Self-promotion without the cringe

Earlier this week in Barcelona, I facilitated my How To Brag Nicely workshop for Women@Mercer, part of the global Marsh group.

Too many brilliant women are undervalued and overlooked — not because they lack talent, but because their work isn’t seen or heard.

How To Brag Nicely is about why so many women downplay their achievements, and how to shine a spotlight on them instead.

Not loudly.

And not in that slightly ‘icky’ way that makes you want to change the subject.

But in a way that opens doors to opportunity.

With our 'petit comité' group, I was reminded again of how easily we take our accomplishments for granted.

How rarely we truly “ponerlos en valor”, as one participant said — (yes, this workshop was in Spanish 😉)- even when they’ve taken effort, courage, and skill to achieve.

There’s a powerful internal barrier at play here: the idea that speaking about what we’ve done well is arrogant, or presumptuous, or somehow an exaggeration.

I love feeling the energy shift in the room when that belief loosens its grip.

Once we give ourselves permission to feel a genuine sense of achievement, what emerges are stories told with humility and passion and pride.

And when we allow ourselves to be seen in this way, we make it easier for others to brag nicely too.


Thank you to Women@Mercer for having me. I can’t wait to pick this up again next week in Madrid - and see what shifts!