Knocking on My Own Door

Ten No’s, One Yes. Why Now I’m Choosing Conviction Over Comfort

This article was originally posted on Substack 2.13.20206 https://substack.com/home/post/p-187647715

Last week I rewatched Knock Down the House, a documentary that follows women running in the 2018 primary elections across the country.

The first time I saw it, I admired it. This time, I felt it.

 
The film highlights women who were not supposed to be there. Women without money, without legacy power, without permission. They all gathered courage to take on the machinery of incumbency, money, and status quo politics.

All of them ran because something felt wrong. And they refused to look away.

They were ordinary women. Mothers. Workers. People with bills and doubts and fear in their bodies. And still, they stepped forward. They knocked on doors that were not built for them. They challenged systems that were comfortable staying unchanged.

Watching it this time, I kept asking myself: why did I feel pulled back to this story?

I’m at a threshold in my own life. I am re-entering the workforce but not in the way I have before. Not as the corporate executive climbing someone else’s ladder. Not as the high-performing operator inside someone else’s system.

I am entering as a new leader.

A sovereign leader.

I am stepping into consulting, advising executives and organizations that need clarity, structure, and a disciplined path forward. I am building something aligned with my values, not just my resume.

Before launching my company Anthilles Consulting, I tested the waters with mentors and friends. Almost all of them discouraged me. Consulting, they said, is uphill. Unsteady income. Harder path. Risky. Why not take the stable role? The big check? The known structure?

And they weren’t wrong.

I do need to work. I do need to make money.

But I have arrived at a point in my life where building something I believe in matters more than chasing something impressive. Where living aligned with my values matters more than external validation. Where I would rather forge a future I am proud to inhabit than inherit one that feels misaligned.

Today I saw a quote from Simon Sinek:

“When we work hard for something we don’t believe in, it’s called stress.
When we work hard for something we love, it’s called passion.”
That word “passion”, is what called me back to this documentary.

It wasn’t about politics.

It was about refusal.

Refusal to align with the status quo simply because it is comfortable. Refusal to stay small because the system prefers predictability. Refusal to let fear dictate the shape of your life.

There is a scene where Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the candidates for congress, is standing on the street with her niece, handing out pamphlets, trying to engage a passing crowd. She tells her, “For every ten no’s, we get one yes.”

That line stayed with me.

Ten no’s. One yes.

In the end, she became a U.S. Representative in 2019. She has continued to impress me with her intelligence, perseverance, and clarity under pressure. Regardless of anyone’s political stance, what is undeniable is this: she persevered.

Despite doubt.
Despite dismissal.
Despite being told she didn’t belong.

And that is what resonated.

Because building my consulting practice feels like standing on that street. Offering something. Being met with silence. Rejection. Indifference. And trusting that the one aligned “yes” will come.

If not me, then who?
If not now, then when?

I am forging my own path despite the naysayers, despite the fear that occasionally creeps in, despite the quiet question of “will I succeed?”

I believe what I am building is right. Not easy, but right.

And I trust that I will meet the right people along the way. The aligned ones. The ones who value clarity over chaos. Integrity over noise. Structure over ego.

Maybe that’s why I watched the film again.

Not to admire someone else knocking on doors.

But to remind myself that I am knocking on my own.

And I intend to keep knocking.

And so will I.