By Senior Contributor,Shelley Zalis

Copyright forbes

Embracing The Me I Used To Be: A Journey To Authentic Leadership
The Female Quotient

We spend so much of our lives chasing the “next.” The next role, the next milestone, the next version of ourselves. We evolve. We stretch into places we once thought were out of reach. We learn to quiet insecurities, shift mindsets, and embrace leadership we never imagined. But in all that becoming, it is easy to forget where we began. It is easy to lose sight of the me I used to be.

The truth is, that version of me deserves as much love and gratitude as the woman I am today. Without her, there would be no me.

I often think about her. The girl who was told she was too much, too loud, too emotional. The young woman who walked into boardrooms filled with silence and suits, trying to shrink herself to fit in. The mother who balanced career with carpool, always wondering if either was enough. The entrepreneur who believed business could be built differently, with empathy, with courage, with equality at the center.

She did not have all the answers. She doubted herself. She stumbled. But she also took the risks, asked the hard questions, and showed up when it mattered most. She was braver than she even knew.

We are all a bit like Gumby. We can stretch in a hundred directions, into new roles, new challenges, and new identities. But at the core, we are still ourselves. The me I used to be does not disappear just because I have grown. She stretches with me, bends with me, and always snaps back to remind me who I am.

Today, I stand more grounded, more certain, more whole. And I carry her with me. She is my reminder. She reminds me of the fire that sparked it all. She reminds me to challenge the status quo, to never accept “that is the way it has always been,” and to listen to the voice inside that says: you are enough.

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In a world obsessed with hustle and highlight reels, let us also celebrate the beginnings, the struggles, and the quiet growth no one else sees. Let us give ourselves the grace to look back with compassion, not judgment.

So here is to all of me, and to each of you. Let us honor her. Let us celebrate her. She paved the way for everything that came next.

Because growth is not about leaving our past behind. It is about integrating every version of ourselves, even the messy ones, into the story we are writing today. That is where our true power lives.

When we embrace all of it, the past, the present, the future, we do not just change ourselves. We change the equation for everyone.

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