The Self-Confidence Required to Become the Local Go-To - Grow Your Local Business

Episode Overview

Main Theme:
In this episode, “The Self-Confidence Required to Become the Local Go-To,” Leslie Presnall explores the essential role self-confidence plays for local entrepreneurs striving to be recognized as the go-to person in their local market. She delves into the distinction between confidence and self-confidence, sharing personal experiences and practical insights to help listeners develop the mindset necessary to push through discomfort, failure, and inexperience as they build their visibility and reputation.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Backward Confidence Trap (00:21)

Many believe they’ll feel confident after becoming the local go-to, but Leslie argues that self-confidence must come first, before success or recognition.
The act of putting yourself out there, taking risks, and failing publicly to raise your profile all require a foundational self-confidence.

“People wait to think of themselves as that local go to person because they think...when they are that person that they will feel this level of confidence. But it's really backwards. It requires a level of confidence to even put yourself out there to begin with.”
— Leslie Presnall [00:23]

2. Defining True Self-Confidence (01:40)

Leslie distinguishes confidence (certainty from past experience) from self-confidence (trust in your resilience regardless of outcome).
Self-confidence is knowing you have your own back and can pick yourself up after setbacks.

“It's self confidence. It's confidence that you're going to be okay no matter what. It's confidence that you've got your own back.”
— Leslie Presnall [01:52]

3. Self-Confidence in Practice: Personal Stories (02:20)

Leslie recalls her own moments of inexperience and vulnerability, from her first Instagram Live to her first steps in journalism.
She was often “terrified” and lacked outward confidence but had just enough belief in her own ability to improve.

“The first time I ever went live, I was not confident at all...I faked a technical issue. I did. And I was like, oh no. Like something's wrong. I'm freezing up here. And I just, I got off. I faked it. I got off as fast as I could.”
— Leslie Presnall [03:22]
In her first newsroom job, Leslie describes going from feeling utterly unqualified to eventually running the newsroom — all by allowing herself to be bad at first and trusting that she could learn.
Her story underscores that initial ineptitude doesn’t preclude eventual mastery.

4. Emotional Capacity and Skill-Building (05:08)

The journey to becoming a recognized local expert is not just about marketing skills but about developing emotional resilience (or “emotional capacity”).
Leslie tells her clients not to expect early competence in new business skills like marketing or social media — what's important is persistence and willingness to be inexperienced.

“We're not born good at marketing. We're not born good at social media. Like, you are good at what you do, whatever you sell, whatever you offer, however you help your clients, that is what you're good at. You're not supposed to be good at marketing.”
— Leslie Presnall [06:08]

5. The Kindergarten Analogy (07:23)

Leslie uses the analogy of starting school: you don’t quit in kindergarten because you can’t do calculus — you trust you’ll learn step by step.
Similarly, business owners shouldn’t expect mastery from the start; self-confidence is the trust that you can develop any necessary skill over time.

“Think about when you started kindergarten. You didn't know how to do calculus, but you weren't like, well, never going to graduate high school. You believed that if you just kept learning...by the time you got to senior year, you would have the skill set and the capabilities to be able to figure it out and graduate.”
— Leslie Presnall [07:46]

6. Permission to Fail and Grow (08:35)

Leslie emphasizes the importance of allowing yourself to “be really bad” at first and to feel “terrible emotions” without quitting.
This is how the “local go-to” identity is built — through continual practice, not by waiting for confidence.

“If you could allow yourself to be really bad, feel the terrible emotions that come along with it and keep showing up and improving yourself anyway, there's nothing that you can't accomplish.”
— Leslie Presnall [09:12]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the necessity of self-trust:
“I wasn't confident in what I was doing, but I was confident in myself to figure it out.”
— Leslie Presnall [03:56]
On the myth of instant confidence:
“It's not waiting for the confidence, but just showing up while you just still feel really unready.”
— Leslie Presnall [09:50]
On building your ‘go-to’ identity:
“The local go to identity gets built by you doing that every single day.”
— Leslie Presnall [09:56]

Timestamps for Key Segments

00:21 — Introduction to the confidence paradox
01:40 — Defining self-confidence versus confidence
02:20–04:50 — Personal stories of fear, failure, and persistence
05:08 — Advice for beginner entrepreneurs on skill-building
07:23 — The kindergarten-to-calculus analogy
08:35 — Encouragement to embrace discomfort and failure
09:50 — Summary: Becoming the local go-to is an identity you build daily

Summary

Leslie Presnall’s episode is both motivational and practical, guiding local business owners to rethink what it takes to become a community leader. She dispels the myth that confidence precedes visibility or success, showing that it’s self-confidence — the perseverance and faith in your ability to grow through discomfort — that truly matters. Listeners are exhorted to embrace being beginners, allow themselves to be bad at new things, and to build their reputation through action and resilience, not by waiting until they feel ready.

The take-home message:
Don’t wait for confidence; let your self-confidence carry you as you figure it out, fail forward, and keep showing up. That’s how you become the local go-to.

Transcript

A (0:01)

You are listening to the Grow youw Local Business podcast where local marketing expert and life coach Leslie Presnol shares the strategies and the mindset to help you reach more people in your city and bring in a steady stream of clients. All right, let's dive in.

B (0:21)

Let's talk about the self confidence required to become the local go to person in your city. Here's the problem. People wait to think of themselves as that local go to person because they think that when they are that person that they will feel this level of confidence. Then they think that when they're the person that everybody thinks of first, the person winning those best of awards, the person who's fully booked with a wait list, the person who just has that demand, they think that then they're going to feel confident. But it's really backwards. It requires a level of confidence to even put yourself out there to begin with, to go out and try a bunch of stuff and fail to try enough things enough times to even become well known enough to become that person. So it requires confidence now, but it's a different type of confidence. It's self confidence. It's confidence that you're going to be okay no matter what. It's confidence that you've got your own back. It's confidence that you can go out there, that you can fall on your face, you can fail, and you know you're going to be able to pick yourself up afterwards. Like, you just have that self trust that is self confidence. Because becoming the local go to is a marketing game, it's a visibility game, it's a failing game, it's a meeting people game. And all of that requires emotional capacity. When I went through life Coach certification through the Life Coach School, I remember learning the difference between confidence and self confidence. And it kind of blew my mind at the time. And I remember realizing that I had always kind of naturally tapped more into self confidence than confidence. And it also just allowed me to let go of needing real confidence in the moment. Because honestly, a lot of times, especially trying new things in business, I am not confident. Like the very first time, like years ago, when Instagram Live became a thing, the first time I ever went live, I was not confident at all. I got on there and the worst part was people started joining. I was like, please don't join. But people started joining and I lost my train of thought. I was so not confident. And I faked a technical issue. I did. And I was like, oh no. Like something's wrong. I'm freezing up here. And I just, I Got off. I faked it. I got off as fast as I could because I just wasn't confident and I couldn't handle it. Um, and I mean, even I can think of a million things that I have done that I was not confident. Like my first webinar I ever did, the first podcast I ever did, posting on social media for the first time, the first events, like pitching myself, collaborating, like reaching out to other businesses, zero confidence. I was terrified. But what I realized now looking back is, is I was self confident knowing that I am really bad at this thing, but I have the self confidence to know that I can figure it out and then I'm going to figure it out. Like I wasn't confident in what I was doing, but I was confident in myself to figure it out. And that's what is so important when you're thinking about growing in your business and really becoming a leader and becoming well known and that local go to person in your city because you're not going to be good starting out. You're going to be pretty terrible at things. I think that's normal. So my first degree is in journalism, mass communication. And when I first started working in a newsroom, I was clueless. Like I didn't know how to write. I was probably the worst one there. I was one of the youngest ones starting out and I was so intimidated by everyone. Like just no confidence at all. And I was terrified to turn in stories. I just knew the editor was gonna mark it all up in red, probably throw it in the trash can. That literally happened. It got ripped up one time and thrown in the trash can. I, I was just terrified to talk to the editors. I was terrified to interview people, to call people. I was scared to even walk in the newsroom. But I also had the belief that I could figure this out. I was self confident that I could also become one of the best reporters in the room. And within two years I was news editor. Like I became the boss. So I went from like knowing nothing like this opposite of confident to just simply having self confidence in myself to figure it out. And there's this belief that you can handle any emotion. That is truly what self confidence is, knowing that you can handle any emotion and just keep showing up. I also know that I am capable of building skill sets. So it's just about getting to work at that point. People come to me all the time inside the localpreneur academy and they tell me how bad they are at marketing or how bad they are at posting social media. And I'm like, you're not supposed to be good at these things. Like, we're not born good at these things. We're not born good at marketing, we're not born good at social media. Like, you are good at what you do, whatever you sell, whatever you offer, however you help your clients, that is what you're good at. You're not supposed to be good at marketing. So it's okay to. If you're not confident yet, if you're not confident in posting or if you're not confident in putting yourself out there or going to networking events or reaching out to people, it's okay if you don't feel confident yet. But what is so important is that you tap into your self confidence because that's what's going to keep you going. Because you're confident in yourself that you're going to figure it out. It's like, I'm bad at this thing, but I also know I am capable. I can do this. I'm going to be bad, but I'm also going to do a little bit every day and I'm going to improve a little by little. I know it won't be easy, I know it won't feel good. And that is also okay. I am confident in myself to get to the other side, to be able to handle the hard thing, to develop this skill set, to become skilled or even a master at this thing that I'm not even confident or good at. Now that is self confidence. It's believing in yourself even when you're bad, even when you're a beginner. Like, think about when you started kindergarten. You didn't know how to do calculus, but you weren't like, well, never going to graduate high school. You were like, I'm going to do kindergarten, I'm going to learn how to count and then in first grade, I'm going to learn how to do something else. And then in second grade and you just kept going. You believed that if you just kept learning, like you had the self confidence by the time you got to senior year, you would have the skill set and the capabilities to be able to figure it out and graduate and do what you needed to do. Like that is self confidence. You didn't quit kindergarten and school altogether because you weren't confident in calculus. So self confidence is just your ability to know that you can handle whatever it's coming, whatever emotion, whatever skill set, and that you can overcome it and you can handle the hard parts, the emotions, and you can come out on the other side. So when you think about where you are right now. If being the local go to if being well known, if, if that feels far away. It doesn't mean that you just have to feel super confident right now, but you do have to have the self confidence, that belief in yourself that you are going to get there. Like, you have to have the identity of the person who figures it out. So anytime I start something intimidating, like right now, it's getting more into speaking engagements in person and on more podcasts, putting myself out there, running more Facebook ads. I'm just telling myself I am not confident in this right now. I'm probably actually really bad at it. It's okay. But I'm confident in myself to become really good at this, for this to even be my thing. And that's what gets me going. It just allows me to be bad. Especially if I think about how good I'm actually going to become. I think that's it. If you could allow yourself to be really bad, feel the terrible emotions that come along with it and keep showing up and improving yourself anyway, there's nothing that you can't accomplish. So if you want to become the local go to like this is the work. It's not waiting for the confidence, but just showing up while you just still feel really unready. Because the local go to identity gets built by you doing that every single day. All right, my friends, that is what I have for you this week. Have a great week. I'll talk to you next week.