She Wins, I Win: What My Daughter’s Essay Triumph—and a Client’s Breakthrough—Taught Me About Confidence, Grace, and Celebration

vasallophoto
May 2
3 min read

Last Saturday, I sat watching my 11-year-old daughter walk to the front of the room and read her award-winning essay aloud.

Her piece had placed in the top three of the statewide Aldo Leopold Writing Competition—an impressive feat for any student, but especially meaningful for her.

Because writing had never come easily.

This past year, she struggled with reading, writing and spelling and the weight of a recent dyslexia diagnosis. There were moments filled with frustration, moments where she didn’t feel like she belonged with the “good writers.”

But when the opportunity came to enter the competition, she didn’t hesitate. She didn’t ask for help—even when my husband and I offered.

“I want to do it on my own,” she told us.

And she did.

She wrote the essay. She submitted it. She got the award.

And then—perhaps the biggest moment of all—she stood in front of a room full of people and read her words aloud.

She stood tall. She owned her voice.

And even sweeter? Her best friend won first place in the same category. So the day became a celebration not just of individual success, but of sisterhood and shared achievement.

The Celebration We Often Forget

As a coach and speaker, I often say to my clients, “Your win is my win.”

My daughter may not be a client, but the truth still holds. Her win felt like mine—not because I wrote the essay or edited it—but because I’ve been helping shape the mindset, the self-trust, the belief system that carried her through.

And that same week, during a coaching session with one of my high-level clients, I was reminded again of just how easy it is to miss those moments of celebration.

She’s been in an incredibly productive season—completing projects, making bold moves, and tying up so many loose ends. She didn’t come to the call looking drained, but she did say something that caught my attention.

“I feel off,” she said. “I haven’t been sleeping well. My energy just feels… off.”

And yet, she brushed right past it. She was ready to dive into the next item, the next action, the next to-do.

That’s when I slowed her down.

I asked her to look at everything she’d accomplished. To see the sheer volume of what she’d completed—and to consider how much of her off-ness might be coming from a simple lack of pause.

Sometimes our nervous systems just need to catch up to our ambition.

I reminded her: You don’t just need grace when things go wrong. You also need grace when things go right.

When you’ve been carrying so much, when you’ve followed through, when you’ve shown up for your vision—it’s not just okay to celebrate yourself. It’s essential.

When One of Us Rises, We All Rise

This is the heart of the work I do—whether it’s guiding clients through transformation or holding space for my daughter’s growth.

It’s not just about performance. It’s about presence.

It’s not just about what we do. It’s about who we’re becoming.

And when I watched my daughter walk to the front of that room and read her essay—words she once doubted, on a topic that she didn’t feel excited about initially—I saw the power of self-belief come to life.

Her win is my win.

My client’s growth is my win.

Because behind every bold step, every breakthrough, there’s someone who believed in you—sometimes long before you believed in yourself.

So let this be your reminder:

You deserve to celebrate.

You deserve to pause.

You deserve to feel the power of your own becoming.

She wins. I win.

We all do.

What part of your journey have you yet to celebrate?

And what would shift if you gave yourself permission to fully honor it?

To your success and abundance!