Naming What You Carry: The Language of Worth, Work & Self-Trust
About This Session
There is a particular kind of shrinking that happens when someone asks you what you do.
Maybe you rush through it. Maybe you qualify it before anyone has the chance to question it. Maybe you find yourself reaching for smaller words than the work deserves — words that fit more comfortably in a room that was not built to hold the full weight of what you carry.
This session asks a different question: what becomes possible when you stop minimizing?
African Nova Scotian Narrative Consultant, Legacy Archivist, Speaker, and Writer Vanessa Smithers brings her deep expertise in language, identity, and self-trust to guide participants through an honest exploration of how we name — and how we have learned not to name — our work, our knowledge, and our worth.
Through reflection, reframing, and practical language shifts, this session creates space for participants to examine where they have been making themselves smaller and begin practicing clearer, more honest ways of speaking about what they do and what it is actually worth.
Because language is not just communication. It is how we claim ourselves.
What You Will Experience
Guided reflection on the relationship between language, self-trust, and how we communicate our value
Honest exploration of where and how we minimize ourselves — and why
Practical language shifts that move you from hedging and qualifying toward clarity and conviction
Reframing exercises that help you name your work, your knowledge, and your worth with greater honesty and confidence
Community dialogue and shared practice in a safe, held space
About Vanessa Smithers
Vanessa Smithers is a Toronto-based African Nova Scotian Narrative Consultant, Legacy Archivist, Speaker, and Writer whose work centres on the power of story, identity, and the language of self-trust. She does not just teach this work. She has lived it. And she brings that lived experience into every room she holds.
This session is part of the Wellth Mindset Program — an 8 to 12 month virtual sanctuary for Black, POC women and all women ready to do this work at the intersection of wellness and wealth. Registration for the full program is available at OnePeopleTO.ca