Hello beautiful soul
The parts of you that you think are the weirdest?
They’re often the parts that create the DEEPEST connection.
I saw this so clearly recently when I was in Florida for my TED talk.
Magical...? Yep.
But honestly, something just as magical also happened off stage.
It was meeting my new friend, Jesus.
I’d just arrived in this quiet little town, got out of the car, and — because no one was around — I started singing LOUDLY while unpacking.
Fully in my own world.
What I didn’t realise was that someone was sitting on the porch next door.
I clocked him later, apologised… but I didn’t shrink.
I didn’t suddenly become more “normal”. I just stayed as I was, dancing around my little house, singing when I felt called to.
And when I saw him come home later, we started talking over the fence, something clicked instantly.
We got talking, smiling, sharing…
...and it turns out he’s an artist who creates some of his work from manhole covers.
To which I said, “Oh my gosh, I love manhole covers.”
I meant it. One of my weird things is that I take pictures of my feet next to them wherever I am.
(they can be SO COOL gang, in Boston they even have fishes on them 🙃)
And that was it. Bond sealed.
He ended up coming to my TED talk (which he didn’t even know was happening in his own town).
I went to his studio a couple of days later.
He made me a piece of art that now lives in my home.
And just like that — a friendship.
And I just think there’s something really beautiful in that and I’ve been thinking about WHY that moment mattered so much.
Because it’s such a simple example of something I see everywhere in my work.
We are taught, especially as women, to edit ourselves before we’ve even entered the room.
To soften. To filter. To present the version of us that will be most acceptable.
And in doing that…
We live inside what I call the Authenticity Gap.
That gap between who you actually are and who you feel you need to be to belong, to succeed, to be taken seriously.
And here’s the thing most people don’t realise: That gap doesn’t just cost you energy.
It costs you connection. It costs you trust. It costs you the very thing that makes people feel you.
Because what happened with Jesus wasn’t random.
It happened because:
I was being fully myself.
He was being fully himself.
And neither of us were trying to be anything else.
That’s where connection lives. That’s where trust begins. That’s where leadership starts.
This is exactly what we do inside Women Who Lead.
We don’t teach you how to perform leadership.
We support you to come back into alignment with who you actually are — so that your voice, your decisions, your presence… all come from something real.
Because when that happens?
Everything changes.
How you show up.
How you’re experienced.
What becomes possible.
We’re opening applications for the next cohort this week.
Presale pricing goes live on Wednesday with $1000 off.
As always, I keep these groups intentionally small — because this work deserves depth, not dilution.
If you’re reading this and something is stirring…
Don’t overthink it. Come closer darling.
You can reply to this email or book a call with me directly, and we’ll talk about whether it’s the right space for you.
So I’ll leave you with this:
Where are you still editing yourself…
when actually, that might be the very thing someone is waiting to meet?
Rooting for you always
Ruth x
Ps. Click below to hear all about the Authenticity Gap.
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