In this episode, Helena sits down with Carin, an Executive Director at Harvard Business School, Nancy, a leader at Salesforce, to unpack why so many of us limit our potential because we buy into social conditioning. Is your work ethic actually a coping mechanism? Carin is an Executive Director Case Research & Writing Group who Helena met through mutual entrepreneurial friends in LA. Carin-Isabel Knoop is the Executive Director of the Harvard Business School Case Research and Writing Group which she began in 1995. She was a consultant at McKinsey and Price Waterhouse Coopers. Carin has her bachelors summa cum laude in Government, Economics and International Relations from the University of Texas at Austin, and holds an MBA from Harvard Business school with honors. She is a very active Medium writer on creating better workplaces. Nancy Luong is a Speaker, Author, Content Creator, and Empowerment Coach. A proud daughter of Vietnamese/Chinese parents, she fosters inclusive spaces that amplify diverse voices. Her mission is to help individuals find clarity, build momentum, and step into their most authentic, confident selves. She’s a Global Communications leader at tech giant, Salesforce. And just brought out her recent book “We Are All Weirdos”. This episode dives into: 🔹 Why your confidence isn’t about working harder—but about where you get it from 🔹 The link between authenticity and innovation: performative leadership kills impact, authentic leadership grows it 🔹 The hidden impact of societal pressures on our true power—and how to rewrite the rules with grace by understanding cultural and generational pressures, beauty and societal expectations 🔹 Practical tools to build inner safety and lead with trust: The role of energy and self-perception, boundaries and self-love, and unlocking the power of language, and self-respect