What happens when you reach the next level—and feel worse, not better?
In this episode, confidence coach and podcast host Nicole Kalil shares the story of climbing the corporate ladder, earning the promotion she thought she wanted… and realizing she was completely misaligned with the life she was building.
We talk about what it’s like to have external success and internal disconnection, why so many women feel like frauds in rooms they worked hard to enter, and how Nicole began untangling her identity from titles, praise, and other people’s expectations.
This episode is for anyone who’s ever thought, “If I’m doing everything right, why does it still feel wrong?”
Links
This is Women's Work Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-is-womans-work-with-nicole-kalil/id1493225373
Nicole's website: https://nicolekalil.com/
Order Nicole's book, Validation Is For Parking: https://www.amazon.com/Validation-Parking-Women-Beat-Confidence/dp/1544532695
Chapters
00:00 Introduction & Confidence vs. Appearance
03:27 Why Success Didn’t Feel Like Success
07:53 The Breaking Point After Her Promotion
10:01 The Messy Middle of Rebuilding Confidence
14:20 Defining Confidence as Internal Trust
18:42 From Achievement Addiction to Alignment
23:50 Rejection Sensitivity and People-Pleasing
27:33 The Book Launch Disaster: A Meltdown Moment
32:00 The Invisible Rejections of Publishing
36:51 Why She Doesn’t Lead With “Author”
39:13 Writing a Book = Birthing a Business Baby
42:23 How the Book Changed Her Business
47:22 Social Media, Comparison & Mental Health
50:44 Quitting Instagram—and What Happened Next
53:13 The Podcast as Her Most Authentic Platform
56:11 The “Secret Society” of Top Podcasters
59:42 Does the Podcast Make Money? (And Why She Keeps Going)
1:02:31 How to Find Nicole & What to Do Next