Inspiration to use your voice, share your story, and move with confidence in this world of entrepreneurship. This newsletter is lovingly crafted by Kimberly Crossland, a bestselling author who has championed a freedom-filled lifestyle since before it was trending on Instagram.
Idea Spark: How do you reconnect with your voice to spark new connections online?
I’m writing this from the comfort of my home office. When we bought this house nine years ago, this was the room in the home that sold me. While it’s only a 10’ x 10’ square on the surface, I knew this room would be mine.
Mine to create.
Mine to write.
Mine to record videos and podcasts.
Mine to spot wildlife outside the window (and boy, do I see some fun wildlife).
Mine to daydream.
Mine to pursue big dreams.
Mine to pack orders.
Mine.
Looking around it now, I haven’t treated this room very well. It’s messy. I’m tired of how I rearranged the desks last year and plan to move them to their original position again soon. It needs a spruce up in the decor department. It also needs to be reorganized, but that’s a project for the summer (along with the kitchen, which has also unintentionally turned into “Mom’s Cafeteria,” as my son calls it).
Why am I spending your Wednesday talking about rooms? Because that’s the topic of the book I’m currently reading — How to Walk Into a Room by Emily P. Freeman.
I cracked open the spine on a recent camping trip (pictured here and above) and have had a hard time putting it down ever since. This book is about making big decisions about when to stay and when to leave, but I’ve found another subtle message beneath the surface as I've read it.
Baked into the decision-making process around when to stay in certain situations and when to leave is the process of deciding when to use our voice and when to stay quiet.
In the book, Emily (I’m calling her that because it feels like we’re on a first-name basis now, even though we’re certainly not) talks about how certain rooms feel. Here’s a quick excerpt that I underlined last night while reading:
“When you look over your life, you can hopefully point to some rooms (or at least corners of rooms) where you have felt most fully yourself, where your mind, heart, and body have felt integrated and aligned. Where you can sit down — not only on the outside but also on the inside — and know you have a place at the table.”
This particular quote stood out because the rooms she’s talking about aren’t just physical rooms, like my home office and cafeteria I manage. They’re rooms inside of our wanderlust hearts. They’re rooms inside of our creative minds. They’re rooms inside our vocal cords that control the comfort level when we belly laugh louder than usual or struggle to make a sound while fighting back tears during a difficult conversation.
When you want to reconnect with your voice to share your message confidently and clearly, look at the rooms where you’re speaking up.
Throughout my career, I’ve been the voice behind many brands. I’ve written for Fortune 50 companies, podiatrists and dentists, lawyers, doctors, and trip planners.
I’ve also contributed to many other people’s publications, including Forbes articles, the RV Entrepreneur blog, and a boutique consulting firm’s blog.
It’s probably pretty clear that dressing my voice up in costume for the ghostwriting gigs and catering my voice to the publication where I’m sharing my thoughts were significantly harder than writing to you here.
This newsletter is the room I’ve felt most comfortable sharing openly, vulnerably, and transparently.
And that doesn’t have to do with the fact that I own this space. I don’t view this newsletter as a monologue. It has everything to do with the intention behind how I use my voice in this space — to build a relationship with you.
Whenever someone replies to this newsletter, I get excited about the conversation. There’s something so beautiful about learning about the person on the other side of the screen.
If you’re tasked with writing a blog post, newsletter, social media post, or email to a few good friends and struggling with what to say, picture the room you’re in.
Are you there to cloak your vocal cords in something that doesn’t align with what’s stirring in your heart and mind? Or are you there to build a relationship with the reader on the other side of the message?
Picturing the intent will help you reconnect with the confident voice inside of you, giving you the wings to let that message fly, knowing it’s you sending it out into the world.
Hit reply and share which room you feel most confident in. I can’t wait for the opportunity to learn more about you.
~ Kimberly
P.S. I’m part of Emily’s book launch team. This morning, she emailed us and said that she’ll be talking about this book on the Today show. If you’re around a TV, check out the segment!