I’m feeling stuck on something, folks. And it’s this idea that we love and embrace our storytellers when they’re vulnerable and honest, but when it’s time to hire them for a job, we want them to only project confidence and exacting certainty.

Tucked inside this dynamic is the reason I didn’t publish my own personal writing for years — because I had some idea in my mind that the workplace goblins would find me in a confessional posture and go, “AH HA! We knew she was a fake all along and couldn’t be trusted.” (I do recognize those people are terrible, but they do seem to hold power in a lot of places in the world!)

→ Do you write on Substack but work behind the scenes on something Substack adjacent? Do you ever feel this tension, like telling too much of the truth might feel good to you but could ultimately tank someone’s confidence in hiring you?

→ Did you wait until you were retired (and ultimately safe from the workplace goblins) to start writing “your stuff”?