61: From Telling Other People's Stories to Owning Her Own: Leia Baez on the Commencement Speech That Went Viral

What happens when the person who tells everyone else's stories has been hiding her own? In this episode of Capacity Conversations, I sit down with Leia Baez, award-winning author, keynote speaker, and speaker coach, who spent more than 15 years as a journalist while keeping her own secrets in the closet. Leia takes us to the commencement stage where she was graduating with her master's degree in the middle of a divorce and a custody battle, still drinking, and decided to say out loud that beneath the gown she was a mess. That speech reached more than 6.5 million people. We talk about what happened in the moments after she walked off, the two years of trying before sobriety stuck in November 2019, the support system that made it hold, and what she noticed once the fog lifted. This is a conversation about what we spend keeping the polished version intact, and what becomes available when we stop.

This episode includes an honest discussion of alcohol use and recovery. If any of it lands close to home, support is available and worth reaching out for.

• Why Leia could interview strangers about their hardest moments for 15 years and still keep her own story in the closet

• The exact moment on the commencement stage when she decided to stop performing success, and what she said instead

• What happened 30 seconds after she walked off stage that made every bit of the fear worth it

• Why she was still drinking when she gave the speech, and what the 2 years of trying before November 2019 actually looked like

• The support system that made sobriety hold, including the Christmas Eve moment with a 6-pack of non-alcoholic beer

• The benefit she did not expect: the fog lifting, ideas returning, and speaking up in meetings again

  The ugly side she does not skip past, from losing friends to what her mother said that reframed all of it

  What her daughter wrote about her for a high school speech contest, and why Leia almost could not listen to it

Connect with Lizette:

Get on the preorder waitlist for Lizette's Next Book: https://www.site.lizettewarner.com/widget/form/5sAkQLrQuzEalmfBFBvP

Book Lizette to Speak: https://www.site.lizettewarner.com/widget/form/tqUtpLo45tHDTqhi6alT

Get email updates here: https://lizettewarner.com/work-with-me#loop

Join me on Substack: https://drlizettewarner.substack.com/subscribe

Become a member: https://www.patreon.com/CapacityConversations