BRITTANY WOITAS OF KOVLY STUDIO ON HOW AUTHENTICITY AND VULNERABILITY PAY OFF AN HELP YOU WIN PERSONALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY
Originally published in Medium Magazine.
Being vulnerable and authentic are some of today’s popular buzzwords. It may seem counterintuitive to be vulnerable, as many of us have been taught to project an air of confidence, be a boss, and act like we know everything. In Brene Brown’s words, “vulnerability takes courage.” So is vulnerability a strength or a weakness? Can someone be authentic without being vulnerable? How can being authentic and vulnerable help someone grow both personally and professionally? In this interview series, we are talking to business leaders, mental health professionals and business and life coaches who can share stories and examples of “How Authenticity and Vulnerability Pay Off and Help You Win Personally and Professionally.” As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Brittany Woitas.
Fueled by a passion for creating elevated brands that transform businesses, Brittany’s expertise and respected education are instrumental in leading Kōvly Studio, a brand and marketing agency for experience-driven brands. Leveraging experience working with organizations ranging from large, Fortune 100 companies to small, family-owned businesses, Brittany founded Kōvly Studio to elevate business success by strategically connecting organizations to their most profitable target market.
Data-driven, strategic, and focused, Brittany supports business leaders by directly connecting brand and marketing efforts to business goals.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
It all started on a farm in Southern Minnesota. I grew up on a small family farm that was 30 minutes from anything. Beyond doing animal chores and walking beans (if you know, you know), my sister and I would fill the time picking our mom’s vegetables and selling them in makeshift food stands on the side of the road.
While we all chuckle at the cute, simple upbringing we had, we were raised in a very conservative, tightknit community with pretty narrow and rigid paths of what life should look like… and this mold of who I was “supposed” to be stuck with me into adulthood.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it’s not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take.” — Joseph Campbell
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
To Be Magnetic has been instrumental in my life. It is a guide for holistic living and manifestation, and allowed me to get to the core of what founder, Lacy Phillips, calls limiting beliefs about myself and my life, and then helped me build my life with intention and purpose.
Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. Let’s begin with a definition of terms so that each of us and our readers are on the same page. What exactly does being authentic mean?
Jumping right to the big questions, aren’t we! I love this. As simple as it sounds, there is so much depth to this question.
I believe that being authentic means being in tune with your true self — your values, feelings, and experiences — and confidently living that every single day to make a positive impact on the world.
What does being vulnerable mean? Can you explain?
Can I admit that I literally take a deep breath every time I have to talk about being vulnerable? Honestly, it’s still such a hard thing for me to do. Being vulnerable means showing up fully, wholly, with imperfections and all. Especially in our society today, there seems to be a lot of pressure to be polished and perfect. But that is causing some serious issues for people both personally and professionally.
What are the positive aspects of being authentic and vulnerable? Can you give a story or example to explain what you mean?
When you stop showing up as who you think you’re supposed to be, you can actually start making a difference.
Just over nine years ago, I started my business and was very confident that I would never hire anyone. A year later, I had my first employee, and a few years after that, we were building out a 2,000-square-foot office to fit our team.
I share this because leadership was a skill I didn’t plan on having to master. And, for several years, I put it on the back burner, which — in turn — meant that I just kind of went through the motions of what I thought a “cool” leader was supposed to do. I treated my team more like business partners than employees, giving them very little guidance and a cloudy — at best — vision of where we were trying to go. I avoided tough conversations which only led to even bigger issues.
I remember feeling miserable — and I’m sure my team did too — but I had these little sayings I’d keep in my pocket whenever someone would ask how business was going.
“Oh, I have the best team.”
“Everything is going so great.”
The most important thing was how it looked on the outside… even though, in reality, I was suffocating.
After a pivotal — and extremely painful — moment, I hit what you could call rock bottom. And at that moment, I knew I needed to take the mask off, figure out who I really was and the impact I wanted to make in the world, and begin showing up as my true, authentic self.
It took time to find my bearings and get really comfortable with this, but today I can truly say that I have the best team and everything is going so great… because I am leading with authenticity (weird quirks, imperfections, and all), and that raw, vulnerable, unfiltered version allows me to confidently my team, support our clients, and encourage others who are finding their place in this world.
Are there negative aspects to authenticity and vulnerability? Can you give a story or example to explain what you mean?
Of course. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. While most people have been so supportive and have even reached out to me for advice after seeing me live my authentic life, some people just will no longer fit in your circle. And you have to identify that and let it be.
The thing is, when you’re living authentically and with vulnerability, you have to protect that.
The mask, the façade I had for so many years was probably more of a protective mechanism than anything else. Opening yourself up means removing that protection, that shield. So, instead, you need to be very intentional about who you surround yourself with to feel supported, uplifted, and empowered to live your purpose.
From your experience or perspective, what are some of the common barriers that hold someone back from being authentic and vulnerable?
For me personally, it stems back to childhood. I never felt like I fit into that mold, that path that our little community had. Not feeling supported in exploring other ways of life, other career paths, and other passions at such a young age conditioned me to prioritize outside expectations over my own feelings, interests, and authentic self.
We each have our own journey and our own challenges, so this will look different for everyone. But I think the common thread is the pressure of fitting into some mold that doesn’t feel right for you… but doing it anyway. And this, left unattended, snowballs into suddenly living a life that doesn’t feel like your own.
What are five ways that being authentic and vulnerable pay off, and help you win, both personally and professionally?
There are countless benefits, but for the sake of time, I’ll narrow it down to five:
Confidence — This is the big one that really feeds into everything in your life. Being confident in your own body, your own mind, and your own life is absolutely freeing and life-changing. Barriers, worries, and stressors you felt before completely fade away. It’s not that you don’t have any struggles or hurdles, but you can navigate them with clarity and a bit more ease.
Attraction — When you’re living with authenticity, you attract the people and the opportunities that align with that. Those toxic relationships you’ve always had in the past? Nonexistent. The dream career, clients, work you wanted but never could quite get? Suddenly, they start falling right into your lap.
Deeper Relationships — From your spouse to your coworkers, you’re able to connect at a deeper level with people because those walls you had built up before are gone and allow you to create meaningful, real connections.
Clarity — When you start living authentically, your mind isn’t clouded with all of the things you’re supposed to do. Instead, you’ll find it so much easier to make decisions and choose the path that feels right for you.
Impact — Finally — and most importantly — you’ll make waves. Your circle will come to you for advice and support. People who don’t even know you personally will be inspired by you. Whatever your life’s calling is, living authentically will allow you to make the biggest, most profound impact.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Honestly, this. Over the past year, I’ve felt just how important it is to lead a life with authenticity. And I know that my journey, my story is one that so many can relate to. I truly believe that if more people could feel empowered to live with authenticity, that it would change the world.
Read the original article by Medium Magazine.