Menu

Joanna Cronan – The Journey

I saw a post on Facebook from Dafna that was talking about how the deadline to apply was approaching for this year’s TEDxCherryCreek.  I commented on the post that this was a “bucket list” item and Dafna responded that the theme “fearless” was a fitting one for me. 

I thought about applying and immediately made excuses through my internal dialogue of how I couldn’t: I was too busy; I have a lot on my plate.  But then, I reached out to Dafna with a couple clarifying questions: “Do you have to have a large social media following? Do you have to have public speaking experience?” … 

After getting those questions answered and encouragement to apply, I decided to apply.  My internal dialogue changed from “I’m too busy, there is no way I will have the time” to “tomorrow is never guaranteed” & “no time like the present”.  I recorded the short video and filled out the application and didn’t even think twice about it after I submitted everything.

When I got the acceptance letter, I was overjoyed and overcome with emotion.  I remember immediately coming to tears (happy tears).

My mom was sitting next me and asked “What is happening?! Are you ok?!”.

Through my ugly crying I replied, “I got accepted to speak” and we cried happy tears together.

I am so very thankful to have this opportunity to share my idea and my experiences with the TEDx family and our communities.  I expected that it would be life changing and it has proven to be, every step of the way.  This is not another speaking engagement.  Usually, when I must speak, it is usually a business presentation or staff meeting.  This TEDx process has taught me how to speak my truth- not to memorize a motivational speech, not to make a presentation.  It is helping me process my feelings and better self-reflect on what role I wish to fill in my life and others.  This is the best part of this entire journey.

I can prepare presentations, complete with Power Point, in my sleep.  But this TEDx, I am talking about something that changed my life.  I have not talked about this in depth since it happened some 8 years ago.  It has shaped who I am today and something that I have been working through with preparing this talk.  Although incredibly challenging, I am very thankful that I am fortunate enough to share it and my idea with the entire TEDx family and our communities.

Related Posts

noah-buscher-M19QtooXPKs-unsplash

Nga Vương-Sandoval – The Journey

The moment. That moment when I received the news.  I re-read my e-mail multiple times to ensure that that read it correctly. Yes!  I’m going to be presenting at the TEDx Cherry Creek event! I was overjoyed. 

I believe that things will happen when they’re supposed to happen.  I trust that there’s a greater purpose and reason for each of us individually and within our greater society. The fact that this opportunity to be a speaker at TEDx transpired at the most unlikely time meant that it was supposed to happen now. 

We’re living in the midst of an international pandemic. We’re sitting in the front row of daily events of social and racial justice movements that fiercely contend against the establishment. I’m observing that communities and individuals are defining who they are and fighting for what they believe in during this time of global unrest.  I’m witnessing the increased appetite from those who want to discover who they are and how they’re viewed by others.  I’m witnessing the importance of how others perceive us, but more importantly is how we see ourselves.

We’re in a time when there’s an upsurge for diversity, equity, and inclusion in all of our spaces.  From all of these events and issues, one particular message has become clearer than ever: how we view an individual is less significant than how that person views themselves and what they identify as. 

This is why I’m confident that now is the perfect time to present my talk on “Assimilation as Colonization.”  It’s time for me to share a topic that has profoundly shaped how I view myself, how I view others, how I interact with various communities, and how I identify with the vast world around me.  Now is the perfect opportunity for me to share my “idea worth spreading.”

Now I have the challenging mission of encapsulating how I decolonized my framework about race, culture, and identity.  I have the task of transforming how my viewpoint and personal journey ultimately inspired my talk.  Most important, I’ll be taking the TEDx stage, standing on the big red dot, and dismantling the outdated concept of assimilation.

thisisengineering-raeng-8yS04veb1TQ-unsplash

Jamie Voros – The Journey

I love that any given cohort of TEDx speakers make up an incredibly diverse crowd. As a graduate researcher, part of my job is to share my ideas with those in my field. We routinely present at conferences, write papers and engage with those inside our field of work. TEDxCherryCreek, however, piqued my interest as a way of sharing and hearing ideas beyond the community of scientists, engineers, and academics that I would normally interact with. I love the people I meet in my line of work but after getting accepted as a TEDxCherryCreek speaker, I was most excited to meet my peers. I was most excited to meet incredible people with amazing stories from far beyond the bare white walls of the laboratory that usually surrounds me.

As much as I am fulfilled by the work I do, I often miss the diversity of conversations that I had before I really specialized and chose a field of work to delve into. Even with the current restrictions on in person meetings, thus far, being part of a TEDx cohort has not disappointed. I have already had the opportunity to meet (even if over zoom) most of the women with whom I will be sharing a stage. I continue to be impressed with the broad range of backgrounds and topics that we are going to cover.

The biggest challenge I have faced so far is dramatically changing the way I talk to an audience. I am comfortable explaining technical details. I am comfortable fielding questions from an audience interested in the underlying technology. However, I am less experienced with making the work we do applicable to a far broader population. The team at TEDxCherryCreek puts in immense effort to ensure that we, the speakers, are best prepared to talk to their audience.

Overall, I am incredibly excited that I will be able to share an idea which I am genuinely passionate about. I am also excited to hear talks, stories and ideas that I would never come across in my day to day. Beyond that, however, meeting the people behind the ideas that are so far flung from my everyday has been the most exciting part of my TEDx journey so far.

agence-olloweb-9wYdW55NbnY-unsplash

Julie Ulstrup – The Journey

“Excited feels the same as nervous,” I know, I know. Whenever I  give a talk, I feel nervous, excited, joyful, scared, freaked out and excited. Did I mention excited?

In my previous life, working at a large university in the Midwest, I would speak to large groups frequently without batting an eyelash. As a middle school and high school counselor, I taught classes to students and their parents, no sweat. But giving a TEDx talk, sharing my own big idea, now this is exciting!

Giving a TEDx talk and being on the TEDx stage to share my big idea is really quite incredible. My talk, about being seen, has many parallels to being on the TEDx stage and being heard. It is a basic human desire to be seen and to be heard. To share my message with a larger audience, is being seen and heard in a way that can change lives and inspire others to do the same.

Several friends have given talks on the TEDx stage  and their journeys have been different than mine. My experience with TEDxCherryCreek Women has far exceeded my expectations as I prepare for my talk. My fellow women  with whom I will be on stage, all are inspiring. The coaching and guidance I have received from the organizers has been supportive and empowering. In fact, this has been the best part of preparing my talk. During our first meeting I had the opportunity to practice with their guidance. They explained, “the reason we do it this way is to help you realize you’ve got this all inside, you know what you want to say.” YES, I do.

There is a parallel to what I do, as a portrait photographer to the TEDxCherryCreek process. I empower others to be seen, so that they can then portray themselves to the world as vulnerable, real, beautiful and powerful. It is in my clients all along. The same has been true of this experience for me. The organizers are guiding me through the process empowering me to discover that the words within me were there all along, ready to be shared on the stage.

Sharing my big idea is what I do, who I am and how I live. Every day in my studio, meeting with clients or having a conversation with someone I have just met, my enthusiasm is contagious. Others can feel the bright light that shines within themselves. In six weeks, I’ll be on the TEDx stage. I’m excited.

Julie Ulstrup is an elevator of women, inspiring, celebrating and empowering them to see themselves every day as powerful, vulnerable, authentic, beautiful because she believes an empowered woman makes the world a better place. For more information about Julie please visit her website https://www.julieulstrup.com

Joy and Gratitude,

Julie

Back To Top
© 2021
Powered by WordPress • Themify WordPress Themes

Ideas Worth Spreading

About TED/TEDx, x = independently organized event.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.