#55 | 5 Confidence Moves at Work: The Brag Folder, Visibility, Influence and Promotion

Jocelyn told us she plays hip hop on big project launch days. Something with beats that make her feel excited. Something that pumps her up.

This week's song is for her. And for every woman who has been quietly, consistently, almost accidentally extraordinary — and hasn't yet decided to let that be seen.

This week's anchor track is Superstar by Lupe Fiasco featuring Matthew Santos. It asks one question: if you are what you say you are — have no fear, the camera is here. That is an invitation, not a demand. And the science behind why music changes your physiological state before a high-stakes moment is more compelling than you might think.

Plus, we have for you three quickfire career moves that bring together everything from this bonus trilogy — the brag folder Jocelyn swears by, the visibility move from Wednesday's science, and the capacity check that stops the little voice in its tracks.

These moves are small enough to do before Monday morning. Powerful enough to change what Monday feels like.

This is the last episode before the new season begins. Rachel is waiting. And she is going to feel very familiar.

Key Takeaways

1. This week's anchor track. 

2. The Brag Folder. 

3. One proactive share. 

4. The Capacity Check. 

5. The question. 

Music Featured

Superstar — Lupe Fiasco ft. Matthew Santos (2007, 1st and 15th / Atlantic Records). Available on all streaming platforms. Add it to your Little Moves playlist.

New Season Preview
Season One begins Monday. Three episodes a week — story, science and song. You'll meet Rachel. She's on the 8.47 to Victoria. She has an email in her inbox she doesn't want to open. And by the end of the week you're going to understand something about your own brain that you might not have had the language for before.

Subscribe now so you don't miss her.

And, if you know a woman who has been quietly brilliant and hasn't quite noticed yet — send her this episode. She doesn't have to stay in the 'wait, what' moment. And she's going to want that brag folder.

New episodes are released every Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.

Stuck, simmering, or onto something juicy? I want to hear it. Drop me a line at caroline@inspireyourgenius.com - I read them all.

This podcast explores resilience, imposter syndrome, and credibility while unpacking how boundaries, conflict, and feedback shape the way we handle pressure, influence, and guilt at work. It also looks at promotion, work-life balance, people pleasing, decision making, and visibility, offering honest conversations about how to grow professionally without losing your confidence or yourself.

Transcript

Caroline Esterson (00:08.91)
Welcome back. I'm Caroline Esterson and this is Little Moves Big Careers and it's Friday. As this is the last episode and this is the last episode before the new season properly begins. So let's do a quick recap. On Monday you met Jocelyn, VP of Global Brands and Communications, mother, creative director and occasional subway station shutter downer.

On Wednesday, we took two things she said and gave them the science that they really deserved. So here's what you're getting today. A song. A song I've carefully chosen from the themes in my conversation with Jocelyn, together with three little moves so small that you can do them in the car park before Monday. You're going to want to send this to someone. You're going to want to send this to someone. Fair warning.

Caroline Esterson (01:04.98)
Oti,

So, today you're getting Jocelyn's song.

So today you're getting Jocelyn's song. I asked her what music gets her going and she replied, hip hop, something with beats that make her feel excited, something that pumps her up on a big launch day. And I've been thinking really carefully about this and I've landed on something that I think is exactly right, not just for the energy, but for the meaning because this song asks the question.

because this song asks the question that I think is at the heart of everything Jocelyn said on Monday. This week's song is not about triumph over enemies. It's not about proving people wrong. Artie, enough! Get down.

Caroline Esterson (02:03.032)
This week's song is not about triumph over enemies. It's not about proving people wrong. It's about something much quieter and more interesting than either of these things. It asks, what does it actually mean to be extraordinary? And do you have to lose yourself to get there? And do have to lose yourself to get there? This week's song is Superstar by Lupe Fiasco featuring Matthew Santos.

Why this song? Well, because frankly, it's one of the most intelligent, most warm, most genuinely searching pieces of hip hop ever made, in my opinion, of course. Lupe Fiasco wrote it about the tension between talent and authenticity. The question of whether becoming visible, becoming recognized, becoming a superstar, cost you the very thing that made you worth noticing in the first place. And then Matthew Santos' chorus soars. If you are what you say you are,

superstar, then have no fear, the camera is here. That is an invitation, it's not a demand, it's saying you are already this. You just have to be willing to let it be seen.

So think about Jocelyn on Monday. Someone pointed out everything she'd accomplished in less than a year back from maternity leave, a rebrand, a commercial, an AI product launch, and a promotion. her response was, what, wait?

She is without question a superstar in the truest sense of that word, someone of extraordinary creative talents, doing extraordinary things with remarkable consistency. She just hadn't stopped to let the camera in for a moment. This song is for her and it's for every woman listening who's been quietly, consistently, almost accidentally brilliant and hasn't yet decided to be seen.

Caroline Esterson (04:02.936)
So let's have a bit of a gander about how the science of why this works. So let's have a bit of a gander about the science of why this works. Research on music and self-perception, including work by Stefan Kolsch at the University of Bergen, shows that music combining aspirational lyrics and emotionally resonant melody directly activates the brain reward system and increases what researchers call safe...

and increases what researchers call self-referential processing, the degree to which we apply what we're hearing to our own identity and self-concept. In plain language, the right song, at the right moment, can genuinely shift how you see yourself. Superstar works because the question it asks, if you say what you say you are, if you are what you say you are, invites you to say yes. And your brain, given the music underneath it, is an exactly

the right state to believe it. Add that to your Little Moose playlist. Play it on the mornings when the little voice in your head is loud. Let Matthew Santos ask you the question and then answer it.

Caroline Esterson (05:19.736)
So moving on now, let's finish the week up with three little moves that bring everything together from the bonus trilogy. One from Jocelyn, one from Wednesdays science, and one that is purely yours to take forward.

So your first quick fire move, it just has to be, doesn't it? It has to be start your brag folder today. So before you close your laptop today, open a document, note on your phone, an old fashioned notebook, if you can see it, anything, and write down three things that you feel you've done really well last month. They don't have to be your greatest career hits. Just this month, specific things. Maybe it's a problem you solved, a conversation you handled well.

A piece of work you're proud of. A moment where you showed up for your team. Date it. That's the start of your brag folder. Add to it every Friday. Then, on the days when that little voice in your head gets loud, open it up. You've already got the evidence. You just haven't been collecting it yet. Jocelyn has one. The camera is here and it's time to let it in.

your second quit fire career move, name one person who can speak to your work. So this week, identify one person outside your immediate team who's seen your work and could speak to it, then proactively share something with them.

Might be that piece of work, an insight, a result. You're not being boastful. Just caveat it with, I thought this might be relevant to what you're working on. One message, an email, a conversation. That is the visibility move. You are not showing off, you are letting the camera in. It's very different. Jocelyn understood that difference and built a career on it.

Caroline Esterson (07:18.252)
And finally, your third quick fire career move, the capacity check. Next time you feel like you're not performing at the level you should be before you begin to spiral, before that little voice gets going, ask yourself one question. Is this a capability problem or a capacity problem? Write the answer down. If it is capability...

If it is capacity, write one thing that you could temporarily offload, delegate or delay just to create a little more room, a little more space in your head. You don't need to fix everything. You just need to identify the one thing that's, if you put it down, would free up enough energy to do the most important things brilliantly. Your capability hasn't gone anywhere. It is still exactly where it was. Let the camera find it.

So that is your bonus trilogy. Jocelyn, thank you for your time, your honesty, your brag folder and your excellent taste in launch day energy. So the new season begins on Monday. You'll meet Rachel. She's on the 847 to Victoria.

She has an email in her inbox she doesn't want to open and by the end of the week, you're going to understand something about your own brain and your own story that you might not have had the language for before. Three episodes a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, one idea explored three ways.

Caroline Esterson (08:59.082)
story, the science and a song. Every Friday.

Caroline Esterson (09:13.678)
And every Friday, a song chosen specifically for where we are that week. Hip-hop, pop, rock, soul, whatever the moment needs. The only criterion is, does it change your state before you walk into that room?

Caroline Esterson (09:31.241)
And if you've got a power song that is the thing that really gets you going, please send it to me, Caroline at inspireyourgenius.com. I'm Caroline Esterson. Have a brilliant weekend. And if you are what you say you are, have no fear. And remember, as always, make your move, even if it's tiny, especially if it's tiny.