#67 | Gut Check: The Price of Ignoring Your Inner Voice

What happens when you ignore your gut—and it costs you more than just money? 

In this raw, relatable, and slightly hilarious episode of Lead With SWAGGER, Jennifer Sukalo shares a painfully expensive lesson (yes, it involves a makeup mishap and a full video shoot redo) that reveals a deeper truth about self-trust, confidence, and identity. She knew better… and did it anyway—and that’s exactly where the breakthrough begins.

This episode dives into why we override our intuition, how second-guessing ourselves quietly erodes our confidence, and why we keep repeating the same lessons until we finally choose to listen. If you’ve ever doubted yourself, stayed silent when something felt off, or trusted someone else’s vision over your own, this will hit home.

Hit play to laugh, reflect, and learn how to stop giving your power away—and start leading with SWAGGER by trusting the one voice that matters most: your own.

Transcript

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Have you ever looked at yourself and thought, who in the world is that? Not in a deep existential find your purpose kind of way, not in the who am I kind of way. I mean, literally, like you don't recognize yourself. You're staring at yourself thinking, something isn't quite right. This doesn't look like me at all. And I paid for this. Yep. That was me. And let me just say, this powerful lesson, it wasn't cheap. Welcome back to Lead with Swagger, the podcast where we don't avoid the uncomfortable moments. We lean into them, learn from them, and come out stronger on the other side. I'm your host, Jennifer Socallo, and today we're talking about something I'm pretty sure you've done. Ignoring your gut, overriding your instincts, and trusting someone else's vision of you more than your own. So buckle up because today I'm sharing a raw, real, and slightly embarrassing story about ignoring my instincts, what it taught me, and how you can avoid making the same mistake. Oh, and stick around because I've got a challenge for you at the end that might just change the way you make decisions going forward. Okay, so picture this. I had a big video shoot the other day, the kind where you want to show up as your absolute best self, confident, polished, and ready to conquer not only the camera, but the world. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for letting the pros do their thing. I mean, they are the experts, right? But here's where it went sideways. Her vision of me was not my vision of me. And I felt it. Before I even showed up, I had this gut feeling, this little nudge that said, you should just do your own makeup. You know what works for you. But did I listen? Nope. I told myself, take a leap of faith, trust the process. Well, guess what? It wasn't a leap, it was a face plant. Then I received the rough cuts back, and that's when the lesson really hit home. I felt like I was watching a distant cousin that you think you're related to, but don't really know. I'm thinking to myself, um, excuse me, but who invited her? And more importantly, why is she wearing my outfit? I didn't even recognize myself. It wasn't me. It was like someone had taken my essence, my swagger, and painted over it with someone else's idea of who I should be. And you know what? That's on me. It's no one else's fault. I ignored my instincts, and it cost me big time. Because now I have to start over, reshoot, do it all over again. Oh, and yes, I still have to pay the amazing video pros for the work they've already done, plus the new work we're still going to do. So, yes, you can say that this was a very expensive lesson. In truth, this lesson wasn't even really about makeup, this was about trust. Trusting myself, trusting my instincts, trusting the version of me that I know shows up most powerfully in the world. And here's the thing: we all do this. We override our gut instincts because we think someone else knows better. We do it in meetings, conversations, decisions. We doubt ourselves, we second guess, we hand over the reins of our lives to someone else's opinion, expertise, or perspective. We think they know better, they have more experience, they're the expert. But let me ask you this: how often has ignoring your gut actually worked out for you? I'm guessing not very often. When did you stop being the expert on you? Your intuition is like your internal GPS. It's there to guide you, to keep you aligned with who you are and how you want to show up in the world. And every time you ignore it, you're essentially saying, I don't trust myself. And as leaders, this is where we lose our edge. Not because we lack skill, not because we lack intelligence, but because we disconnect from ourselves. We start outsourcing our voice, our instincts, our identity. And slowly we start showing up as a version of ourselves that feels, well, off. And here's the part we don't really like to admit. We usually know it in the moment, just like me. We feel it, but we still choose to ignore it, to ignore the truth. We choose validation over alignment, we choose going along with it over standing firm in who we are. So, yes, this was an expensive lesson, but it was also a necessary one. Why? Because it reminded me of something I tell my clients all the time. You will keep getting the lesson until you actually learn it. And apparently, I needed a refresher course. All right, here's where it gets fun. Here is your challenge this week. I'd like you to notice. Notice where you are overriding your instincts, your gut. Not the big dramatic moments, the small ones. When you hesitate before speaking up, when you agree, but internally you're like, uh, I'm not so sure. When you say yes, but your body is screaming no. And here's the second part: this is where the growth really happens. Act on it. Just once. Pick one moment and choose to listen rather than ignore. Speak up, say something. It might sound something like, no, this doesn't feel right for me, or I'd like to do this differently, or I'm going to trust myself here. Or maybe your version is more along the lines of, actually, I'm gonna do my own makeup. Good call. I support you fully. Why not learn from me and save your money? Regardless, pick one and act on it. That's it. We're not overhauling your entire life this week, we're just building muscle one rep at a time. And just like building muscle in the gym, it doesn't happen overnight. We're developing and strengthening your ability and willingness to trust yourself. So start small and keep going. Now, before we wrap up, let me leave you with this. Your power doesn't come from getting everything right, it comes from being aligned with who you are, from trusting yourself even when it's uncomfortable, especially when it's uncomfortable. Now, if this episode hit home for you, make sure to hit that follow button so you don't miss what's coming next. And share this with someone who needs the reminder that they already know the answer. They just need to start listening. Until next time, keep showing up, keep trusting yourself, and most importantly, keep leading with swagger.