how i got over the 'cringe' and reached 120k views on a reel

When I posted this reel, my main concern was getting over the 'cringe' I felt. Then, the reel hit over 𝟭𝟮𝟬𝗞 views, numerous shares, comments and private messages in such a short period of time. 🚀 

Turns out, my concern was unfounded. It wasn't about me. It was about people relating to what I was sharing.

✨ 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 '𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱' 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻.

✨ 𝗜𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 (𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹).

✨ 𝗜𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰-𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗻𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲.

💁🏻‍♀️ STORY TIME: When I auditioned for my correspondent and presenter role at Euronews / NBC News, I remember walking into the office half an hour early and quietly sitting down in the waiting area. I was observing how they worked. I wanted to feel settled in the environment. I said hello to anyone who walked by, but mostly kept to myself as I mentally focused on the task at hand: nailing that audition. 

I was given my topic—at the time, French President Emmanuel Macron was trying to push through reforms that triggered widespread protests. I was given a few minutes to gather my thoughts. The director gave me the countdown in my earpiece and off I went. 

One of the NBC execs that hired me later told me that he was initially surprised at how different I seemed to a lot of "media types," but as soon as I started talking on camera, he said to those around him, "𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝘀𝘂𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀."

There are certain skills, character traits, competence levels that will get us far in our careers. But that doesn't include having to be someone you're not. If you're an introvert, that's a NEUTRAL fact about you, and it's up to you to make it a STRENGTH regardless of external circumstance.

I noticed a lot more people talking about introversion and as a lifelong hashtag#introvert, I welcome the conversation around this. What I'd love to see are good people thriving regardless of how they define themselves and workplaces more inclusive and aware of different communication styles.

A former boss once said in an editorial meeting, "It doesn't matter if you're the main presenter, the intern, the camera guy or the technician. If you have a brilliant idea, share it in a meeting or privately. And to the rest of the team, 𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗡. You never know where the next brilliant idea will come from."