My Mission Became Louder Than My Fear: What Three Podcasts And One Powerful Conversation Taught Me About Courage, Visibility, And Becoming A Founder

One year ago, if you had asked me to appear on camera, unscripted, unrehearsed, and vulnerable, I would have felt physically sick.
My throat would tighten.
My mind would blank.
And the sound of my own recorded voice felt unbearable.

I am an introvert. I love depth, structure, quiet thinking, and meaningful one on one conversations. Not bright lights or being the center of attention.

And yet, this month, I spoke on three different podcasts, including one recorded in a Paris studio that felt like a window to the world.

So what changed?

My mission became louder than my fear.

I want 10,000 women in tech to build profitable, resilient businesses that create freedom in every sense. Financial freedom, emotional freedom, geographical freedom, and intellectual freedom.

And I realized that if I want to reach those women, if I want to show them what is truly possible, if I want to help them break out of the corporate box that now feels too small, I have to go first.

I have to show myself.
I have to speak.
I have to be visible, even when visibility scares me.

Because staying silent was not only limiting me. It was limiting them.

The Fear That Brilliant Women Rarely Admit Out Loud

Last week, I had a conversation with a woman who represents my ideal client perfectly. A senior woman in tech with a global career, deep integrity, and decades of expertise.

Her name is Sarah.

She shared something that so many brilliant senior women secretly feel but never say aloud.

“I can deliver anything for others. Complex projects, billion euro operations, challenging teams, crises. But I do not believe anyone would pay for what I do myself.”

This landed strongly because it captures the inner experience of so many women I coach.

They are not afraid of work.
They are not afraid of responsibility.
They are not afraid of competence.

They are afraid of visibility.

They are afraid of becoming the face of their own ideas.
Afraid their colleagues will judge them.
Afraid their LinkedIn posts will be mocked.
Afraid someone will say they are delusional.
Afraid of being seen as arrogant or self promoting.
Afraid the spotlight will expose something they have kept private their entire careers.

This fear keeps them quiet.
Hidden.
Invisible.

When visibility is the one thing every founder needs.

I Shared My Own Fear With Sarah

In that conversation, I told her something simple and honest.

I used to fear visibility just as deeply as she does.

Two years ago, I could not even watch a simple iPhone video of myself.
I hated my voice.
I hated how I looked on camera.
I hated seeing myself speak.

But I also knew something very important.

If I want to empower thousands of women, hiding cannot remain part of my story.

So I told Sarah what became the turning point for me.

“You are keeping the world from your gifts by hiding behind your fears, and it is not fair.”

It was not fair to her.
It was not fair to me.
And it is not fair to you.

Because the world needs your voice.
Your experience.
Your integrity.
Your leadership.

Right now, those things are locked behind fear.

The Question That Brought Me Back To My Roots

During one of the podcast interviews this month, the host asked a question that shifted something for me.

“Where does your Weatherproof Business™ method come from? Why resilience for any market conditions?”

Immediately, I was transported back to the 90s in Russia.

My parents were aviation engineers. Brilliant experts in a field that collapsed almost overnight. Salaries stopped being paid. The public sector fell apart. And they had a family to feed.

So they did something extraordinary for that time. They left their stable engineering careers and started a business. None of their colleagues understood their decision. Most thought they were taking an insane risk.

But they created something that provided not only for our family but also for many others. They employed people in our community. They filled a gap when the state could no longer provide security.

Their business succeeded until it did not. They rebuilt. And when that version failed, they rebuilt again. And again. Never giving up. Never waiting for stability that was never coming. Always adapting. Always learning.

I saw all of it.

I saw the courage.
I saw the chaos.
I saw the uncertainty.
I saw the rebuilding from scratch.
I saw the mistakes.
And most of all, I saw the resilience.

I learned about fragility and anti fragility not from a book but by watching my parents build and rebuild with their own hands.

These lessons shaped everything.
They shaped how I built Le VPN, which has been profitable since day one for fifteen years.
They shaped why I created the Weatherproof Business™ method.
And they shape why I coach women in tech to build businesses that can survive and grow in any market conditions.

That single podcast question brought me home to my WHY.

The Paris Studio Moment

When I entered the recording studio in Paris, something surprising happened.

The room was smaller than I imagined. Almost intimate.
But the moment I sat down in front of the microphone, it felt enormous.

Because it was not just a studio.
It was a window.

A window for my story.
A window for my voice.
A window to all the women who might hear it at exactly the right moment.

Right before the recording began, the familiar panic arrived.

“What if I have nothing to say.”

But then I saw the interviewer, a woman in tech herself, reflecting on her own next chapter.

And I remembered that my job was not to impress or perform.
My job was to create value for one person at a time.

When I focused on her rather than the camera, the fear dissolved.

What 3 Podcasts Taught Me About Visibility

Across these three interviews, I realized something important.

Visibility is not about being watched.
Visibility is about being useful.

When I focused on my mission instead of my fear, everything changed.

Speaking became connection.
Sharing became leadership.
Visibility became service.

You do not need confidence before you begin.
You need a mission that is stronger than your fear.

The Google Executive Who Needed To Hear It Too

Yesterday, I spoke with a Google executive who had spent 18 years building products used by millions of people.

He was brilliant.
Accomplished.
Deeply experienced.
And terrified of creating something on his own.

I told him the same thing I tell every woman I coach.

You do not need certainty.
You do not need a perfect idea.
You do not need to quit your job.

You need a structured way to test.

Clarity does not come from thinking.
It comes from movement.
From experimenting.
From validating.
From iterating.

You only understand your path when you look backwards, never forward.

Why Visibility Feels So Hard For Women In Tech

There is a reason your fear feels heavy.

Your entire career has rewarded expertise, not exposure.
Precision, not vulnerability.
Structure, not storytelling.
Reputation, not risk.

Entrepreneurship asks you to step into all the spaces your career taught you to avoid.

To be seen.
To take up space.
To share your ideas publicly.
To put your face on your work.
To risk being misunderstood.
To risk being judged.
To risk being wrong.

Of course it feels terrifying.

It felt terrifying for me too.

But here is the truth.

The courage to become visible is the courage required to become a founder.

Your Gifts Are Bigger Than Your Fear

When Sarah asked me why she could not do for herself what she easily does for others, I told her the sentence I wish someone had whispered to me years ago.

All the resources that you need are already within you.

Not in a course.
Not in a book.
Not in external validation.

Within you.

The only missing element is permission.
Your own permission.

If You Are Reading This, You Are Already Further Than You Think

You do not need to be fearless to begin.
You do not need confidence before visibility.
You do not need a complete idea before testing.
You do not need a perfect plan to start your next chapter.

You need one decision.

That your mission is bigger than your fear.

When you choose that, everything transforms.

Your voice becomes a signal for someone else.
Your courage becomes someone else’s turning point.
Your story becomes someone else’s beginning.
Your visibility becomes an act of service.

Visibility is not vanity.
Visibility is legacy.

And your story deserves to be seen.