{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"154. Saying (and writing) the Hard Things Out Loud with Denise Soler Cox","description":"Let's talk about that stubborn little voice that pops up right when you\u2019re deep in a chapter revision or staring down a proposal section, whispering this isn\u2019t quite right or wait, actually, THIS is the thing. We\u2019ve all been there.  Most of us have been trained to override it. To defer to a coach like me, an agent, the editor, the comp titles, the \u201cwhat\u2019s selling right now.\u201d And look \u2014 data and outside perspective matter. Decades of expertise count for something.  But the truth is, every single decision comes down to a judgment call only you can make. And if you\u2019ve spent years talking yourself out of your own instincts, that moment gets a lot harder. Which brings me to this week\u2019s pod guest, Denise Soler Cox. Her new book, What Will They Say?, is literally built around this tension \u2014 the voice in your head asking \u201cwhat will they say?\u201d, versus the truth you actually need to tell.  She spent years drawing out the cultural patterns that keep women \u2014 especially Latinas \u2014 quietly sabotaging their own success by staying small, staying silent, staying safe. Writing What Will They Say required her to trust her gut enough to say the unsayable thing, on the page, in public, forever. And she listened to her gut relentlessly, even when a book deal was on the table, she moved in a different direction.  Many authors I\u2019ve worked with hit the point where the outside advice and the gut-check don\u2019t agree \u2014 and the ones who finish, who publish something true, are the ones who learn to trust the gut and take the advice in stride.  Denise is a sought-after voice on culture, identity, and belonging. She has spoken on over 400 stages, including two TEDx talks and SXSW 2026. She has partnered with Ralph Lauren, Amazon, Microsoft, and L'Or\u00e9al, among others \u2014 and in 2020, Apple Podcasts North America recognized her podcast The Self-ish Latina as both a Featured Podcast and Featured Host, with listeners in 32 countries. She has appeared as a culture expert on NBC Nightly News, and her work has been featured in Forbes, CNN and PBS. I sat down with Denise for this week\u2019s episode of Bound & Determined and we got into all of it \u2014 the fear, the family stuff, the moment she decided her story was worth telling anyway. If you\u2019ve ever felt that tug-of-war between your gut and everyone else\u2019s opinion, you need to hear this one. ","author_name":"Bound & Determined","author_url":"http:\/\/boundanddetermined.libsyn.com\/website","html":"