{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"From Brokenness to Boldness with Kisha Smith","description":"Leading authentically begins with the courage to acknowledge our own stories\u2014and trust that our struggles do not diminish our worth or our ability to make a difference. In this final episode of our BOLDLY Breakout Spotlight week on the Moving Forward Podcast, Melissa Harrison sits down with Kisha Smith, known as \u201cThe Transparency Coach,\u201d for a candid conversation about healing, faith, vulnerability, and leading with conviction. Drawing on more than two decades of corporate HR experience and her own journey of healing, Kisha shares how God invited her to address pain she had spent years trying to suppress. She describes a life of striving for excellence and seeking fulfillment through accomplishments, while leaving parts of her story unacknowledged. As she began allowing God into those places, Kisha discovered a new sense of freedom and purpose. That experience now informs her work helping women acknowledge their silent struggles, find trusted support, and show up more fully as themselves in their lives and leadership. Kisha explains that transparency requires both courage and discernment. Sharing your story begins with identifying people and spaces where trust is present. You can be authentic while maintaining professionalism and setting thoughtful boundaries around what you share and with whom. She also challenges the pressure leaders feel to appear as though they have everything together. As she shares, \u201cWe just need to release the pressure of being perfect and lead authentically and then build authority grounded in truth.\u201d In her experience, appropriate vulnerability helps people relate to one another, strengthens trust, and creates a foundation for meaningful influence. The conversation explores Kisha\u2019s journey \u201cfrom broken to spoken\u201d\u2014giving voice to experiences that once remained hidden. She shares how speaking honestly in supportive spaces helped her move from shame toward purpose, while offering encouragement to other women who recognized parts of their own stories in hers. Faith is central to Kisha\u2019s approach. Scripture, prayer, and time with God have shaped her understanding of who she is and whose she is. She encourages women to bring their fears, questions, and struggles before God and allow His truth to inform how they see themselves. Kisha also offers practical ways to begin: identify one safe person, connect with a trusted community, and make time to sit with God. These steps create space for honesty, support, and growth without requiring you to share everything at once. This conversation is ultimately about leading with freedom and conviction: acknowledging your story, releasing the pressure to perform perfection, and trusting that God can use your experiences to serve others. In this episode, we get into: Your struggles do not define your worth. Ground your identity in who God says you are. Transparency begins with trust. Share honestly in safe spaces, with thoughtful boundaries. Authenticity strengthens your leadership. Release perfection and build influence through honesty and connection. Kisha also shares how authentic leadership shapes workplace culture. When leaders communicate respectfully and allow themselves to be relatable, they help create an environment where others can build trust, ask for support, and contribute more confidently. Through individual coaching, group coaching, and women\u2019s masterminds, Kisha helps women explore how faith and transparency can move them toward a greater sense of purpose. She closes with a reminder for the woman wondering whether her story disqualifies her from moving forward: \u201cYour present struggle or your past struggle does not define your worth or your future.\u201d 4word is excited to welcome Kisha to BOLDLY this October in Dallas, where she will lead \u201cFrom Brokenness to Boldness: Leading Authentically in Faith and Work.\u201d Learn more about BOLDLY at 4wordwomen.org\/boldly\/. About Kisha Smith Kisha Smith, known as \u201cThe Transparency Coach,\u201d brings more than two decades of corporate HR experience to her faith-based coaching and leadership work. Drawing on her personal journey of healing, she helps women acknowledge their silent struggles, embrace their authentic selves, and lead with greater confidence and conviction.   Kisha offers individual coaching, Brokenness to Boldness group coaching, and women\u2019s masterminds that combine transparent communication, biblical principles, and trusted community.   Learn more about Kisha and her coaching at kishasmith.com.   About Melissa Harrison Melissa Harrison is a journalist, nonprofit leader, and President & CEO of 4word. She is passionate about helping women integrate faith, leadership, and purpose in the workplace. As host of the Moving Forward Podcast, Melissa brings a storyteller\u2019s perspective to honest conversations about work, calling, growth, and the courage to keep moving forward.   Learn more about Melissa: melissaharrison.net Follow Melissa on LinkedIn and Instagram   About 4word 4word is a global community for Christian women in the workplace, helping women grow in their faith, thrive in their work, and become the women and leaders God created them to be.   Find out more about 4word: https:\/\/4wordwomen.org\/ Follow 4word on LinkedIn and Instagram ","author_name":"Moving Forward","author_url":"https:\/\/4wordwomen.org\/podcast\/","html":"