In this episode of Imperfection Wins I share the keynote speech that changed everything for me! Speaking on the Align stage in 2025 was a dream come true for me. When I was first asked, I was thrilled and excited to speak to 350 entrepreneurs on compassion and compassionate leadership. It’s a message I know well, believe in and love to share.
A couple of weeks before Align, a different message was placed on my heart. A vulnerable message about moving from a life of perfectionism, people pleasing and striving to a life of surrender. It was about my own journey of spending years trapped by fear, others expectations of me and working hard to build safety and security for myself, attached to fierce self-reliance. And the moment it all fell apart, losing my mom.
Standing on that stage was an unleashing for me. An unleashing of the old strategies I’ve held onto for so long. It marked something profound for me…the deconstruction of “corporate Sam” and it marked something even more profound…the reconstructing of something new, fresh, lighter…the reconstructing of a whole woman and leader. A woman who has compassion and gratitude for all of the parts of her story and the versions of herself that got her here, on the Align stage sharing a message she’d never have had the courage to share a year ago.
Instagram: @coachsamwilling
https://www.samwilling.com/
