Ask boldly
I've been quiet. Here's why, and what I'm asking for now.
LEADERSHIPCONFIDENCE
I've been quiet for four weeks. No newsletter, no updates, just... silence from my end.
I want to be straight with you about why.
I needed to do some internal work. Figure out what I wanted to do next, what this business is really about, and what I'm building toward. You know that feeling when you're in the middle of something big but you can't name it yet? That's where I was.
I'm naming it now. And I'm back.
Let's talk about asking.
There's a narrative that's been floating around for decades. That women don't ask. That we sit quietly, wait to be noticed, and hope the right people see our worth.
Turns out, that narrative is outdated.
Research from UC Berkeley Haas found that more women than men now report negotiating their job offers. 54% of women versus 44% of men. Women are asking. More than ever.
And yet. Women are still getting turned down more often than men when they do ask. And 42% of women say they didn't feel comfortable asking in the first place, compared to 33% of men. (Source: Pew Research Center, 2023.)
So the problem was never that women don't ask.
The problem is that we don't always ask boldly.
What does asking boldly actually mean?
It doesn't mean being loud. It doesn't mean being aggressive. And it definitely doesn't mean pretending to be someone you're not.
Asking boldly means:
- Knowing what you want before you walk into the room
- Having your SHINE File at the ready. Your track record, your impact, your evidence. The wins you've logged, the failures you've reframed, the proof that's been there all along. That's what you walk in with.
- Asking from a place of worth, not a place of need
- Not pre-justifying, not apologising, not softening the ask before you've even made it
- Being okay with a no, because your sense of worth doesn't live in their answer
That last one is the needle-mover. Because when you're not desperate for the yes, you ask differently. You land differently. And people respond differently.
This is the work. Not just "be more confident." Building the foundation that makes bold asking feel natural.
This month in the Empower & Lead Collective, we're going there.
The theme is Ask Boldly.
We're talking about what gets in the way, where the discomfort actually comes from, and the practical tools that help you walk into any room ready to ask for what you want and mean it.
The Confidence Workout is free, one hour, on the 14th May at 1pm UK time /8 AM EST.
If you've been meaning to join, this is your month. And if you know three women who need to hear this right now, forward this to them. I have a dream of 100 women in that room at once. Help me get there.
Register HERE
Keep shining!
Natalia x
Human Red Bull. Leadership Coach. Shine File Creator.
©Natalia Cerezo Martin 2026
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