Vol. 1 Ed. 20 Sept. 21, 2025 ✨Stepping Into the Arena

“Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change.” – Brené Brown

Dear Brilliant Community, 

Last week, I wrote about discipline — how one small habit repeated for seven days begins to shift not just you, but the systems and organizations you’re part of. This week, I want to talk about what comes next: the courage to be vulnerable enough to take those habits out into the world.

Vulnerability isn’t just about sharing your feelings. It’s about showing up when you’d rather hide. It’s about presenting an idea that may be questioned, second-guessed, or even rejected. It’s about boldness, courage, and a readiness to endure conflict.

That last line lived in my email signature for years because it rang true then. It rings even louder now.

This weekend, I’ll be stepping into that vulnerability at Startup Weekend at The Wright Village — 54 hours of pitching ideas, forming teams, building prototypes, and presenting to judges.  I could have chosen to just “be in the room.” To observe, to network, to stay safe in the crowd.

But I decided no: I am participating. I will put my voice and my ideas into the arena.

The moment I clicked register and committed to pitching, I felt it — a jolt of nervous excitement right in the chest. It wasn’t about a fear of people; it was the palpable weight of stepping onto a new stage. This is about bringing my whole self, my company, and my full commitment to the forefront. There’s no hiding in the audience.

That’s what discipline looks like when it grows legs. That’s what vulnerability looks like when it’s tested.

Jay-Z, Beyoncé, and Possibility

As I prepare for this weekend, I keep hearing The Carters song “Nice” in my head. Jay-Z says: 

“What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? I have no fear of anything. I’m born to do this.”

And later Beyoncé’ says, which gets me every time:

“I ain’t seen a ceiling in my whole life. That’s word to Blue.”

Their daughter has never known a ceiling — no caps, no limiting thinking, only possibility.

That’s the same belief I’ve instilled in my children and now my granddaughter: the world is yours. Anything is possible. And while I’ve sometimes placed limits on myself, they challenge me every day to live what I teach.

Discipline plants the seed. Vulnerability waters it. 

And possibility is the harvest.

✨So here’s my invitation to you this week:

• Where are you putting a ceiling on yourself that doesn’t belong there

• What’s one way you can practice vulnerability — not in theory, but in action? (This doesn’t have to be a grand pitch. It could be speaking up in a meeting, asking for feedback on a project you’re nervous about, or finally having that difficult conversation).

• What habit will you keep strengthening so that when the opportunity comes, you are ready to step into the arena?

  
  

P.S. I’ll be sharing how the weekend went in a future update — the wins, the lessons, all of it. Because that’s what committing fully looks like. If you’re working on stepping into your own arena, hit reply and tell me about it. I’d love to hear.

Onward,

Soyini