Sometimes it isn’t a dramatic breaking point that tells us something needs to change. It can be quieter than that. Maybe just a sense of disconnect, or a feeling that the story we’re living no longer quite belongs to us.
In this episode of A Thought I Kept, I talk to Hilary Salzman about what happens when you start to notice that misalignment — between who you are, how you’re seen, and the roles you’ve learned to inhabit. We talk about voice, self-trust, and the emotional weight of trying to stay inside stories that once made sense, but now feel confusing, limiting, or quietly exhausting.
Hilary and I explore why telling our own stories can feel both risky and necessary, especially for women. We talk about emotional overwhelm, anxiety, and the pressure to turn our lives into neat, polished narratives rather than staying with what’s messier and often more honest.
The thought Hilary brings to this conversation — "If you don’t tell your story, someone else will" — stays with us as we talk about authorship, permission, and what it means to couragously reclaim your voice without needing to perform, explain, or fix yourself.
Hilary Salzman is a business storyteller, writer, speaker and founder of She Roars Club who helps women in business stop playing small with their voices.
She's the author of The Roar of Her Story (shortlisted for Business Book Awards 2025) and founder of She Roars Club, an accountability community for women entrepreneurs. She spent 20 years in corporate marketing at major tech brands before launching her storytelling consultancy.
Hilary doesn't teach women to be louder or more polished. She shows them how to use their real experiences, even the messy bits, to build genuine connections and close the gap between the impact they've made and the stories they're telling.
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This is A Thought I Kept — Weekly conversations about the ideas that stay. Listen every Monday morning for a new thought to hold onto this week, especially when the world feels overwhelming.
About Claire Fitzsimmons
Claire is the host of A Thought I Kept, a wellbeing writer and the co-founder of If Lost Start Here, a company on a mission to get people to a better place, sometimes literally. As an ICF Associate Certified Coach and a certified Emotions Coach Practitioner, Claire helps women navigate the everyday lost moments of their lives and all their feelings, from anxiety to grief, overwhelm to joy. Claire writes on Substack at MoreGoodDays. For personal coaching, reach out to Claire here.
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