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- From I'm Uncomfortable With Who I Am, To I Am Comfortable With Who I Am: Nancy Burger And Julia Duthie On JUST PRESS RECORD
From I'm Uncomfortable With Who I Am, To I Am Comfortable With Who I Am: Nancy Burger And Julia Duthie On JUST PRESS RECORD
Matt Zeigler
May 21, 2025
It starts with discomfort. It starts with fear. It starts with, in my case, admitting “I’m not living as my full self,” even if the world is seeing or telling me what a successful, put together person is supposed to be. We all have our own versions of this story.
In my case, that included starting this Personal Archive project of writing down one complete thought a day. I started in my mid-30s and all sorts of heaven and hell broke loose with my decision.
This wasn’t the exact reason behind introducing Nancy Burger to Julia Duthie on Just Press record, but they certainly took it there. I know them as two successful professionals. I knew various bits about their journeys. But mostly I knew they both had remarkably similar mid-life awakenings, both at pivotal moments, and both arriving when the cost of hiding finally outweighed the risks of revealing.
In Nancy Burger’s case, even though she’s an outwardly successful, happy, delightful coach/human today, she told us,
"I was 40 when I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and, and so I had spent a whole lifetime up until then thinking that everybody else was just managing their mood instability better than I was. Like, I just thought it was a thing and everybody else was better at it than I was. So, when I finally got diagnosed, it was a real turning point for me because there was so much shame and there was also like, oh, well now that makes sense, you know?"
In Julia Duthie’s case, even though she’s an outwardly successful, happy, delightful executive/human today, she told us,
"I came out at 50. 50 years - it took me to be authentically me, and, I hate that phrase by the way. I've said that before, coming out, it always makes me feel like I've stepped out of a cupboard. Um, no. It took a long time, and I think, probably, because the bright and shiny, I just adopted it too much and I didn't want anybody to think differently of me, or think less of me, or not love me or like me, or be awkward around me in any way."
In my case, in Nancy’s, in Julia’s, and in ALL their differences - it starts in discomfort. The discomfort was inside of ourselves. We were holding it there because we didn’t want to put it on others.
The most remarkable aspect, inside of Nancy and Julia’s stories, isn’t just what they discovered - but what they did with the discovery. Once they recognized it, they started piecing together how to transform it into purpose. They turned shame into strength. They turned hiding into belonging. They didn’t just come out of their respective, metaphorical cupboards, they rebuilt their entire homes, from the ground up.
I wanted them to meet because they both understand stories of change and they help others navigate those changes. What we ended up with was an incredible exploration of how they relate their own experiences to not just their work, but in explaining themselves to each other. I just got lucky to have pressed record and captured it (and I feel VERY lucky to have captured this).
Because once you shift the discomfort off of yourself, once you let it, whatever it is, out of the cupboard or into the world with acceptance, you let the world figure out what it will and won’t be uncomfortable with about the force of nature that is you. As you are.
And as Julia put it,
"I'm myself everywhere and therefore I belong everywhere. I don't ever worry about it. It doesn't matter what room I'm in, who I'm with, what situation, I'm comfortable."
Want to witness what it looks like when two strangers discover they've walked parallel paths toward authenticity? When discomfort transforms into a superpower? This conversation between Nancy and Julia isn't just inspiring - it’s a life lesson in how facing our deepest fears can lead to our greatest freedom.
Watch the full episode now on Cultish Creative YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.