Christian Ray Flores here, reflecting on the ache of being excellent and unknown.
I just dropped my episode with JJ Virgin. Four NYT bestsellers. Forty years in a very crowded market. Built a company, sold it, got kicked out of it, bought it back.
None of that is the reason to watch. The reason is a tension she named better than anyone I’ve talked to.
You want to be known. You want to be trusted. You’ve wanted it for years. And you can’t say it out loud — because you fear people will it’s arrogant and vain. So instead of putting yourself out there, you get another certification. Another degree. More letters after your name.
You convince yourself this next certification will make you credible and worthy of trust - and deep down you know you’re just hiding. Delaying the moment you put yourself out there.
And JJ unpack why trust doesn’t come from any of it, but from the very thing you were trained never to show. Your humanity. Your story. Your scars.
The thing you hide is the thing that people want to see and resonate with.
Here’s the proof, and it may sting a little. Forbes found that 82% of people go to social media to check if you’re real before they buy. Not your credentials. Not your resume. You. If they look and find nothing human, they move on. Someone less qualified, more visible, gets the person you were meant to help.
Your desire to be known is actually a sense of responsibility, not a vanity. Hiding isn’t humility, it’s fear.
If you’ve ever felt that tension, watch this one.
If you’re done hiding - join the Passion to Profit Lab wait list and you’ll be the first to know when it opens.