Justine Martin

Let’s clear something up. I am not fearless. People see the stage. The microphone. The awards. The confidence. They assume I walk in bulletproof. I don’t. I feel the nerves. I feel the doubt. I feel the weight of what I am about to say. Some days my body is playing up. Some days I am exhausted before I even start. But I walk on anyway. That is the difference. Power is not the absence of fear. It is the decision to move with it sitting right beside you. I Did Not Wake Up Like This No one wakes...

Let me tell you something I wish more speakers understood earlier. The things you have survived are not side notes in your story. They are the story. Your lived experience is not baggage. It is your credibility. It is your depth. It is the reason people lean in when you speak. I do not walk onto a stage pretending life has been neat and tidy. I walk on knowing I have been through the fire, and that changes the way people listen. People Do Not Want Perfect, They Want Real Audiences are not...

The idea we get wrong about strength Strength is often presented as confidence, certainty and the ability to keep pushing forward no matter what. We are shown images of people who appear unbreakable, always composed, always moving. In everyday life, this version of strength can feel unreachable and, at times, exhausting. Real strength is rarely loud. It does not demand attention or applause. It exists quietly in the background of ordinary lives, showing up in ways that are easy to overlook...