The words we use to describe ourselves do more than communicate who we are. They tell us — and others — what we believe about ourselves and the value that we place on our abilities. They also influence how confidently we step into opportunities, decisions, relationships, and leadership.
The labels, expectations, and assumptions we absorb from parents, teachers, colleagues, workplaces, and life experiences often become a silent script running in the background. Over time, they shape our identity, quietly influencing what we believe we’re capable of and how we show up.
In this event, Vera Milan Gervais, author of The WORDZ We Wear, explores the connection between language, identity, confidence, and success. Using her Identity Journey framework and stories from her book, Vera illustrates how our language shapes our confidence, our choices, and ultimately how we define success beyond traditional metrics.
Whether you’re beginning your career, navigating change, stepping into leadership, or redefining success, you’ll leave with the ability to recognize the language shaping your beliefs and reframe the strengths you may be overlooking. You will have the awareness to build a WORD wardrobe that highlights your best features.
Key Takeaways:
- Recognize how labels and assumptions become part of your identity, and how they influence your confidence, choices, and presence.
- Use the Identity Journey framework to explore the connection between who you believe you are, what you believe is possible, and who you want to become.
- Identify and articulate innate strengths as personal and leadership assets, replacing language that creates self-doubt with intentional WORDZ that build self-trust.
About the Speaker:
Vera Milan Gervais is a TEDx speaker, workshop facilitator, author, and award-winning entrepreneur. Over more than three decades in business, Vera has helped build several multi-million-dollar companies, raised a family, and learned firsthand that conventional measures of success don’t tell the whole story. She has been named a YWCA Woman of Distinction in Business and received the CAN Fund BE EPIC Award for Authenticity and Advocacy. Her own identity journey from defective to reflective became the foundation for her book, The WORDZ We Wear, and her Identity Journey framework. Today, her work helps women and other accomplished individuals recognize the power of intentional WORDZ to close the gap between capable and confident.