Introverts Rock
8/7/20251 min read
Navigating visibility and growth in corporate was hard, especially as an introvert.
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ.
When I share with people, even those close to me, that Iโm an introvert who struggled, they donโt believe me.
Because I donโt โ๐ข๐ค๐ตโ like one.
I speak on stage. I network. I show up at work events engaged and look like Iโm having a great time.
But that version of me, is the result of years of refining how I ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ to show up.
๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ช๐ง ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ, ๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต.
But I also wanted to stay true to myself.
Hereโs what helped me connect between my ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ฆ (PJs, curled up in a corner with my phone and a boba, by myself), and my ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ฆ (making my work visible, networking, and showing up):
โจ ๐๐จ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ ๐๐ง ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐: Once I decided to โplay the game,โ I knew I needed to push for visibility and growth, even when it felt uncomfortable.
โจ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐: Trying to copy extroverts was exhausting. So I experimented with my own approach. I didnโt force myself to attend every happy hour just to โshow my faceโ. Instead I leaned into 1:1 walk-and-talks where I could genuinely connect.
โจ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฅ: Instead of framing as โ๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ตโ, which feels icky to me, I learned to ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด ๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ค, ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ญ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ. Speaking up in meetings. Introducing myself at events. None of it was easy, but repetition built confidence.
โจ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐: I stretched and learned my limits, and I scheduled me time (even away from my hubby and kids! ๐ฑ) after big social or networking commitments.
Today, Iโm 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 ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ to me.
๐ญ ๐๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ตโ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ? ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ตโ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต?
