Your weekly dose of Alluviance!
The first time I realized I was wearing a mask in sales, I wanted to rip it off immediately.
Like, great.
Found the problem.
Kill the mask.
Become authentic.
Walk into the sunset as my fully integrated, spiritually mature self.
(Shockingly, that’s pretty disconnected from reality.)
Because the mask was never the enemy.
The mask was protection.
It was the version of me that learned how to be impressive.
How to be funny.
How to be useful.
How to sound confident when I felt anything but.
How to walk into a room and earn my place before anyone had the chance to question it.
And honestly, that part of me helped me.
It helped me sell.
It helped me lead.
It helped me survive rooms where I didn’t yet know how to just be myself.
So the work was not to banish the mask like I naively thought at first.
The work was learning how to befriend the part of me that kept reaching for it.
To bring compassion to it.
To understand what it was trying to protect.
That’s where the real work starts.
Can I notice when the mask comes on?
Can I thank it for trying to keep me safe?
Can I come back to the truth before it starts running the room?
So the question is not:
“What’s wrong with me?”
It shifts to:
"What is this part of me trying to protect?"
That question changes everything.
Because the moment you stop fighting the mask, you can finally listen to what’s underneath it.
Fear.
Tenderness.
The ache to be known.
The desire to be loved without having to earn it first.
That’s the part we’re actually working with.
And when that part gets met, the mask doesn’t have to disappear.
It just doesn’t have to be in charge anymore.
1. Featured LinkedIn Post:
"The 3 kinds of salespeople"
I work with 3 kinds of salespeople.
And unfortunately, I've been all of them.
2. Quote to fuel your Alluviance:
"The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change."
– Carl Rogers
With Alluviance & In Extreme Gratitude,
Alex Kremer