Brown's powerful insight that if you win approval by pretending to be someone you're not, the hustle never stops
• Strong back, soft front, the courage to stand firm in who you are while remaining open, honest and vulnerable
• Why social media gives us an illusion of belonging and how the polished images we see (and post) may be doing more harm than we realise
• Lee's lightbulb moment and realising that the only thing standing between her and that event was a pair of clean jeans and a bit of mascara
• Those that mind don't matter, and those that matter don't mind and why the people around Lee's birthday barbecue won't care one bit about her Crocs

This episode is a reminder that the most exhausting thing in the world is trying to be something you're not — and that the people who are truly your people will never ask you to.

🎧 Listen now — and ask yourself: where have you been trying to fit in, when you already belong?

Find Lee at:

• Website: https://welshotimaging.co.uk/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leeatwelshot/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lee.iggulden

Find Michelle at:

• Web: https://www.thinkingspacecoaching.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingspacecoaching/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmichellerogers/

Click here to text into the show. Ask a question, provide feedback or suggest an idea for an episode.

Courage and Confidence Podcast – Season 3, Episode 4: "When Opportunities Feel Like Hard Work"

What if the opportunity that could change everything is right in front of you — but you can't see it because it looks too much like hard work? In this thought-provoking episode, Lee and Michelle explore one of the most quietly powerful ideas they've tackled yet, inspired by a quote from Thomas Edison: "Opportunity is missed by most people because it's dressed in overalls and it looks like work."

The conversation takes a brilliantly unexpected turn when Michelle reveals that Lee has no idea what they're going to talk about — making for some wonderfully honest, unguarded moments as Lee works through the ideas in real time, including a few genuine lightbulb moments of her own.

Together they unpick why we so often miss, dismiss, or talk ourselves out of opportunities — and what we can do about it:

• Why "overnight success" is a myth — from Thomas Edison's 10,000 failed experiments to Messi's 17 years of preparation for his "breakthrough" moment
• The iceberg effect — we only ever see other people's highlights, never the hard work beneath the surface
• How limiting beliefs act as a filter — quietly screening out opportunities before we've even consciously considered them
• The difference between opportunities we grab and ones we don't — and what that reveals about our fears and self-belief
• Why the work involved isn't always physical — sometimes it's mental, emotional, or simply a matter of getting your head around an idea
• The power of the pause — before you say no to something, ask yourself: is this actually an opportunity in disguise?

Michelle's challenge to listeners is simple but powerful: think of something you've been putting off. What are you actually waiting for? And what might happen if you just did the work?

A genuinely eye-opening episode that will have you looking at the situations in your own life with fresh eyes.

🎧 Listen now — and start spotting the opportunities you've been walking past.

Find Lee at:

• Website: https://welshotimaging.co.uk/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leeatwelshot/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lee.iggulden

Find Michelle at:

• Web: https://www.thinkingspacecoaching.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingspacecoaching/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmichellerogers/

Click here to text into the show. Ask a question, provide feedback or suggest an idea for an episode.

Have you ever told yourself you'll do that scary thing once you feel more confident? In this episode, Lee and Michelle tackle one of the most common confidence myths head-on: that you need to feel confident before you act.

The truth? Confidence comes after you do the thing, not before. As Michelle puts it, "confidence is a receipt: you get it after you've made the purchase."

Drawing on personal stories (including Lee hiding behind a curtain at a networking event and cancelling a paid-for photo shoot), the pair explore why we avoid the things that scare us and why that avoidance actually makes things worse, not better. They dig into the science of how the brain processes fear, and why every time we push through a scary situation, we're literally rewiring our response to it.

This episode is packed with practical, actionable wisdom:

• The minimum viable action: what's the smallest step you can take towards that scary thing?
• Why preparation is the foundation of confident action - from Googling the street view of a new venue to writing down your questions before a difficult meeting
• Why inaction doesn't just stall your confidence, it actively erodes it, just like a muscle you stop using
• How lockdown quietly stripped many people's confidence and what that tells us about keeping our skills sharp
• The brain's "threat database" and how doing scary things repeatedly shrinks the fear response over time

Whether you want to speak up more in meetings, go to your first networking event, ask for that pay rise, or simply advocate for yourself at the doctor's surgery, this episode will give you the tools and the encouragement to take that first small step.

🎧 Listen now and start building your confidence, one tiny action at a time.

Find Lee at:

• Website: https://welshotimaging.co.uk/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leeatwelshot/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lee.iggulden

Find Michelle at:

• Web: https://www.thinkingspacecoaching.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkingspacecoaching/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmichellerogers/