Introverts Rock

Navigating visibility and growth in corporate was hard, especially as an introvert.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦.

When I share with people, even those close to me, that I’m an introvert who struggled, they don’t believe me.

Because I don’t “𝘢𝘤𝘵” like one.

I speak on stage. I network. I show up at work events engaged and look like I’m having a great time.

But that version of me, is the result of years of refining how I 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 to show up.

𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱, 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵.

But I also wanted to stay true to myself.

Here’s what helped me connect between my 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 (PJs, curled up in a corner with my phone and a boba, by myself), and my 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 (making my work visible, networking, and showing up):

✨ 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞: Once I decided to “play the game,” I knew I needed to push for visibility and growth, even when it felt uncomfortable.

✨ 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜: Trying to copy extroverts was exhausting. So I experimented with my own approach. I didn’t force myself to attend every happy hour just to “show my face”. Instead I leaned into 1:1 walk-and-talks where I could genuinely connect.

✨ 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥: Instead of framing as ‘𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵’, which feels icky to me, I learned to 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭. Speaking up in meetings. Introducing myself at events. None of it was easy, but repetition built confidence.

✨ 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞: I stretched and learned my limits, and I scheduled me time (even away from my hubby and kids! 😱) after big social or networking commitments.

Today, I’m still very much an introvert. I just intentionally choose where to invest my energy and prioritize spaces where I can learn, contribute, and connect in ways that feel real, and 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 to me.

💭 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵?