Reclaiming My Expertise: Why I'm Done Outsourcing My Authority

Tips & Tiddybits is back. And this first one is personal. Full disclosure: I almost didn't post this because I was worried it would come across as arrogant. And then I realized that hesitation is literally what this episode is about.

I've spent years being the connector. The interviewer. The one who shows up, asks the questions, and makes space for everyone else's story. And I love that. I genuinely do. But somewhere along the way, I started doing something I didn't even fully notice: I started outsourcing my own authority. Looking to other people to say the things I already knew. Waiting for some outside validation that was never really coming.

This episode is about that pattern — and what it looks like to start reclaiming it. Not from a place of having it all figured out. I'm still in the middle of this. But I'm done waiting.

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The Sneaky Way We Give Away Our Own Authority

Here's the thing about outsourcing your authority: it doesn't feel like insecurity in the moment. It feels like humility. Like being a good collaborator. Like knowing your place.

It looks like staying quiet in a room, even when you have the most relevant experience there. It looks like watching someone talk confidently about something you've been doing for years, and thinking, they seem so sure of themselves, maybe they know something I don't. And then that becomes a spiral. Maybe I don't know as much as I thought. Maybe I'm supposed to be on the other side of this.

But here's what I've started to sit with: just because someone is saying it out loud doesn't mean they know more than you. Sometimes they just decided to say the thing. And you didn't. And I didn't.

That's not a knock on anyone else. It's just an honest look at what I've been doing, and why.

If You Didn't Know, Now You Know

Part of reclaiming this for me means actually saying out loud what I bring to the table. Which I'm not naturally great at. But here we go.

I've been podcasting for over four years. Over 200 episodes. I've worked almost every corner of the outdoor industry — as a guide in Alaska and Tahoe, on the sales floor of outdoor specialty retail, as a sales rep, marketing director, certified personal trainer, paddleboard instructor, and yoga teacher. I live off-grid at 7,300 feet in the Sierra. I've been an athlete my whole life across wrestling, soccer, softball, CrossFit, mountain biking, snowboarding, snowmobiling, and more. I've been living this lifestyle, not visiting it.

I'm not saying any of that to brag. I'm saying it because I've been undercounting it for too long. And I have a feeling some of you have been undercounting yours, too.

The Non-Linear Resume Thing

This comes up a lot for me, and I think it will for a lot of you listening, especially if you're around my age or in a similar season of life. My resume is all over the place. Different industries, different roles, different versions of what I thought I was building. And for a long time, that felt like something to explain away or apologize for.

But there's a through line. There always has been. The outdoor industry, community, movement, storytelling — it's all connected. It just doesn't fit neatly into a box. And I'm learning that's not a liability. That breadth of experience is actually what gives me a perspective most people don't have.

We're multifaceted. Putting ourselves in a little box is hard and, honestly, kind of sucks. But we do it all the time because we think that's what's required. I'm trying to stop doing that.

Three Questions Worth Sitting With

If any of this resonates, if you've been staying quiet about things you actually know, waiting to feel qualified, or holding back because you're afraid of how it lands, here are three questions I'm working through myself:

1. What do I know from actually doing it? Not from a course. Not from research. Not from following someone who does it. From doing it yourself. That's your real authority, and no one can take it from you.

2. Where have I been staying quiet because I didn't feel official enough? Think about the last time you had something to say and didn't. Was it actually about not knowing enough — or about not feeling allowed?

3. What would I say if no one was going to question my credentials? If you just got to speak from what you know, what would come out? That's probably the most useful thing you could be putting into the world right now.

On Putting Yourself Out There

I'll be honest, one of the reasons I've held back on social isn't just self-doubt. It's that I don't want to be the hot take girl. I don't want to put my stake in the sand just to have a bunch of strangers in my comments telling me I'm wrong. I've had a taste of that, and it's not fun.

But playing it safe has its own cost. Staying quiet is its own kind of box. And I think there's a middle ground between manufacturing controversy and saying absolutely nothing, and that's just showing up and saying what you actually know from your actual life.

That's what Tips & Tiddybits is. No agenda. No perfectly packaged hot takes. Just real talk on the things I know something about: training, outdoor life, gear, and the business of building something as an independent. Filtered through my actual experience. Landing with whoever it lands with.

If that's you, I'm really glad you're here.

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