The Power of Self-Acceptance: Reflections from Female Boss Live

A few weeks ago I had the joy and privilege of stepping onto the stage at Female Boss Live. A room filled with powerful, brilliant women who showed up not only for themselves, but for each other. There was an energy in that space that is hard to describe: supportive, unstoppable, deeply human.

Walking into that room felt like walking into possibility.

I spoke on a topic that sits at the heart of my work and my life: the power of self-acceptance. Not the fluffy, inspirational-quote version of self-acceptance, but the real, grounding, psychology-backed kind that changes how we think, how we lead, and how we show up in the world.

During my talk, I shared a line that has resonated with so many people since:

“Self-acceptance is meeting yourself where you are, without judgement. Embracing the positive and negative with equality and self-kindness.”

It’s simple, but it’s radical. Because in a world obsessed with fixing, optimising, transforming and reinventing, pausing long enough to actually acknowledge who we already are can feel almost rebellious.

A room full of leaders lifting each other higher

The Female Boss Live wasn’t just an event. It was a reminder of what happens when women gather without pretence, without comparison, and without the pressure to perform.

Throughout the day, I saw women cheering each other on, sharing stories openly, asking for support without apology.

It struck me how rare, and how needed, these spaces are.

We spend so much of our lives bracing. Proving. Performing. Yet the moment we are witnessed in a room of people who want to see us rise, something shifts. We soften. We expand. We step into our real selves rather than the curated version we think the world wants.

That’s why I speak about self-acceptance every chance I get. Because leaders who accept themselves are leaders who lift others. Leaders who create psychological safety. Leaders who replace perfection pressure with clarity and connection.

Why self-acceptance matters in leadership

When I coach executives, founders and senior leaders, one theme rises again and again: the inner critic. The voice that says:

You should be further ahead.
You’re not doing enough.
Everyone else is coping better than you.

The challenge isn’t eliminating that voice. It’s understanding it. Meeting it with curiosity rather than obedience. Naming it, so we can choose our response to it. (Mine is called Gertrude, she still pipes up, but she no longer runs the show.)

As I said on stage:

“We cannot grow from toxic soil. We think better, do better, are better when we come from a place of self-acceptance rather than punishment.”

This is why mindset work is foundational in my coaching programmes. When leaders build self-acceptance, they become clearer thinkers, calmer decision-makers, and more authentic communicators. Their teams feel it. Their organisations feel it. Their lives feel it.

Small steps breed fundamental change

This is one of my core principles as a coach. Change doesn’t come from reinvention or dramatic overnight transformation. It comes from small, consistent steps, repeated with compassion and clarity.

As I shared in my talk:

“Behavioural psychology tells us that small, consistent actions rewire our brain. They build self-trust, confidence and identity.”

This is the work I do every day with clients:
Not setting punishing goals,
not chasing perfection,
but designing small, sustainable habits that create real momentum.

Because confidence is not built by outcomes. Confidence is built by internal evidence. The evidence that you can trust yourself, even in the smallest ways.

Give me a stage and a microphone…

I say this jokingly, but it’s true. Speaking is one of my greatest joys, not because I love the spotlight, but because I love watching people’s faces shift when something lands. When a truth clicks. When they see themselves differently, more kindly, more powerfully.

It’s also why I love presentation coaching. Too many brilliant leaders hide from the stage because they believe they’re “not good enough” or “not confident enough” to be in front of an audience.

But everyone deserves to feel strong and grounded when they speak. Everyone deserves the tools to tell their story with clarity and impact. Everyone deserves that moment where their voice takes up the space it is meant to take.

And that confidence doesn’t come from pretending to be someone else. It comes from self-acceptance.

When you stop fighting yourself, your voice finally has room to breathe.

My reflection leaving Female Boss Live

As I left the event, I felt two things:

1. Deep gratitude
For the women who trusted me with their stories.
For the room that held so much honesty.
For the collective energy that felt like possibility.

2. A renewed conviction
That self-acceptance is not a soft skill, it is a leadership skill.
That small steps change lives.
That resilient, grounded leaders don’t emerge from perfection, they emerge from truth.

If you were in that room, thank you.
If you’re reading this now, I hope you take one thing with you:

You don’t have to leap. You just need to begin.
Meet yourself where you are.
Then take one small, powerful step, and keep going.

And if you want support, whether in your mindset, your leadership or your presence on stage,I’m here.