When the Real Work Starts: Visibility, Reinvention and Owning the Next Version of You

There’s a moment in every creative or entrepreneurial journey that no one really prepares you for. It’s not the moment you decide you want more, and it’s not even the moment you take the leap. It’s what happens after you decide to be visible, after you stop shrinking and start showing up as the person you’re becoming.

That’s when the real work begins.

Last week, we talked about Inventing Anna and how unsettling it is to watch someone walk into multimillion-dollar rooms with nothing but confidence. No credentials. No proof. Just presence. And yet, so many people with real skills, real experience, and real results are still second-guessing whether they belong. That contrast should make you pause, because it reveals how often we undervalue ourselves while waiting for permission that never comes.

The Awkward Gap No One Talks About

Choosing visibility doesn’t automatically make you feel confident. More often than not, it makes things feel awkward. You post something and people engage. Someone introduces you as an expert. A client trusts you more than you trust yourself. Suddenly, you’re wondering if they’re really talking about you.

That uncomfortable space is the gap between who you’ve been and who you’re becoming. The old version of you is still questioning everything, while the new version is learning how to answer with confidence. This is where most people quit, because the experience feels fake or forced. They label it impostor syndrome and assume it means they’re not ready.

But that feeling isn’t impostor syndrome. It’s growth.

You’re not supposed to feel fully confident yet. You’re learning how to inhabit a new identity, and learning always feels unfamiliar before it feels natural.

Visibility Requires a New Way of Showing Up

When I started becoming more visible in my own work, I quickly realized I couldn’t keep showing up the same way I always had. I needed professional headshots. I needed a bio that clearly stated what I do instead of hiding behind vague language. I had to learn how to introduce myself with clarity on calls, at events, and in writing.

Every time I said, “I’m a business coach,” or “I run a staging company,” or “I wrote a book,” I felt the urge to immediately minimize it. To soften it. To make it feel smaller. That instinct doesn’t come from humility. It comes from carrying an old version of yourself into new rooms.

That’s the invisible work most people never talk about. Learning how to show up as the person you are becoming, not the person you used to be. And that work takes practice. It requires consciously reminding yourself of where you’re going and choosing to act in alignment with that, even before it feels comfortable.

This isn’t about faking anything. It’s about practicing visibility the same way you practice any skill you want to master.

The Real Cost of Reinvention

Reinvention is not just internal. It’s public. You don’t only change how you see yourself. You change how others experience you, and that can be uncomfortable for everyone involved.

People who knew you as the one who always said yes now see you setting boundaries. People who saw you as quiet now watch you lead. People who benefited from your generosity may struggle when you begin charging for your expertise. Some will be confused. Some will be disappointed. Some will try to keep you tied to the version of yourself they understand best.

You don’t get to control how people react to your growth. But you do get to decide whether you keep introducing yourself as someone you’ve already outgrown.

Visibility requires updates. Your bio, your LinkedIn, your Instagram, your email signature, and the way you answer “What do you do?” all need to reflect who you are now. It doesn’t have to be perfect or complicated. It just has to be current. Every update is a declaration to the world and to yourself that this version of you is real.

Being a Beginner at a New Level

You can be an expert in your craft and still be a beginner at visibility. Talking about your work without downplaying it is a skill. Pricing yourself like the expert you are is a skill. Taking up space without apologizing is a skill.

Your old audience may test you. Old pricing expectations may surface. Familiar patterns will try to pull you back. None of that means you’re doing it wrong. It means you’ve outgrown your old level.

Awkward doesn’t mean wrong. It just means new. And new doesn’t stay new forever unless you stop practicing

Proof That the Work Is Working

One day, something shifts. Someone will introduce you in a way that once made you cringe, and instead of shrinking, you’ll own it. That’s how you know the work is working. But first, you have to work it.

One Thing to Do This Week

If there’s one thing I want you to do this week, it’s this. Update one thing. Not everything. Just one.

Your bio. 

Your headshot. 

Your elevator pitch. 

Your email signature.

Choose one and update it to match the version of you you’re becoming, not the version that feels safest. If it makes you a little nervous when you hit publish, that’s a good sign.

Waiting until you feel ready is just another way of staying invisible, and we’re done with that. You’re ready to show up. You’re ready to be seen. You’re ready to take up space.

And if you’re in that uncomfortable in-between phase right now, know this. You’re not behind. You’re not pretending. You’re not doing it wrong. You’re learning how to belong at your next level, and that’s exactly where you’re supposed to be.