But We Gotta Get Paid

Sometimes it's not the client telling you to tone it down. It be your own people.

Your mama. Your auntie.

The mentor who looks just like you. "Girl, I hear you. But we gotta get paid." They mean well.

So you listen, you play it safe, and save the real you for the group chat. In this one, I get into where that advice really comes from and why it made sense for the people who gave it.

I tell you about the day I went to lunch on my first day at a job and never came back. Then we look at the numbers on what playing it safe has actually gotten us.

I also tell you how I built a 300-member community by not giving a damn about toning it down, and what I say now when somebody I love tells me to play it safe. Your people are out there.

They're waiting on the real you. JOIN THE REBELLION New episode every Wednesday, sent right to your inbox so you never have to go looking. → Ready to stop toning it down?

Start With SELF is a self-guided identity process. Six modules, one weekend.

Get clear on who you are before anybody else tries to tell you. Introductory rate: $97 → Come talk to me on Substack.

Who told you to tone it down first, and what were they protecting you from? Drop it in the comments. → https://substack.com/@mellynated Research mentioned: Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent (1993), the origin of "respectability politics" American Express, 2019 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report: Stackla Consumer Content Report (2017): Watch this episode on YouTube: Your identity is the strategy.