When did we start applauding authenticity only when we were “successful” or it looked like “having our shit together”? Or why are men more readily able to be authentic without having to “look or play the part”? Happy Womens Day March 8 and all other days of the year. Keep shining authentically ❤️✴️

When was the last time something stopped you in your tracks with its beauty and wonder? What was it, and what did you do in that moment?

When did you last tell yourself or assume what leadership is “supposed to” look like? I want you to truly look at yourself in multiple states (this is important— not just when you are “performing” or coming off of a highlight moment) that feel true to you and say “I am a living, breathing example of what leadership can look like” “I am a leader regardless of how I look, what I’m doing with myself in this instant, my current energy level, what I’m wearing or not wearing, my size, my age, my skin colour, my hair, (insert whatever you need to insert here that society has made you doubt can be what leadership looks like)”. How does this feel? Let’s get curious and explore what comes up.

Yesterday my 4th-year university professor of a leadership capstone course told me my personal best leadership story I had submitted was “unusual”, didn’t “fit in”, and wasn’t “traditional” enough. Despite the instructions stating that non-formal, non-assigned leadership (without a “title” or leadership role assigned) was welcomed. To me, those are compliments! But in reading her feedback it was clear to me that she wasn’t complementing me. Wanna know what my story was about? 🤰🏻👶🏻 my experience in pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, including during the pandemic. 😷 So it became soberingly clear to me that we are operating under fundamentally different paradigms, and this feedback was misogynistic and discriminatory towards my feminine experience. Her paradigm is deeply rooted in the patriarchy. Old-school thinking. Black and white. Authoritarian and productivity based. Masculine. Limited and constrained. Not creative. People-pleasing and “fitting in”. Discriminatory and exclusive. Hierarchical. My leadership paradigm is the opposite— feminist, expansive, new world, authentic, deeply creative, unapologetic, inclusive, empathetic, horizontal. So okay fine, we have different paradigms, so what? 🚨in 2026, it is illegal or prohibited in most institutions and countries to discriminate against gender, sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, ability, and more. Also, there is “Freedom of Expression” which the University says “ includes freedom of speech and means the ability to examine, question, critique, investigate, enquire, speculate and communicate on issues without deference to prescribed doctrine.“ and they go on. So we need to know our rights and freedoms. We need to remember that our forebears fought for them, and we must safeguard them and advocate for them, and for ourselves. I sent an epic email to her, including: her offensive feedback, the assignment instructions, my analysis/experience, my needs and boundaries, and next steps. Contd…

4) The choice is yours— will you boo, will you cheer, and/or will you come down and join me/us in the arena as we pull the weeds choking the garden and plant something new? Here’s to doing the thing terrified, and allowing that to be witnessed. And holding space for others to do the same. Xo Naomi

3) So I’m telling myself it’s okay to be terrified. We all are (I’m pretty sure), when we are holding something powerful and don’t want it to break. When we are putting ourselves into the arena for all to witness. Our heart-led transformational leadership—and the world—is calling for this, for us. But the thing is, support is available; we don’t have to be alone. We just have to intentionally cultivate it. Give and receive it. Nurture it. (Imperfectly).

2) Welcome to CUNTY leadership. Where we call out what isn’t actually our truth and release that and receive what IS. And we do this process together here because we are tired of doing this alone all the time. I regularly feel alone as I evolve in myself in ways that are not always glamorous or high-energy. I’m releasing so much, and there is a void that is created where I can choose. I choose community. I choose sovereignty and connection, for myself and for others.

Truth is, I’m terrified. All of the fears I’m grappling with are also the exact reasons I want to create this community so damn much. So much of my life and leadership is lived in a duality— a both/and, a push/pull, a shit/wonderful. I’m terrified that I wont be able to call in my people, or that they won’t see or feel what this is fast enough and they’ll leave. I’m terrified that I won’t be good enough at holding this community. See, I am and always have been my first client. I have come from a line of subservient women. And I was raised no different— to be a peacekeeper, quiet, and get a good job and nurture my family. And yet here I am, here I always have been— disrupting. How does one reconcile with interrupting such inbred and passed down traits and behaviours?! I’ve been told it’s the devil. 🤷🏻 So here I am. Trepidatiously creating this space. Staring at blank pages and blinking cursors. Or looking at what I’ve written and fielding every thought of “who cares” and “not good enough” like it’s a tennis ball shooting machine directed at me. Yet thinking of past me, current me, and future me who all need this truth-finding space. And hoping that others need it too. I birthed my CUNTY model in 2023 and it has never ceased to amaze me, the power that it holds and that it inspires. The lifestyle. The beacon of light/ torch of fire. The taking up of space. The version of us that is Courageous, Unapologetic, Notable, Transcendent, and YOU—authentically. And I’ve felt the pull from others about it too. The wild in us that craves this kind of transformation and shedding and evolution closer to our truest selves. The knowing that we’ve been carrying too much that isn’t even ours to carry. Apologizing for things we have NO business apologizing for. The masks we’ve all learned to wear and are now wanting to finally take it off. But I come back to the beginning: it’s terrifying. (Cont’d in the comments)