What Authenticity Means To Kiera Russo and Alexa Juanita Jordan Pt. 1
On cults, late-night writing, trusting ourselves, and honoring our creativity.
A few announcements before this week’s conversation with my friend and fellow writer,
!My new book, The Start of It All, will be on sale on MAY 3RD!
The Start of It All is a twentysomething’s guide to empowerment, resilience, and authenticity at the dawn of adulthood. It’s full of questions centered around self-growth, community, career, dreams, and more. Each question is accompanied by a story from my 20s.
I hope that this book can serve as a companion as you navigate these twisty, wild years — OR, as you reflect on them! You don’t have to be under 30 to read this book, I promise :)
No matter what age you are, I hope this book helps you hold onto yourself, as you grow, learn, and change. I hope that my stories help you feel less alone, and teach you something about your resilience and capacity for growth.
Authenticity Tuesdays
Everyone is always welcome to join our discussions on Tuesdays from 8:00 - 9:00 PM EST! No commitment to come every week, unless you want to :)
I created this space to chat with people about what authenticity means to them, and how we can cultivate more of it. It’s that simple! (And yet somehow, we always leave with more questions than “answers” 😂)
Here’s a sample of some of the past prompts -
How can we honor authentic selves, in inauthentic spaces? (ex: where we don’t owe people our authenticity, places we don’t have emotional safety etc.) How can we take care of ourselves?
How is authenticity different from transparency?
What are your thoughts on the concept of having multiple authentic selves? How can we navigate between them, and nurture them all?
Do certain emotions prompt you to pay more attention to your authentic self? Do any emotions take you away from your authentic self?
Hope to see you next week!
Recent Podcast
I loved this conversation with Nataly Q. on The Stay Grounded Podcast! In addition to diving into all things authenticity, I shared a lot about the windy journey that led to coaching and was able to reflect on and honor a lot of different parts of my story. It was such a fun and freeing conversation. Thank you Nataly! Check it out below.
That’s all for the announcements. Onto this week’s conversation!
Kiera Russo graduated from the University of Notre Dame having studied Film, Television, and Theatre. Although her studies of the visual arts gifted her with an immense curiosity of the language of storytelling, she is also a budding author. Kiera fervently uses language as a vehicle to unify, connect, and heal. Her next project is entitled Echoes. You can catch a sneak peek of her work - poetry and prose - on her Substack, ‘A Penny For My Thoughts’
Read on for reflections about the conversation, along with one trigger warning for a conversation on cults (first ten minutes) or just dive in and then read this section later, up to you!
This is the very first conversation I recorded for the “What Authenticity Means To Me” series, back in December 2023 - which feels so long ago!
Kiera is so fiercely committed to being her authentic self, in her writing and the way she lives her life. We had this conversation before I had even really fleshed out what I wanted this series to look like - and I kind of love that. While I hope that all of these “interviews” have had more of a conversational feel — what you're listening to today is truly a conversation between two friends sorting through their thoughts on authenticity and creativity. I like to think that it feels like you’re pulling up a seat to have coffee with us. I am so grateful for Kiera’s openness, thoughtfulness, vulnerability, and friendship.
In listening back to this recording, (which Kiera so brilliantly and patiently edited - she is a PRO!) I was surprised by the conviction with which I spoke about authenticity - way back at the start of this journey to figure out what authenticity really is. It’s clear that the importance of authenticity has always been a rhetorical question for me; the exploration of what it really is remains the tricky part. I’ve let go of the idea that there is just one definition.
Kiera and I start by *passionately* discussing two documentary series following cult victims; The Vow, and Stolen Youth, pretty extensively for the first 10 minutes or so. I became obsessed with these series, among others, late last year, and quickly convinced many friends (like Kiera!) to watch too so that I would have people to talk to.
If this kind of content triggers you, you’re welcome to skip ahead - that’s why I included the section above. You know what’s best for you!
Kiera’s definition of authenticity as a pursuit of the truth deeply resonates with me. There’s a really common misconception that being authentic is all about being fully transparent no matter what — and the idea of pursuing the truth feels very different than just being transparent, no matter what the consequences of your subjective truth might be.
We also talk about the pursuit of authenticity vs. seeing it as a destination, or a permanent state you can reach.
It was so much fun talking to a fellow writer about how we access our creativity, trust the call of inspiration (and sometimes get lost in it). Kiera shared her favorite Ted Talk (below!) by Elizabeth Gilbert - one of my favorite people on this planet.
We also go on to quite vulnerably discuss the cost and value of our authenticity, when we feel safe to be our authentic selves, and when we feel more protective.
Summary of the Series/Writing We Discuss —
See you on *Friday* for Part Two! I’ll be sharing the audio here, and linking to Kiera’s substack, where she’ll be posting her own essay reflecting on our conversation.
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