Business Pivots, Entrepreneurship, Mindset, Networking, Online Business

Do the Scary Thing – Step Out of Your Comfort Zone To Be Seen In Business

September 14, 2026
By itssophiebiggerstaff.com

Share this post:

Why Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone Is the Real Business Strategy Nobody Talks About

Stepping outside your comfort zone is not a motivational buzzword. It is the actual work. And if you have been waiting until you feel ready to use your voice, to show up on stages, pitch yourself for podcasts, or simply post something that puts your real opinion out there, I need to tell you something honestly: that feeling of ready is probably never coming. I spent years in corporate, managing a £380 million fashion business, presenting to boards at Burberry and Ralph Lauren, and I still had to learn this lesson the hard way when I left it all behind to build something of my own. Stepping outside your comfort zone is not a one-time event. It is a muscle, and you build it by doing the thing before you feel equipped to do it.

This post is about using your voice as a visibility tool in business – and why self-belief, not strategy, is what separates the founders who get seen from the ones who stay invisible. Whether you want to improve your public speaking skills, figure out how to overcome fear of public speaking, or simply stop letting your inner critic run the show, what follows is the honest, grounded truth about what it actually takes to be seen.

Stepping outside your comfort zone is where growth lives. Not in the polished plan, not in the perfectly crafted content calendar, and definitely not in waiting until the algorithm aligns with the moon. It starts with one tiny, slightly terrifying first step, and everything compounds from there.

Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone Starts With Silencing the Story You Keep Telling Yourself

One of the most powerful things I have come to understand about visibility, and why so many brilliant women stay hidden in their businesses, is that the block is rarely a skills gap. It is a story gap. We repeat old narratives to ourselves on loop until they feel like facts. I am not great on camera. I am not a natural speaker. Nobody will show up. I am not ready yet. And the longer we repeat those stories, the more cemented they become in our identity.

Here is the truth about self-belief: your inner critic is not the voice of truth. It is a misguided protector, a part of you that is trying to keep you safe by keeping you small. But safe and small will not build the business you actually want. When someone has one difficult experience – maybe they got caught off guard on camera, or their first webinar only had four attendees – they let that single moment define their entire trajectory. That is not data. That is fear dressed up as evidence. Stepping outside your comfort zone means refusing to let one chapter close the whole book.

Think about how you learned to walk. You fell. Repeatedly. And you did not lie on the floor and decide walking was not for you. You got back up, because the momentum of trying was stronger than the sting of falling. Using your voice in business works exactly the same way. There is a first for everything – your first post, your first podcast, your first room full of strangers. And that first one does not need to be perfect. It just needs to happen.

If you are sitting on an idea and you are ready to stop letting fear make your decisions, download the Freedom Founder Playbook – it is the 80-page guide I created to help you take your first real steps with clarity and confidence.

Building Public Speaking Skills and Self-Belief by Doing, Not Preparing

When it comes to public speaking skills, most people think they need to feel confident before they begin. The opposite is true. Self-belief is built through action, not through endlessly preparing, perfecting slides, or waiting for the right opportunity to fall into your lap. Here is what stepping outside your comfort zone and using your voice actually looks like in practice:

Create your own first opportunity. Do not wait for someone to hand you a stage. Host a workshop from your living room. Post your opinion in a niche Facebook group. Record a voice note and send it to your audience. The venue does not matter, the action does.
Think in baby steps, not giant leaps. If you want to run a webinar, your first step is not designing the slide deck, it is picking a date and putting it in your calendar. That one committed action creates momentum. Everything else follows.
Stop comparing your chapter two to someone else’s chapter twenty. The founders who look polished and effortless on stage have had hundreds of awkward, off-script, underprepared moments before you ever saw them. You are only comparing yourself to their highlight reel.
Tune into what energises you, not what you think you should be doing. If writing lights you up, write. If speaking feels like home, speak. If Instagram drains you, stop forcing yourself onto Instagram. Stepping outside your comfort zone does not mean doing everything – it means doing the right things, even when they feel scary.
Accountability is not optional. Having someone who will actually hold you to your first step – who says “send me that link tomorrow” – is one of the most underrated tools in business. We make excuses when no one is watching. We show up when someone expects us to.
Your inner critic is not the truth. Challenge it. Ask yourself: Where is the actual evidence that I cannot do this? Nine times out of ten, there is none.

How to Overcome Fear of Public Speaking and Use It as a Business Visibility Tool

How to overcome fear of public speaking is one of the most-searched questions in the online business space – and the answer is both simpler and harder than people want it to be. You overcome it by doing it. Not by thinking about it. Not by consuming more content about it. By actually stepping outside your comfort zone and using your voice, even when your stomach is flipping.

Here is what I have noticed in my own journey, and what I consistently see with the women I work with: when you shift the focus from how do I look? to who do I want to help?, everything changes. Fear of public speaking is, at its core, a fear of being judged. But using your voice – whether on a stage, a podcast, a LinkedIn post, or a webinar – is not about you. It is about the one person in the audience who needed to hear exactly what you had to say. That shift in perspective is not just philosophical. It is practical. When you stop performing and start serving, the nerves become energy instead of paralysis.

There is also something important to say here about public speaking skills versus natural gifts. Being naturally good at something and being skilled at something are two different things. If speaking energises you at a cellular level – if you leave every conversation feeling more alive than when you started – that is a signal worth paying attention to. It is a strength you were born with, and the skill of delivery, posture, voice, and structure can all be learned. But you have to start. Self-belief does not arrive before the action. It arrives because of it.

Visualise yourself doing it first. Close your eyes and picture yourself speaking. Notice what happens in your body. If there is a smile underneath the fear, that is your answer.
Start small and private. Rehearse with friends. Host five people at your kitchen table. Speak to your phone camera with no intention of posting it.
Build in feedback loops. Every time you speak, ask for honest input. Progress requires information.
Reconnect to your why. On the days you do not want to show up, your reason for doing this – the message you want to share, the people you want to reach – is what will pull you forward.

If this is resonating and you want to stop sitting on your business idea and start taking real action, the Freedom Founder Playbook is the most practical place to begin.

How To Finally Step Outside Your Comfort Zone in Business?

How do I start stepping outside my comfort zone in business if I do not know where to begin?

Start with the smallest possible first step you can take in the next 24 hours. Not the strategy, not the slide deck – one action. A date in your calendar. A post in a group. A message sent. Momentum starts with motion, not with plans.

What is the connection between self-belief and public speaking skills?

Self-belief is not a prerequisite for developing public speaking skills – it is a byproduct of using them. The more you use your voice, the more evidence you collect that you can. Stepping outside your comfort zone consistently is what builds the belief that you are capable.

How do I overcome fear of public speaking when I have had a bad experience before?

Do not let one experience define your entire capability. Every speaker, athlete, and entrepreneur has had moments where they fell short. The question is not whether you were perfect – it is what you learned, and whether you kept going. Self-belief grows in the direction you point your attention.

Can using my voice on social media count as public speaking, or does it have to be a stage?

Absolutely. Using your voice is not limited to stages. A LinkedIn post, a podcast appearance, a webinar, a video – these are all forms of visibility. The medium matters less than the message and the consistency. Find the platform that energises you and show up there.

Why do I keep procrastinating on the business idea I know I should be pursuing?

Because you are stepping outside your comfort zone – or at least, you are standing right at the edge of it. Procrastination is usually fear in disguise. Time is rarely the actual barrier. The women who finally take action are not the ones who found more hours – they are the ones who stopped protecting themselves from the possibility of failure and started moving anyway.

When you are ready to stop stalling and start building, the Freedom Founder Playbook gives you the exact roadmap to do it with clarity.

You Already Have What It Takes - You Just Need to Start Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone

Stepping outside your comfort zone, building self-belief, developing your public speaking skills, and learning how to overcome fear of public speaking all come down to one thing: taking one small, unglamorous, slightly terrifying first step before you feel ready. Using your voice – in whatever form that takes for you – is not a nice-to-have in business. It is how you get seen by the right people, build the right rooms, and create the kind of momentum that compounds into something far bigger than you imagined from where you started. If there is an idea you have been sitting on, a webinar you have been meaning to run, a post you have been afraid to publish – today is the day you put a date next to it. And if you want practical, no-fluff support to finally take action on your business, download the Freedom Founder Playbook here and start building the freedom business you have been talking yourself out of.

meet the writer

I'm Sophie

Online business coach, podcast host, mental health advocate, speaker, founder of TINAH, community builder, full-time digital nomad, and general trailblazing, rule breaker…

I tried to live a “normal” life: I spent 11+ years working my way up in the fashion industry, working for brands like Ralph Lauren and Burberry. I had the apartment in the city, I lived for going out at the weekends, spent money on designer bags and holidays – until I realized this lifestyle DID NOT FULFIL ME – I was waking up with anxiety every day – surviving, but definitely not thriving.

So I quit. I left my 9-to-5 behind to start an online business that supported the lifestyle I actually wanted. Now that looks like slow mornings, daily beach walks, co-working with like-minded entrepreneurs, yoga, meditation, and lots of social connections.

Since 2020, I’ve built multiple online business offers – from online business coaching and consulting to online courses, digital products, and a mental health marketplace – all while travelling the world and living life, and earning money on my own terms.

Now… I’m on a mission to help more people break free from lives that don’t feel good for them and create more freedom through starting and growing an online business.

if you loved this post

All
Business Pivots
Digital Nomad
E-Commerce
Entrepreneurship
Marketing
Mindset
Networking
Online Business
Selling
Side Hustle