How to Trust Yourself: Overcome Imposter Syndrome, Feel Confident, and Let Yourself Be Seen

In this episode, I’m sharing a deeply personal reflection on hiding and visibility—how parts of us retreat for safety, and how they eventually long to surface again.
Through the lens of my Jewish experience, family lineage, and recent years of navigating identity in a politicized world, I explore how hiding can be a necessary survival strategy—and how, over time, it can begin to feel constricting rather than protective.
This is a story about ancestry and memory, about scattered threads finding their way back to one another, and about the quiet courage it takes to let ourselves be seen—often not in grand declarations, but in small, relational acts of connection.
I also reflect on moments when I felt scared and unsteady while recording this episode itself, and why I chose to keep coming back anyway. What emerged was a reminder that visibility doesn’t require perfection—it requires presence.
Whether you resonate with these stories through your own heritage, your creativity, your sensitivity, or a part of you that’s been hiding for a long time, my hope is that this episode offers permission to surface gently, at your own pace, and with the support of one safe connection.
 
In this episode, we explore:
How hiding can be a protective response—not a personal failure
What generational survival teaches us about visibility and safety
The difference between hiding for safety and hiding out of fear
Why parts of us begin to surface when hiding becomes too costly
The power of connection when we risk being seen by just one person
How creativity, confidence, and belonging often flow from gentle visibility
 
A gentle invitation
If something in this episode stirred a part of you that’s been hiding—whether for weeks, years, or a lifetime—I invite you to name it. You don’t need perfect language. Just enough words to acknowledge it exists.
And if it feels right, share that part with one safe person and notice what unfolds.
If you’d like a partner to walk alongside you as you bring hidden parts of yourself into visibility—with nervous-system support, care, and attunement—you’re welcome to reach out. You can email me at [email protected], visit annaholtzman.com, or send me a voice message on Instagram @anna_holtzman.
 
About the podcast
How to Trust Yourself is a podcast for sensitive, creative, and thoughtful humans who want to move through fear, visibility, and transition by working with their nervous system—not against it.

In this deeply honest and wide-ranging crossover episode, Anna sits down with Zack Arnold — award-winning Hollywood editor (Cobra Kai, Burn Notice, Glee), creator of the Optimize Yourself program, and now host of The Zack Arnold Podcast — to talk about what REALLY happens behind the scenes of a life pivot.
Together, they explore the messy middle of reinvention: income dips, identity crises, disappearing industries, burnout, fear spirals, and the slow rebuilding of confidence and clarity. Both Anna and Zack share what caused them to walk away from long-held identities, how they each discovered they were “optimizing the wrong thing,” and the small, compassionate actions that helped them get unstuck.
This episode is a balm if you’re currently:
Questioning your career path
Staring at an uncertain future
Trying to force yourself down a path that no longer fits
Feeling behind, frozen, or overwhelmed
Or sensing a pivot is coming but terrified to begin
Zack also shares powerful stories from his coaching clients — including one who went from panic and paralysis to choosing a whole new creative direction — and Anna talks about using her Melt-Through Method journaling practice to move through the fear of her own recent pivot.
In this episode, we explore:
What it feels like when life kicks you into a pivot before you’re ready
Why “waiting for things to go back to normal” keeps you stuck
How to know when your brand (or identity) no longer fits
The difference between overhauling your life vs. finding the next right experiment
What happens to your nervous system during change — and how to support it
Why connection beats problem-solving when you’re spinning
The power of micro-actions when motivation is gone
How to create safety during a pivot instead of forcing yourself to “push through”
Practical stories of people choosing a new direction — even in a collapsing industry
Connect with Zack Arnold
Podcast: The Zack Arnold Podcast
Substack newsletter: (search “Zack Arnold” on Substack)
Coaching, courses, and The Arnold Academy: https://thearnoldacademy.com
Connect with Anna
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anna_holtzman/
Website: https://www.annaholtzman.com/
Free workshop — Let Yourself Be Seen: https://www.annaholtzman.com/beseen

What happens when life gets stressful — and you’re still the one who needs to lead?
In this solo episode, Anna shares a very real story from a winter blizzard in New York City that involved a burst pipe, displaced tenants, exhausted nervous systems… and, unexpectedly, a chocolate milkshake.
Using the metaphor of “tightening lids” versus “chocolate milkshake energy,” Anna explores how stress shows up in the body, how it changes the way we lead and relate, and why learning to soften inside stress can completely shift how we show up — at home, in our work, and in visibility.
This episode is an invitation to notice when you’re white-knuckling your way through responsibility, and to experiment with small, nervous-system-supportive shifts that bring back lightness, connection, and presence — even when life is demanding.
In this episode, we explore:
Why stress is inevitable — and burnout doesn’t have to be
How “tightening lids” shows up in the nervous system
The role of play, pleasure, and lightness in leadership
What it means to lead while stressed, rather than waiting to feel calm
A simple reflection exercise to identify your own version of “chocolate milkshake energy”
Reflection Invitation:
Think about a recent moment when you were “tightening lids.” How did that energy show up in your body? Then recall a moment of lightness or play. What helps you shift between the two?
Anna would love to hear what this episode brought up for you. You can email her at [email protected].
If you’re navigating leadership, visibility, or responsibility while feeling stretched inside, this episode offers a compassionate reframe — and a reminder that you don’t have to clench your way through life.

In this gentle, honest, deeply encouraging conversation, Anna talks with Ilona Glastonbury, Instagram strategist, chronic illness survivor, and founder of the Quiet Creatives Academy — a space for sensitive and introverted creatives who want to grow on Instagram without burning out or becoming someone they’re not.
Ilona’s journey from potter to disabled creative to Instagram coach is rooted in lived experience: learning how to find visibility that honors her health, her energy, and her nervous system. Now she helps other Quiet Creatives do the same — creating simple, sustainable strategies for showing up online with integrity and ease.
In this episode, we explore:
What a “Quiet Creative” actually is
The unique challenges Quiet Creatives face on Instagram (and why typical marketing advice doesn’t work for them)
Ilona’s personal experience with fear of visibility — and the practices that help her move through it
Why authenticity performs better than performative content
Why quiet voices are needed more than ever in online spaces
How Ilona helps clients grow their reach and sell their work without betraying who they are
What lights her up most when supporting her clients and groups
How to build a relationship with Instagram that’s sustainable for sensitive, introverted, or chronically ill creatives
This episode is like a cup of tea and a permission slip — especially if you’ve ever wondered whether you can grow online without losing yourself.
 
Connect with Ilona
Instagram: @quietcreativesacademy / @ottimade
Free resources for Anna’s audience: https://www.thequietcreativesacademy.com/annah
 
Connect with Anna
Seen & SafeA supportive, intimate group for sensitive creatives, practitioners, and entrepreneurs who want to reconnect with themselves, work with fear instead of against it, and return to flow again and again.
Enrollment open now through January 26
👉 https://www.annaholtzman.com/seenandsafe

Free Workshop — Let Yourself Be SeenCurious about the work before committing? Join Anna for a replay of her free workshop where you’ll get a taste of the tools shared in Seen & Safe, including a gentle introduction to the Melt-Through Method.
👉 https://www.annaholtzman.com/beseen

Questions?
Sent me an email [email protected]

In this episode, Anna sits down with Chantelle Adams — professional speaker, story strategist, and “courage igniter” — to explore what it really takes to share your story out loud, even when fear is loud in your body.
Chantelle has delivered over 1,000 talks, built a six-figure speaking business, and helped countless women craft and share talks that feel like a homecoming to who they really are. But this work was born from loss, grief, and a wake-up call: realizing she was alive but not truly living — and that fear had been quietly running the show.
Now she helps other “rebels with a cause” get their brave on, find the message inside their lived experience, and turn that message into a movement.
In this episode, we explore:
Why speaking your truth matters in a world where everyone technically “has a voice”
How Chantelle went from living in quiet fear to writing her Fear List and crossing items off, one brave act at a time
The deeper fears underneath “fear of public speaking” (it’s not just about the stage)
The patterns Anna saw in herself while working with Chantelle — and why this work was so transformative for her
How to move through fears like:
“I’m not good enough”
“Who am I to say this?”
“What if I fail… or succeed?”
“What will people think of me?”
What Chantelle means by “channeling” when she speaks and does story work with clients (and how that’s different from memorizing a script)
Simple ways you can begin to tap into your own channel — even if that word feels woo-woo or unfamiliar
Why your story is not just content, but the spark for a revolution in how you and your people live, work, and lead
You’ll walk away with a more compassionate understanding of your fear, a clearer sense of how powerful your story already is, and some very grounded next steps for bringing your voice into the world.
 
Connect with Chantelle
Website: https://chantelleadams.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chantellespeaks/
Speaker Amplifier: https://speak.chantelleadams.com/the-speaking-amplifier

Connect with Anna
Seen & Safe
A supportive, intimate group for sensitive creatives, practitioners, and entrepreneurs who want to reconnect with themselves, work with fear instead of against it, and return to flow again and again.
Enrollment open now through January 26
👉 https://www.annaholtzman.com/seenandsafe
Free Live Workshop — Let Yourself Be Seen
Curious about the work before committing? Join Anna for a live, free workshop where you’ll get a taste of the tools shared in Seen & Safe, including a gentle introduction to the Melt-Through Method.
Tuesday, January 20
Live + replay available
Register here:
👉 https://www.annaholtzman.com/beseenLIVE
Questions? Send me an email [email protected]