One day we’re traveling through life in the lane we’ve been in for seemingly ever and the next there’s this whisper—this pull telling you to switch gears.

That’s exactly where this episode’s guest, Shellie Rapson, found herself. Mid-life, she’d built a successful corporate career, was living a comfortable life, but something just wasn’t clicking anymore. She hit a point where she had to ask herself, Do I really want to keep going down this road? Or is it time to do something that actually lights me up?

For Shellie it happened after she pulled her car into her driveway after another day at the office and it was a full-on “a-ha” moment. Suddenly, there was no time to waste. She knew that NOW was the time to chase something that mattered.

Shellie’s career-change story is all about what can happen when we answer the call of a gut feeling even when it seems crazy. She turned her back on her safe, corporate career and dove headfirst into global health where the work is literally life and death.

Can we talk about how scary that must’ve been? But she went for it, and I’m here for it.

What’s wild is that she almost felt guilty at first. Can you imagine walking away from a career where you're the breadwinner, the one everyone relies on? Shellie had this whole "Am I being selfish?" thing going on. But here’s the thing—her passion for global health, for projects like bringing ambulances to rural Uganda, was so much bigger than that guilt.

What I love most about her journey is how it’s a reminder that confidence doesn’t mean knowing exactly what’s next. It’s about believing enough in yourself to make that leap—even when you don’t have it all figured out yet. Shellie didn’t know what the future held when she made this change, but she knew it was her change to make.

And that kind of confidence? That’s what we need more of.

Key takeaways from our conversation:

• Confidence isn’t about knowing everything; it’s about trusting yourself enough to jump, even when the path isn’t clear.
• You don’t have to wait for the perfect time to make a change - and there really isn’t one.
• You can let go of the comfort zone without losing stability.

At the end of the day, it’s not about stuff or status. It’s about living a life that feels authentic and meaningful.

After nearly three decades in corporate communications, Shellie followed her heart in 2024 to pursue a long-held dream in global health. The loss of a loved one became her For more information about Shellie’s work visit www.pipelineworldwide.org.

There are the folks who are deep—the ones who focus on one thing and completely immerse themselves in it. They’re experts, the ones who can go on and on about their craft, their passion, their field of knowledge.

Then there are the wide ones—the people who are a little bit of everything. They know a little about a lot, and they’re adaptable. They might not master a single thing, but they’re curious, they’re versatile, and they always seem to have the right answer, or at least a solution to get things moving.

It’s fascinating, really, because both types of people are confident in their own way. The deep folks have this steady, unshakeable confidence that comes from years of dedication and learning. You can tell when someone is deep—they walk into a room and immediately command respect because they own their space and their expertise. It’s not cocky. It’s a quiet, powerful confidence that comes from knowing exactly what they bring to the table.

But then there’s the wide people, and I love them too and not just because I’m one of them! Wide people have this ease in their confidence because they aren’t afraid to try new things, to jump into unknown territories. They have this natural ability to connect with different kinds of people and situations. They aren’t intimidated by things they don’t know—they just roll with it, which I think takes a different kind of confidence, the kind that’s born from possibility, not perfection.

Which one are you? Does it matter when it comes to confidence? Listen in as I break down who’s deep, who’s wide, and how each approach shapes how we feel about ourselves and our own confidence, no matter how we show up in the world.

This episode of Real Confidence is a wild one. I’m talking to Sean Harvey, founder of Warrior Compassion Institute and author of Warrior Compassion, and we get into the real, messy, and honestly kind of scary work of sitting down with people most of us would run from. Think white nationalists, men feeling lost in a changing world, people whose views might make your skin crawl. But Sean doesn’t argue or shut them down—he meets them with love, curiosity, and a whole lot of patience or in other words, confidence.

And somehow, it works.

Sean and I talk about why polarization is making everything worse, how dehumanization goes both ways, and why Sean believes his work is the missing step before DEI efforts can actually stick. He’s all about helping people get emotionally and psychologically ready for those hard, awkward, necessary conversations—the kind that don’t just change minds but actually open hearts.

I don’t want to give too much away, but the highlights of conversation that stick with me—and will stick with you too, include:

• Why Sean meditates with extremists instead of debating them
• How curiosity and compassion can keep even the toughest conversations going
• Why polarization dehumanizes everyone—including us
• The "bridging mindset" and how it leads to real change; and
• A terrifying moment that proved to Sean he was exactly where he needed to be

Sean’s approach to dealing with hateful people confidently and compassionately is fascinating, and if you want to go deeper into his work, visit check out WarriorCompassion.com where you can also sign up for his mailing list and get copy of his book.