“Hi, Barbie!” “Hi, Barbie!”

That’s the catchy greeting I heard through the corridors at the spectacular Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas, where I was living my best ‘Barbie’ dream life.

Imagine over 5000+ luxury rockstar travel advisors and brilliant business partners sharing best practices, networking, and learning — it’s a privilege to speak each year, it’s a pinch-me moment every time!

Now picture me stopping to connect, getting selfies, cuddles, and making new connections. If you follow me on Instagram, you can see all the fun highlights.

These wonderful humans crack me up, saying: “You were doing pink before Barbie!” and “You’re the OG Barbie!” — that makes me smile. I loved Barbie as a little girl, and I love her more on the big screen, watching the HUGE success of this movie and the impact it’s making in the world.

If you haven’t seen it, drop everything and buy your ticket! My fave parts include the divine Chanel Collaboration, Ryan’s jaw-dropping abs, and the legendary America Ferrera sharing the raw and real rant (you can read it here — so good).

If we’ve met, you know I have always had a love affair with hot pink, my signature color, for 30+ years. It’s not just a color; it’s a confidence booster — it’s fabulous, fun, feminine, playful, outgoing, and attention-grabbing. Think of it as hot-pink magic. I’m thrilled to be connected to all the Barbie fun through this power house color.

The Summer of Women

The Wall Street Journal grabbed my attention with this headline: ‘Women own this summer. The economy proves it,’ featuring a graphic of Barbie, Beyoncé, and Taylor Swift.

Even if you are one of my dear readers living outside the US, you have heard the staggering $1B (yep, that’s a billion with a B) box-office sales for Barbie, a run on products like fringed cowboy hats for Beyoncé, and bracelet beads for Swifties, who knew!

Even if you missed out on the Era’s Tour (raises hand), you can’t escape the monumental impact Taylor Swift made on the economy. Taylor (look at me using first names pretending we are besties), didn’t just make hearts race; she turbo-charged the Philadelphia area’s hotel industry (and other cities). And let’s not forget that her tour might be the first show in the world to bring in $1B (yep, Billion) in only 100 shows.

Women are like economic dynamite — a mega multiplier effect. When we are in, we are all in, buying tickets for our BFFs, mum, sisters – the whole gang.

Confidence is the Most Essential Quality for Executive Presence

It may not surprise you that women’s confidence is linked to a luxury mindset. Luxury is like a secret weapon amping up confidence. Barbie’s director, Greta Gerwig, is now the highest-grossing female director of all time — not only boosting economic confidence but women’s confidence too.

In our Luxury Mindset research, leaders told us that luxury helps them feel more confident, elevates their executive presence, and improves their personal and professional lives.

You can read the results of the survey here. And this isn’t just limited to the C-suite. Women who buy luxuries who are looking for this confidence boost can be anyone from administrative assistants to CEOs.

Professional women who buy luxuries exude confidence — 60% say they’re extremely confident in their professional development.

‘Luxury’ was defined by the leaders in our research as high-quality, long-lasting, indulgent, and unique. We also know when we look and feel great, we are more confident. And, as I shared in my recent video (like and give us a subscribe on YouTube!), one commonality in the luxury mindset research was “luxury is a reward for hard work.”

Recently I was invited to coach a high-profile SVP at a huge insurance company. Leadership engaged me because they were concerned this leader’s reputation would be damaged internally and prevent them from future promotions because of their presentation style. At team meetings, all-hands events, and especially when presenting to executive leadership, they were so nervous, stumbled, paused, sounded robotic, fidgeted, looked awkward, and they shared, “It’s like she is a different person.” I see this a lot. Leaders can be technically brilliant and professionally accomplished, but when they are invited to share publicly, nervous energy gets the better of them, and imposter syndrome gets in the way.

You might know this horrible imposter syndrome can include the following:

• Perfectionism or burnout
• Self-doubt or setting ridiculous standards and expectations for yourself
• Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of looking stupid if you don’t have the answer, fear of being unprepared
• Giving everyone else credit for your success

This is not unique to my insurance leaders; I see this in other industries we work with, including luxury travel and hospitality, financial services, media, and luxury real estate.

I was able to work with her in our 90-day mentoring program, focusing on the things and experiences that make her feel most confident. And you know what? When she presented to the board later that quarter she rocked it! My client shared that it was “transformational,” “she was the best we have ever seen her,” and “the audience loved her!” Now that makes me so happy!

You work hard. You deserve it. YOU are worth it!

So why is it that women, who are conquering the world, box office, tour circuit, and world sporting stages (yay, Simone is back, and the Aussie Matildas make me so proud and love that women’s sport is finally being recognized!), why is that imposter syndrome bug still bites?!

I confess even on my most fabulous days; sneaky doubts can elbow their way in. It’s like a tug-of-war between “I’ve got this” and “Why me?” Sound familiar? You are not alone.

So here’s the thing: there is a difference between a ‘pinch me’ moment and a ‘why me’ moment. As a keynote speaker for luxury and legacy brands, I am privileged to stand on the most incredible stages in the most exquisite hotels around the world, staying in super fancy hotels and being spoiled by my clients — a dream come true, the definition of a ‘pinch me’ moment.

And despite a wonderfully curated Instagram grid, I have had my share of ‘why me’ moments just like you. These tend to show up more related to my body than my brain. I am confident in my strategic thinking, ideation, and presentation skills. Where I start to doubt myself is related to my body. Sometimes when posting an IG story about working out or recommending something related to fitness I question “who am I to be sharing this? I’m not a fitness instructor!” and I have 25 lbs to lose, everything jiggles when I run and I haven’t seen my abs since I was 15… so we all have ‘why me?’ moments.

So what do I do? I give myself the luxury of time and turn to the things that make me feel most confident about myself.

For me, reading a magazine cover to cover beside the pool, sipping champagne from a pretty glass and working out with a more extended meditation with nowhere else I need to be — is so decadent, and so absolutely delightful! Longer term, vacations are my ultimate luxury. I admit, I always need to know when the next break is, and I admit, the real reason I work out is to be strong enough to lift my bag in the overhead bin and run through the airport to make a connection! Anyone else? (For more reasons that Travel is VITAL — and confidence building! — read our last newsletter here.)

Maybe luxury to you is:

• Quality time, the luxury of time with people you love, or relishing sacred alone time.
• Freedom to be outdoors, a run in nature, boating, kayaking, walking through your neighborhood.
• Scheduling a lunch date at your fave restaurant and savoring every mouthful and every moment.
• Immersing yourself in a romantic, feel-good movie that makes you laugh and cry.
• Planning your next vacation.

This week do yourself a favor; if you find yourself with a visit from that imposter syndrome bug, kick it to the curb and focus on what makes you feel confident and bring your version of luxury into your day. Remember, you are worth it. (And email me to tell you what you’re doing!)

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