BOLDER Is Out in the World — And So Is the Doubt

​​​I Barely Slept… And It Worked

The first weeks after launching BOLDER felt like stepping into a current that was moving faster than I could think.

I barely slept. Most days started at 5am, posting across time zones, replying to messages, asking for book reviews (something I hadn’t fully appreciated until I was in it), resharing content, figuring out logistics, and working out how to get paperback copies to Timor-Leste.
It was messy. A bit intense. Running on adrenaline.

And somehow… it worked. I came out of those first days with a big smile, and a sense that something had started to move.

Then the first batch of paperback books arrived in Dili, and it was gone faster than I could have imagined. I’m still wrapping my head around that one.

At the same time, I found myself in conversations with the Presidential Office about hosting an in-person launch here in Dili: again, completely new territory, and not something I had planned for.

And then things kept unfolding.

• A “blind date” call with a Kiwi company turned into a values-aligned conversation — and a suggestion to buy BOLDER as client gifts.
• A German university invited me to speak and moderate at their international diversity week.
• Three Timorese companies reached out to explore how the BOLDER framework could support their senior managers.
• And my freediving students started buying copies which, somehow, meant just as much as any corporate conversation. Because it reminded me: this work doesn’t just belong in boardrooms.

Somewhere along the way, I also became a slightly unconventional mobile bookshop.
I now carry copies of BOLDER in my bag wherever I go.

Carrying it with me. Literally.

Books have been sold in cafés, in spontaneous conversations across town…
signed over coffee… and yes, even in a nightclub.

Signed over coffee.

This is what matters.

Turns out bold leadership conversations can start in the most unexpected places.
What has meant the most, though, is seeing so many Timorese women pick up the book and start engaging with it. That, more than anything, tells me this work is landing where it matters.

Alongside all of this, I’ve had the chance to speak on podcasts, including the Tough Girl Podcast and 68 Cups of Blueberry Tea, sharing more about the endurance experiences, the ocean, and the leadership lessons that shaped the BOLDER framework.

In its first days, BOLDER quietly climbed into the Top 5 on Amazon Australia in Motivational Business Management, and into the Top 50 across leadership categories in the US and the Netherlands.
And still… part of me is catching up with all of this.

Because alongside the momentum, something else showed up too.
That quiet voice:
Are you really up for this?

I’ve started to see it differently. Not as something to get rid of, but as a signal. A signal that I’ve stepped into something that matters and that I’m at my edge… not behind it. It’s something I see again and again in my work with leaders.

The moment they step into something bigger, more visible, more meaningful, that voice shows up. And instead of taking it as a reason to step back, what if we took it as a reason to lean in?

In the B.O.L.D.E.R.™ framework, this sits in Shift O of owning your identity: learning to lead before you feel fully ready.

A simple check for you:

• Where in your life or leadership are you currently feeling slightly out of your depth?
• And what if that’s not a problem to solve… but exactly where your next level of growth sits?

If you’re curious to go deeper into this, I spoke about imposter syndrome as a growth signal in a recent podcast conversation on the Modern Humanitarian and Development Leader Podcast.
If this resonates, take a moment with that question. Or pass it on to someone who’s currently stretching into something bigger.

Birgit
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P.S. If you’ve read BOLDER and it stayed with you, a short review on Amazon goes a long way. It helps the book find the people it’s meant for.

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