Confidence Is an Advocacy Tool: What Selena Rezvani Taught Me About Speaking Up and Being Heard

As a lobbyist and advocate, I help others find their voice and use it effectively in meetings with government, in policy conversations, and in moments that require both strategy and courage. But during my recent WOMENdontDOthat podcast conversation with Selena Rezvani, I was reminded that confidence is more than a personal asset. It’s a professional necessity. In advocacy, confidence turns a message into a movement.

Selena often talks about confidence as a tool for advocating for yourself at work. She described her early efforts to speak up as deeply uncomfortable, "like a baby deer trying to stand up for the first time." Still, she said it brought her a sense of personal integrity.

"Even when it didn’t go perfectly, I had a new kind of respect for myself. It felt like integrity. I was finally being true to who I was."

That struck me. Lobbying often focuses on external outcomes, a policy win, a great meeting, but the internal shift of speaking up matters just as much. And that shift requires confidence.

What Selena calls "self advocacy" is also core to public advocacy. The communication strategies she highlights — clarity, preparation, body language — are the same ones we teach clients at Beacon North Strategies and through the Beacon North Mentorship Academy. Whether you're making a national pitch or speaking up in a meeting, the tools are the same:

• Prepare your message, don’t wait for permission to share it

• Use your voice, even when it shakes

• Act like you belong, because you do

• Start small and build, confidence is a muscle

• Let your individuality show, it helps you connect and be remembered

  
  

Selena shared how she grew up hearing that "children should be seen and not heard." That mindset followed her into the workplace, where she often waited to be invited into the conversation.

"I relegated myself to the kids’ table. I didn’t even let myself believe that my ideas were worth voicing."

It reminded me of so many clients we coach, brilliant, passionate, highly experienced, and still questioning whether they belong in the room. Confidence is what helps them articulate their value and their story with conviction. It’s not just a communication skill, it’s an advocacy superpower.

And we don’t just teach it, we live it. Like Selena, I’ve had moments of doubt. I’ve walked into meetings where I was the only woman, the youngest person, or the one not in a navy suit. But I’ve learned that confidence isn’t about being loud, it’s about being clear.

"Confidence isn’t about being bulletproof. It’s about showing up, even when it’s messy."

Whether you're advocating for child care funding or your own promotion, you need the same tools: clarity, composure, and confidence. It shows up in the big public moments and the quiet personal ones.

Whether it’s setting a boundary with a difficult mother-in-law, presenting at a parliamentary committee, or saying no to a persistent friend, confidence is what allows us to communicate clearly and stand our ground.

You might start small and feel incredibly uncomfortable, even physically sick. I remember the first time I made a video while running for political nomination. I was dying of embarrassment and wanted to puke. But it had to be done. Now? I make videos regularly for my business, podcast, and campaigns. What once felt impossible now feels easy.

"Confidence is a muscle. And it gets stronger every time we dare to use it."

 — Selena Rezvani

So start, even if your voice shakes. Even if your stomach churns. Because the more you use your voice, the easier it becomes.