Simply put, I wasn't happy and lacked the confidence to make a change. A coach had the guts to tell me the truth and it changed my life. Here's the story of me finding my confidence and becoming a coach so I can help others find their spark and do work they love.

My big aha moment came when a coach called me out and told me I wasn't confident and that I was buying my confidence to impress others. I was using my high-paying tech career to impress others with things and wasn't doing what I really wanted to do. To help others and travel the world.

My coach helped me realize I was procrastinating and overthinking too much. From that moment, I began facing my fears and learning from my mistakes. This ultimately led to me leaving my high-paying corporate job, becoming a certified coach, and writing my first book. I did this because I had coaches and mentors in my life to holding me accountable. Those relationships made THE difference for me.

While on a speaking trip in Ecuador in 2015, I met Rafael Bejarano, a shaman, world-class didgeridoo player, and fellow coach. Rafael carried around a giant rubber chicken wherever he went, using it to remind people they were bigger than their fears and capable of achieving anything if they stepped into those fears. He would leave people with a token of that message: a tiny rubber chicken.

My journey eventually led me to Portland, Oregon, where everything came full circle.

In September 2015, Rafael was tragically killed in Egypt in a mistaken attack by the government on suspected terrorists. After that I felt inspired by God to carry on his message, reminding others of their own greatness and encouraging them to face their fears head-on.

I ordered my first batch of tiny rubber chickens to give back and make a difference in the world. However, the day the tiny chickens arrived, my confidence was tested. When I returned home from walking my dog, I received a notification that my Amazon package had been delivered and left on the porch. But when I got home, the package wasn't there.

Then it dawned on me—the man I'd just seen moments earlier pushing a bicycle down the street with Amazon packages under his arm wasn't the UPS guy. I said to myself, "He must have stolen my rubber chickens!" I had to chase him down. He had stolen my purpose!

Three years earlier, before my first coach told me I wasn't confident, I would have given up. I would've been a coward and just ordered more chickens online. But not that day. That day, despite all the fear welling up in my body, I grabbed my dog and chased the thief down.

I confronted him (I was terrified) and asked if he had my package. He denied it, but I kept looking and spotted my name on one package. I called him out on it and grabbed it from him. When I opened it, I was even more upset—it wasn't the 100 tiny rubber chickens I'd ordered for $31. It was one single, one-inch rubber chicken. Double whammy: I'd been ripped off and robbed.

But then the moment shifted. It stopped being about me and became about him and his life. I called him out and asked him what was really going on his life. He could tell I actaully cared. Then, he opened up and told me he was strung out on drugs, and that his mom and girlfriend were also addicted and homeless. They were stealing just to survive.

I listened to him. I gave him the last six dollars I had in my wallet and encouraged him to return the other packages. That moment changed my life. I finally stood up for myself and realized when you do you can make a difference for yourself AND others at the same time. I gave him my business card and told him to call me anytime and I'd do what I could to help.

In the end, I got my rubber chicken back and my money refunded from Amazon. But more importantly, I discovered that I'd had confidence in myself all along to make a change. I just had to take courageous action and trust along the way.

Since then, I've been on a mission to inspire and empower 10,000 people to step into their fears and pursue what they love. To date, I've given away over 1500 tiny rubber chickens!
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