Fear, Voice, And The First Step with Chinedu Ihekoronye (Nigeria)

Fear does not always shout. Sometimes it whispers, “Stay quiet,” “Don’t try,” “They will laugh,” until years pass and your life feels smaller than your potential. We sit down with  Chinedu Ihekoronye , a Nigerian lawyer, writer, and motivational speaker, to talk about what it really takes to face your fears and reclaim your voice, especially when public speaking anxiety, rejection, or self-doubt has been running the show.

He shares the moment his voice failed on stage as a child, and how that single experience shaped his choices through secondary school and university. The turning point comes after law school with one blunt question: if you are afraid to use your voice, how can you be a voice? From there we explore how courage is not about having zero fear, but about refusing to let fear make decisions for you. We also dig into a hard truth that frees a lot of people: if you do not take action, people will talk, and if you do take action, people will also talk.

You will hear practical mentoring stories of young professionals stuck in career limbo, and how small, bold moves create momentum, confidence, and real opportunities. Inadu also breaks down his BOLD framework for overcoming fear and building courage: Believe your voice matters, Own your experience, Lean into discomfort, and Do the thing you fear most. If you are ready for mindset shifts that lead to action, this one will give you a clear next step. Subscribe, share with someone who is hesitating, and leave a review with the one fear you are choosing to face this week.

Music, lyrics, guitar and singing by Dr Ariel Rosita King

Teach me to live one day at a time
with courage love and a sense of pride.
Giving me the ability to love and accept myself
so I can go and give it to someone else.
Teach me to live one day at a time.....

Transcript

Dr Ariel R King 0:41

Hello and welcome to another episode of The Business of Life with Dr. King. Today we have a very, very special guest who's going to talk about facing your fears. Welcome, sir.

Ihekoronye Chinedu 0:53

Thank you so much. How are you doing?

Dr Ariel R King 0:56

Wonderful. Would you please introduce yourself to our audience and also the topic for today?

Ihekoronye Chinedu 1:02

Okay. My name is Inadu Nakronia. I'm a Nigerian. I'm a lawyer. A writer, motivational speaker. Thank you.

Dr Ariel R King 1:16

Wonderful. Thank you so much for

Welcome And Why Fear Matters

Dr Ariel R King 1:18

being with us here today. We're so excited to speak with you. So today we're going to be talking about facing your fears. Is that correct? Could you please tell us more about this subject?

Ihekoronye Chinedu 1:27

Bold leaving. Overcoming challenge. That's exactly what we're going to talk about. Go share a personal story. Can I proceed?

Dr Ariel R King 1:43

Yes, please. I'm excited.

Ihekoronye Chinedu 1:46

Okay. Go leaving. It's all about not allowing fear to take decisions. Not allowing fear to be in charge or in control of our age of fun. A very difficult experience. I was chosen to give a talk. But when I

The First Public Speaking Breakdown

Ihekoronye Chinedu 2:25

mounted the photo, it was a few a fish bomb got in my neck. I couldn't talk. Before you know it, I started crying. My teacher came and took me out. He shouted at me. I cried and wept. It affected me. It was a fear of them in emotion. I became a learner. Secondary school, the same thing. I avoided public speaking. I was just on my own. Even when I went to university, it continued until one day after graduation as from the law school as a lawyer. I asked myself a question. If you are friends, to use your voice, how can you be a voice? That was the beginning of the thing in my life. Thank you.

Dr Ariel R King 3:43

That's amazing. I it's so hard to believe now that as a lawyer and also as a coach and public speaker that you started as a young man that didn't really speak. You were alone because you really didn't want to speak very much. May I ask those years? What positive aspect did you develop in those years being by yourself and I guess cultivating your own ideas? Are there positive aspects to those times before you became a lawyer?

Ihekoronye Chinedu 4:16

What did you say?

Dr Ariel R King 4:18

Are there positive aspects

Solitude, Reflection, And Lost Potential

Dr Ariel R King 4:20

to the time when you were alone before you became a lawyer?

Ihekoronye Chinedu 4:27

The only positive thing I would say was it was a period of reflection. It was a period of time. But I discovered that I was meeting now. Because the society was not going to benefit from you if I I continue to be fine. I needed a voice, I need to somebody.

Dr Ariel R King 5:10

So then let's let's go straight to the time that you've decided that you you needed to use your voice, and your voice needed to be heard for you to be the best possible professional that you can be. So, was it difficult to make that transition? How did you make it? Tell tell us what happened.

Ihekoronye Chinedu 5:32

After graduation from the law school, one day to ask myself.

The Decision To Confront Fear

Ihekoronye Chinedu 6:11

It's as simple as that. I can also define. That was it. Made up my mind to confirm the fear because I discovered it was just my tenure faculty, just my mind, and nothing more. That was it. Thank you.

Dr Ariel R King 6:38

That must have been such a freedom to realize that uh that you can overcome the fear.

Ihekoronye Chinedu 6:45

Oh, absolutely. Yeah.

Dr Ariel R King 6:50

How how did your life change in in that way? How how did your life change from the day that you decided that you're not going to be fearful anymore to speak up, to speak, and to use your voice for good?

Ihekoronye Chinedu 7:03

Well, it's amazing. Before then, I was just visiting a lost opportunity. As a student, I could not accept something else, even if I didn't understand it, just be quiet. Living the life I'm made to leave, I sort of impacting people, and it's a flight, for the encouraging people, and I know many people are going through you know this culture, and nobody.

Dr Ariel R King 7:44

Yeah, that's amazing. Well, how many years has it been since that's happened? How many years has it been, and what have you done during this time to help other people around you to face their fears?

Ihekoronye Chinedu 8:01

I've been a long time, it's over 20 years now.

Dr Ariel R King 8:05

That's wonderful.

Ihekoronye Chinedu 8:08

Yeah, and I'll seize every opportunity to you know talk to young people and invite me to talk to them. I basically talk about fear, how to overcome fear, because I discovered that fear is a major key that has set so many people in bondage. People are scared of so many things.

Why Action Beats Public Opinion

Ihekoronye Chinedu 8:38

People are afraid of taking decisions, people are scared of what people will say. Someone is taking deceased, they are afraid of failing. They say, Hey, if I do this, maybe I will fail and they will laugh at me. No, you don't allow anyone to decide for you. If you don't take action, people will talk. If you take action, people will also talk. So it's better to take action. Absolutely.

Dr Ariel R King 9:11

I love that. I love thank you for that. I really like it. It's so simple, but so true. If you don't take action, people will talk. And if you take action, people will talk. So no matter what, we we should not be fearful of what people say. The fear should not come from someone else and what they think and what you think they're going to say.

Ihekoronye Chinedu 9:32

Absolutely.

Dr Ariel R King 9:36

I love that. I think I'm gonna learn from that one. You tell us more about your work with young people in order to um help them to face their fears, uh, get over their fears, and then to become their best selves. Could you tell us more about your work with young people to help them overcome their fears?

Ihekoronye Chinedu 10:06

Okay, yes, as I did say earlier, you know, uh young people do invite more to their you know when they have programs.

Dr Ariel R King 10:18

Right. Can you pardon me? Can you give us specific stories of young people that you've helped? Maybe that will help us a little more. Specific stories of young people. We don't need their names or their countries, but the fear they have and how you help them to get over those fears.

Ihekoronye Chinedu 10:33

Absolutely. Yeah, there is uh there's one young guy that he comes around. We are at safe. He comes to help me to

Real Stories Of Youth Finding Work

Ihekoronye Chinedu 10:43

do some returns. One day I thought him. I said, Do you have any skill? He said, Yes, he has a skill. I said, But I see you're around, you don't do anything. So, what's the problem? He said that you have tried to get a job, and you didn't get any job. I said, Look, a hungry man doesn't sit down waiting for opportunity. We kept one for himself, you have to keep one for yourself. Well, looking at me, he was confused. I said, You don't know, you don't have you go to get one for you, you need to be bold, you need to be daring, you need to step, don't stay here and say, No, there's a lion out there. No, you have to move, you have to step. Okay, you have a skill, you say it's promote block. I say you are wasting your time. Go, just start going, go to where the mode block. You can help them, whatever it is. Keep going. If you go to A and they reject you, if that's you go to B. From B, go to C. Keep going. Don't go, he listened to me. And I saw him the other day, he was excited. He said he got engaged somewhere, and he was really very, very happy because I encouraged him and motivated him.

Dr Ariel R King 12:09

That's really fantastic.

Ihekoronye Chinedu 12:12

There was also another young lady. A young lady who studied uh architecture when she came out from the university, no job, she didn't know what to do. One day I saw her too. And I said, Ninja, you studied architecture. She said, Yes, it's a fine, don't sit down waiting for jobs. There are building projects going on around. Why don't you go there and find it because you know just something do you? I'm glad she listened to me. You went there, they engaged her, and she was talking there. Say the owner of the project here. My very rich man, because her family working at the end of the day, the man called her. But I don't want you to work here. That was how she was employed in a deep to manage, you know, a big project. Thank you. I got more deployed around.

Dr Ariel R King 13:16

You know, I love I what I really love about what you're saying is that you you look at the individual young person and you're saying to them, What's stopping you from getting what you want? And it seems that you know, behind whatever it is, there's fear, fear of rejection, fear of not getting a job, fear of not being good enough. But as you said, really the foundation of all of this is fear. And when you're able to kind of ask them, well, what's the worst that could happen? You know, why aren't you why aren't you actively going against your fear? I love that. What is it?

Ihekoronye Chinedu 13:55

What is it? There's also this young lady. You're studying the language all the two years. You're looking for jobs. I said, What is the problem? I said, I think you need to move out. Don't sit down. The problem is, don't you sit down waiting for questions? Yes, point, he pulls his mind on time. You begin to put your mind on, and the time you begin to take your breath, you become your ideas of how coming in. It's as simple as that. Go near your neighborhood, tell people you could teach the children, you can quit, you could help them do their family. And she's doing well today.

Dr Ariel R King 14:59

That's fantastic, and also look for opportunities for where you are, and also look for opportunities where you can help others. So I'm I'm so curious. I mean, even myself and others for fear. What is it about fear that we will hold on to it rather than let it go and to take action to change whatever it is in our lives that we think needs to be changed? Yes. How what do we need to learn about letting go of our fear?

Ihekoronye Chinedu 15:39

What do you need to learn to overcome fear? Yes, yes, absolutely.

Fear As Mindset And Daily Choice

Ihekoronye Chinedu 15:46

The basic thing we need to learn is that fear is in our just mindset, is all about our thinking, you know, back, it's as simple as that because that's human. Nobody is new from seeing anywhere. Bold living is not the outfit for fear and we play inside. Bold living doesn't mean we don't have fear as individuals. But bold living is about taking change. You keep moving, you have doubts about it, but it won't stop you. You don't allow fear to stop you, you don't allow doubt to stop, don't allow how you see all things to stop. You make up your mind. These things have to be done. That is it, because it has to be because in my own case it was a thing. I asked myself, I cannot stand up, you know. I mean, voice up. How can I be a voice for the voiceless? That was the beginning of the miracle and the grateful.

Dr Ariel R King 17:05

It's courage, isn't it? I remember someone saying that your actions are either in one or two ways: either you act in love or you act in fear. What was very strange to me is just you would think that the opposite of love is hate, and the opposite of fear is courage, but they're saying actually to behave and to act out of love. Love of what you do, love of trying to be a love of whatever it is, allows you to have that courage rather than fear, which is is not allowing you to do what you do out of love. So people say it's either one way or another, you do something out of love or you do something out of fear. What's your thought on that? Do you think that people do things out of love and out of fear? Right. So I was told that there's one of two ways that you can behave. You can behave out of love or behave out of fear. Do you agree with that? And if so, what do you think about that?

Ihekoronye Chinedu 18:15

I think it depends in the circumstances, you know, people do something out of fear or out of love. Well, it depends on the you know, it depends on the context because we need to define, we need to properly define the context, how people do something out of you know, love or out of fear. Well, let's not, if we we have a particular context, then we can deal with that directly.

Dr Ariel R King 18:47

That's a western thought. I mean, that's that's a good point. So, may I ask, do you think that courage is is extremely important to have courage, even if you do have fear? Do you think that courage do you think that courage is important even if you do have fear?

Ihekoronye Chinedu 19:10

That's exactly what I'm talking about. That's exactly the point, mate. Thank you, sir.

Dr Ariel R King 19:24

So tell tell us more about how can we develop our courage.

Ihekoronye Chinedu 19:31

Okay, I call it the bold board framework. The bold framework.

Dr Ariel R King 19:42

Say that again, the boat, and then say that again. The boat and bold framework.

Ihekoronye Chinedu 19:47

Okay, bold framework.

Dr Ariel R King 19:50

Wonderful, got it. Thank you.

Ihekoronye Chinedu 19:52

Yes, number one, yep. Believe that your voice is important. Believe in your soul, often in your ability. No, yourself you are not an

The BOLD Framework For Courage

Ihekoronye Chinedu 20:08

athlete, you are here for a purpose. No one here is here like us. We are here for our purpose. Oh, own your experience, don't allow your experience to imprison you. That experience to help somebody else. Lean on discomfort. Don't run away from challenges. That's what I'm talking about. Nothing good comes easy. Absolutely. Enjoy discomfort, face challenges. The more challenges you face, the more courage you develop, the more confident you become as a human being. That's how it works. Then the last is be do that. That is the key for me. Do that which you fear the most. Confront that fear. What is that fear? Fear of probably speaking. Begin to perceive every opportunity that you have to interact with people, do that you fear the most. That decision, that project on your mind for years. What is holding you? It's time to begin to do that. Whether it's going to be successful or not, you wouldn't know something you do. But if you keep quiet, what I don't know. All right.

Dr Ariel R King 22:07

I really love that. That makes all the difference, doesn't it? To go out there and to and and to uh practice courage, to make a choice, to be courageous, and to try and not try, but try when you do have fear, look at it, try to explain it to yourself, confront it, and then overcome it. I really love that. Can you tell our audience some of what you're doing today to mentor, I guess, all kinds of professionals and also young people?

Ihekoronye Chinedu 22:50

Yes. What I do, I use all the available media. I have the voice of just and bodily. No, I use the social media, I use Facebook, I use Instagram, I use uh TikTok, I use LinkedIn, all the social media. I see every opportunity to come to your people, everyone,

Mentoring Through Media And In Court

Ihekoronye Chinedu 23:15

because many people are bound by fear. I've met so many people, even a young lawyer, a mental young lawyer. I was in court and said, young lawyer, you must lose it. She said she doesn't know how to move the motion. I smiled. I called her. I said, Look, I have this feel, but you can do it. Even if you make a mistake, it doesn't matter. You keep doing over time.

Dr Ariel R King 23:45

You develop confidence in makes all the difference in the world. I love that. And just out of curiosity, what kind of law are you practicing now? Is it a human rights law or is it I would say criminal law or what kind of law? Very curious about that.

Ihekoronye Chinedu 24:10

Now in my country, you know, we we are called general partition. Once we are called to the back, that's in Nigeria, as a lawyer, you go with practice, you know, in our area.

Dr Ariel R King 24:24

Wonderful. So you you do you are you are a person that can do all the law?

Ihekoronye Chinedu 24:30

Environmental law, pollution law.

Dr Ariel R King 24:33

You see, there's no there's no fear for you. I can see that you your whole you that's really fair.

Ihekoronye Chinedu 24:43

No more fear, no more fear. I feel bad. I lost opportunity because of fear. Can I tell you something very funny?

Dr Ariel R King 24:52

Yes, please.

Ihekoronye Chinedu 24:54

When I was in university, there was this medical student, she was very beautiful. We used to read together, but I did not have the courage to tell her that I like her. I was afraid, so fear is very dangerous. You are these people in bondage, less people to live, you know, in limitation. So one must do everything to overcome fear. Thank you.

Dr Ariel R King 25:25

Thank you, sir. And we have one more minute left. Would you like to say something specific to our audience about fear? And also, please, how to contact you.

Ihekoronye Chinedu 25:35

Absolutely. I want to challenge everyone listening to me. I call you seven-day challenge within the next seven days. I want you to do just one thing. You know where you are, you know that things have been postponing because of fear.

The Seven Day Challenge And Contact

Ihekoronye Chinedu 26:02

That project, that decision. It is the right time to do it within one week. Make that decision. You can do it. And I tell you, you you definitely can do it. It's all about your mind. If you say you can, you can't. And unfortunately, if you say you can't, you can't. Because your mental faculty, the moment you say you can't, your mental faculty will have. You contact me. I'm on LinkedIn, I'm on Facebook. My I do not know our telephone number. I don't, I wouldn't want to give a matter.

Dr Ariel R King 26:53

No, we can find you. And did you say you're on LinkedIn, Facebook, and didn't you say you're on Instagram too, sir?

Ihekoronye Chinedu 27:00

Yes, I am. I'm on Facebook too. LinkedIn, people, China Dingas Colonia. You go Google China Colonia. Am I right, lawyer? I'm sure you'll find me.

Dr Ariel R King 27:12

I know they'll find you. Sir, I want to thank you for a really uh fantastic podcast looking at fear. And it's something I myself am going to look in my own life with this. I want to thank you for that. It's really giving me some ideas for my own life. To our audience, I want to say if I'm not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, then when? That was by the philosopher Hillel. And I've added, if not me, then who? Thank you so much for joining us.

Ihekoronye Chinedu 27:45

Bible.