She found alignment, so why is visibility so hard?
Hidden Value: From Fear of Perception to Freedom in Experimentation
Hey everyone. Excited to share something new with you. I’ve been experimenting with a format that lets you step inside the conversations I’ve been having with entrepreneurs and Founder’s for the past 5 years.
Finding Hidden Value: Everyone faces moments where the next move isn’t obvious.
That’s what these Hidden Value sessions are about: unpacking the tension, surfacing the traps, and finding the value in the moment.
Starting with this conversation with Saara, I’ve put together an overview of our conversation including some clips, turning points, and quotes so you can see shifts happen with real entrepreneurs just like you.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the replies or comments about this series.
Xx David
From Fear of Perception to Freedom in Experimentation
When Saara left her corporate career, she stepped away from a world where she looked like she had it all together on the outside but inside felt completely misaligned with the work she had been doing. The misalignment created a contradiction: visible, praised, and on a clear trajectory… yet drained and unfulfilled.
Now, in this new chapter, she’s in the opposite place: deeply aligned internally, but externally not visible in the same way.
And that’s the paradox she brought into our session.
The Tension: Alignment vs. Visibility
“I’m used to looking like I have my shit together. Now I’m in this process, in the messiness of transition.”
That tension creates hesitations… pausing before posting on LinkedIn, hesitating instead of opening the business bank account, and avoiding putting offers out publicly.
“I don’t like being seen too much… I feel susceptible to people’s energy. It’s not being seen, it’s being perceived that feels hard.”
But as she admitted, when she does put something out there and it resonates like the business leader who messaged her, “This is such a need in the market” it feels amazing.
So what’s stopping her?
Here’s what I said:
“You’ve done the external visibility thing before, but it wasn’t aligned. Now you’ve found internal alignment, but you’re holding back on visibility. Your work is work is to unify the two.”
The Turning Point: Experimentation over Performance
I offered Saara a simple mirror:
In her corporate years, she was highly visible externally but misaligned internally. Now, in this new chapter, the situation has flipped… she feels deeply aligned with her work, yet externally invisible.
The instinct is often to wait until things feel polished or “final” before stepping out, but that path only prolongs the gap.
The shift we named was to move from treating visibility as a performance to treating it as an experiment. Instead of contorting herself into a role, Saara could give herself permission to try things publicly, let others respond, and see what resonated.
Visibility could be a practice, not a performance.
The Hidden Value: Forget Titles, Forget “Looking Good…” Focus on Problems
As we worked through her positioning, the phrase “Fractional Chief of Staff” began to feel too narrow, too dependent on a title.
In conversation, new language emerged that felt far closer to her truth: a “special projects champion,” someone who helps founders translate their zero-to-one visions across stakeholders and turn messy, undefined projects into reality.
The breakthrough insight was that people don’t hire titles…
They hire people who can solve problems no one else in their organization can touch.
That reframe also revealed why some of her earlier efforts landed with silence. When she diluted her message with offers she didn’t truly love, her energy scattered. By centering on the messy, high-impact problems that she uniquely wants to take on, her clarity and her resonance immediately strengthened.
The Action: Get Into a Practice of Visibility
By the close of our session, Saara had a concrete path in front of her.
She committed to publishing more imperfectly….whether on LinkedIn, on Substack, or through direct conversations, and to treat the market’s response as valuable feedback rather than judgment.
The most important shift was internal.
She didn’t need the “final” answer before showing up.
My Recommendations
If you’re in a transition, don’t wait until you’ve fully defined the next branch of your career.
The hidden value lies in naming the paradox you’re currently in, giving yourself permission to experiment in public, and framing your work by the problems you solve rather than the titles you carry.
Clarity rarely comes at the beginning. It’s most often the byproduct of showing up.
You’re Sitting on Hidden Value. Ready to Uncover It?
This month, I’m opening a limited number of free 1:1 Hidden Value Sessions. In less than one hour together, we’ll:
Reveal the hidden value inside your current business
Explore one key tension you’re facing
Open up new pathways forward
You’ll walk away with clarity, fresh perspective, and a personalized recap + roadmap that captures the key insights, themes, and next steps from our session.
If you’re ready to realize more value in your business, this is your invitation to apply.