It sounded like such a simple question.
Who are you, and what do you do?
You have 60 seconds.
Go.
I recently watched Jenn Gottlieb talk about being able to introduce yourself and communicate your “authority story” in 60 seconds.
Sixty seconds.
I could do that.
I know who I am. I know what I do. I have been doing this work for years. I should be able to turn on a camera, answer the question, and move on with my day.
Apparently not.
Instead, this little 60-second exercise proceeded to take up a ridiculous amount of my day.
I wrote things down.
I changed them.
I recorded myself.
I hated the recording.
I changed the words.
I recorded it again.
Then I decided I was saying too much.
Then not enough.
Then I wondered whether I needed to explain my background. Should I talk about Reiki? Coaching? Spirituality? Psychology? Writing? Should I explain how I work with people? Should I explain why I do it?
Suddenly my 60-second introduction needed its own table of contents.
And there was another problem.
I don’t particularly enjoy being on camera.
The moment I hit record, something changed. Instead of simply talking about what I do, I became very aware that I was talking about what I do.
Was I looking in the right place?
Did that sound stupid?
Why did I say it like that?
Start over.
Eventually, I stopped recording.
I walked around my house instead.
No camera. No script. No attempt to sound polished or impressive.
I simply asked myself the question again.
Who are you, and what do you do?
And this is basically what came out:
I’m Theresa. I help people navigate the layers of their lives. Whether they’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed, don’t know who they are, who they’re meant to be, or where they’re meant to go, we work through those things together and figure out the next steps.
There it was.
Not 60 seconds.
Not a list of credentials.
Not a perfectly crafted elevator pitch.
Just an answer.
And after spending entirely too much time trying to figure out how to explain myself, I realized the exercise wasn’t about creating the perfect introduction.
It was about clarity.
We use labels all the time to explain ourselves.
I’m a wife.
I’m a husband.
I’m a mother.
I’m a father.
I’m a business owner.
I’m a teacher.
I’m retired.
I’m a nurse.
I’m an artist.
I’m a caregiver.
I’m an author.
Those things tell people something about us, but they don’t necessarily answer the bigger question.
Who are you?
And maybe an equally interesting question is:
What do you bring to other people’s lives?
That’s harder.
It requires us to look beyond our titles and responsibilities and think about the role we naturally play.
Maybe you’re the person people call when everything falls apart.
Maybe you’re the person who makes everyone laugh.
Maybe you’re the organizer.
The encourager.
The problem solver.
The listener.
The teacher.
The person who notices what everyone else misses.
You don’t have to make money doing it for it to be part of who you are.
And maybe that’s why my little 60-second exercise took considerably longer than 60 seconds.
I wasn’t just trying to describe my work.
I was trying to put words around something I’ve been discovering about myself for years.
Maybe that’s worth taking a little time to figure out.
And somewhere in the middle of all of this, I realized something that made me laugh.
I had spent a good part of my day feeling stuck and overwhelmed, sorting through all the different ways I could describe myself, trying to figure out what fit, what didn’t, and what I wanted to say next.
All because I was trying to explain that I help people navigate the layers of their lives when they feel stuck, overwhelmed, or aren’t sure what comes next.
Apparently, I had to navigate a few of my own layers to figure out how to say that.
Maybe that’s the point.
Sometimes clarity doesn’t come from having the perfect answer ready. Sometimes we have to talk it out, try something, change our minds, get frustrated, walk away, come back, and keep sorting through the layers until something finally feels like us.
Here’s my challenge for you:
Set a timer for 60 seconds and answer these two questions out loud:
Who are you?
What do you do for someone else?
Don’t write your answer first.
Don’t worry about making it sound impressive.
Don’t list every title you’ve ever had.
Just talk.
And if 60 seconds somehow turns into an entire afternoon?
Apparently, you’re not alone.
Theresa
Flexible Being
Empowering Your Journey to Healing, Clarity, and Self-Discovery.
Thank you for being here.
If something in this post resonated with you…
that’s often where the real work begins.
There’s more waiting for you here,
from soulful healing insights to playful prompts and real conversations about life.
I’d love to connect and learn more about your story.
Sessions available in person and remotely.
Reach out when you’re ready:
Email: theresa@flexiblebeing.com
Website: www.flexiblebeing.com
Instagram:
@theresamartinezshapiro
@flexiblebeing
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Theresa Martinez-Shapiro
Theresa Martinez-Shapiro is the founder of Flexible Being, a Reiki Master, Certified Oracle Guide, intuitive mentor, and writer based in Stockton, California. Through Musings of a Flexible Being, she explores healing, mindfulness, relationships, intuition, and personal growth with a grounded yet spiritual approach.
