Stay Real or Die Trying: The Art of Authenticity

3 min readMar 27

By Tiara Mitchell

Today is the day I create what matters to me. It’s not selfish to think about what I want: working smarter, not harder, and alone. I’ve realized that the external world is noisy and full of things I don’t value. Teamwork doesn’t work when emotions and sensitivity override the goal. The world’s attention meant nothing; I honored a peaceful and private lifestyle. The power of understanding yourself helps you recognize what works for you.

I could’ve adapted to my environment and ignored the pink elephant in the room. Instead, I decided to remain true to who I am. The majority of the time, it was seen that my values and ethics differed from others, which was okay. This journey began when I realized I’m not a team player; I was born to lead. Time and time again, I placed myself in roles that helped soothe a mask I wore to fit in. I never honored my ability to be knowledgeable and guide others to what works.

I started looking for the light. I dove into spirituality, human design, and numerology. Each source gave me comfort in something I already knew. Human design taught me about being a projector. It confirmed my inquisitive nature while paying attention to details. I tried to use it in the career world, primarily in hospitality. I would always point out what was wrong, and it wasn’t appreciated. After being fired numerous times, I questioned whether I was the problem. How can people deny the solution to apparent problems? The power of understanding yourself helps you recognize where issues lie. I could’ve adapted to my environment and ignored the pink elephant in the room. Instead, I decided to remain true to who I am.

Little did I know, the answers I sought were seeking me. I looked back and realized my skill was needed; I was using them in the wrong spaces. I worked for an established jewelry business where I instantly saw the cracks. My job was to remain in the area of social media, but I saw how quickly I was building a solid foundation on faulty sand. So I began researching and helping them rebrand themselves from B2B to B2C. My intuition knew this was bad, but I kept my mouth shut and did my job. This was when Murphy’s Law came into the chat. Within the first week, the Facebook account began to malfunction. I couldn’t log in, and if you don’t know, once you’re Facebook and Instagram aren’t linked, your product page no longer works.

As a resilient person, I tried to put on my IT hat and fix the issues. Unfortunately, six months have passed, the length of our contract, and the problem still isn’t solved. This was a clear sign of my first thought, B2C was not who the brand was authentically, and it was trying to fit itself into a box. They began to step out of their 50-year legacy of B2B and tried to adapt to their “competitors.” This lesson hit home, and I realized I needed to change. I, too, was trying to ignore my authenticity and uniqueness in aligning with things that didn’t fit me. My ability to point out an error was needed in the world. People will repeat the same mistakes until someone points out where they aren’t excelling.

Staying true to yourself and going where you’re celebrated is the first step to achieving your goals. I’m thankful that when I met resistance, I was still. The two variables would usually be me vs. environment. As I stated before, I saw how nauseating it was to adapt to the environment and ignore who I was.