Stop Waiting for Permission to Say "Yes": She Did It Before She Felt Ready

Stop waiting until you feel “ready.”

That’s what we’re told, right?
Get one more credential. One more approval. One more sign that it’s safe.

In this episode, I sit down with Tatiana Ferreira to talk about what actually creates a breakthrough — and it’s not confidence first. It’s courage first.

Tatianna (Tati) gets real about career reinvention and what it actually looks like emotionally, strategically, and professionally. She shares lessons from leading complex organizations, navigating multiple career pivots, and learning to say “yes” long before confidence arrives. This conversation dives deep into the emotional reality of reinvention, the risk of failure, and how leaders can actively create opportunities instead of waiting for them.

If you’re navigating change, considering a career pivot, or learning how to grow through uncertainty, this episode is for you.

Inside This Podcast Episode:
💡Saying Yes Before Confidence:  Why waiting for certainty keeps you stuck — and how bold yeses create momentum.
💡Courageous Yes vs Reckless Yes:  How to set limits and evaluate risk before taking big leaps.
💡Failure, Experimentation & Growth:  Why innovation requires failure budgets and personal investment.
💡The Emotional Reality of Reinvention: Why reinvention often means losing status, feeling invisible, and sitting with silence.
💡Building a Support Network:  Why you need a personal board that challenges you — not just supports you.
💡The Biggest Breakthrough Lesson:  Every major breakthrough begins with a yes.

If this resonates, don’t just listen — take action.
🎙 Subscribe for more conversations on engineering professional breakthroughs.

And if this episode made you think of someone who’s waiting for permission to go for it — send it to her.

=============================
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 — The hardest part of reinvention: sitting with the silence
06:02 — Saying yes before confidence
12:03 — Courageous vs reckless yes
15:07 — Opportunities are created, not offered
18:19 — Losing status before momentum
22:44 — Every breakthrough starts with a yes

📚 Resources Mentioned in the Episode:
Break Up. Break In. Breakthrough! Book by Jennifer (Jenn) Landis

=============================
Let’s Connect
🎤 Hire Jenn to speak at your next event: https://www.jennlandis.com/speaking
📘 Get your copy of Break Up. Break In. Breakthrough!: https://www.jennlandis.com/book
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennlandis
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/askjennlandis
X.com: http://x.com/askjennlandis
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/askjenniferlandis/

Connect with Tatiana Ferreira: 
Learn more about Tati's work in transformation, AI governance, and executive leadership:
🌐 HarmonIQ Consulting: https://www.beharmoniq.com/
🚀 Aurora AI Retail Accelerator: https://blueskyai.co/pages/aurora
🔗 Connect with Tatiana Ferreira:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tatianaferreirahttps://www.linkedin.com/in/tatianaferreira
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tatiana_g_ferreira

➡️ If this episode resonated with you, please LIKE the video, SUBSCRIBE for more Daring Breakthroughs, and COMMENT below with a moment when you said “yes” before you felt fully ready.

#CareerReinvention #LeadershipMindset #AILeadership #ProfessionalGrowth #DaringBreakt

Transcript

0:00

I think the hardest part of reinvention emotionally is not learning something new, it is sitting with the silence. Welcome to Daring Breakthroughs, the podcast that is obsessed with helping professionals at all levels build unstoppable confidence, gain crystal clarity, and create powerful networking connections, to create a competitive edge. We share practical strategies and inspiring stories from daring people who have achieved remarkable breakthroughs. I know that if you can see it, you can be it, because I navigated my own career from Walmart to Wall Street, and my friend, you can too. I'm your host and the author of Break Up. Break In. Breakthrough, Jenn Landis. Today, I am thrilled to introduce you to my dear friend, Tati, or Tatiana Ferreira. She is a transformation executive and board member with more than two decades of experience leading complex, consumer-driven organizations. She has overseen $5 billion in operations and managed a $1.5 billion P&L across global brands, including Disney, Louis Vuitton, and Neiman Marcus. She currently serves as Governance Chair and Audit Committee Member at Dream.org. She's also CEO of HarmonIQ Consulting, and she's the co-founder of Aurora AI Retail Accelerator. Tati works with boards and executive teams on enterprise transformation, AI governance, and high-stakes operational decision-making. Her perspective is shaped by having operated inside the business, not just advising it, and by repeatedly navigating reinvention as industries, leadership expectations, and technology continue to evolve. Please help me welcome my friend, Tati Ferreira. Tati, thank you so much for being here today. I am so excited to talk with you. So happy to be here, Jenn. This is a long time coming, so excited to talk to your audience and have a fantastic conversation with you. Yes, I want to dig right in because I know that you have reinvented yourself multiple times across industries and leadership roles. Some of that comes through in your bio, but some of it doesn't, right? There is a 3D story behind all of that reinvention. So, I'd love to start by asking, as you look back, what enabled those reinventions to actually work? So many things that are at play, and I've been reflecting on this, and I think that, um, the main one that I can share is that I never waited for permission. Um. Uh, I waited until I could handle and could live with the, with the worst case scenario and the consequences. So it was always a matter of, all right, is this something that I can, you know, if, I fall, is this something that I can handle? And by the way, I don't think I'm going to fall, and I'm going to work towards that. But it was always, from a very optimistic standpoint, but also a very practical, grounded standpoint. I think at the, um, the core of all of my reinventions was a, uh, the ability and the desire to say yes. Um, as I have said yes to so many initiatives, to so many different opportunities, to so many learning, uh, opportunities, not all of those were exciting. Not all of those were the right choice. And I think really having this, uh, clarity that, reinvention doesn't come from just picking the right choice, it just coming from picking one, right? So, uh, you know, when you talk about luxury retail, hospitality, AI. They're all different areas, but they also have the same problems, right? It's like there's expectations, there's people, there's customers, there's execution, whether your customers are your employees or external customers or another business. Um, human behavior is at a central part of it. So, I think, the ability to also, give myself a lot of, you know, you kind of boost your courage by having this pattern recognition of what you know. People that have assumed, and if you look at my resume, look like I changed direction so many times. I was applying the same standards, I was applying some of the same thinking to a bigger, messier, a different system essentially. I often talk about our careers not being career ladders, but spaghetti bowls, right? You, you Yes. you turn, and you go up, and you did go down, and just as you said, they're messy. Um, and they're interesting, and they take us places that we did not expect and probably couldn't have predicted, right? I have just something to say on that, that there is a particular transition. There's been a few that made people like scratch their heads and like, what is this? But I had a transition at one point. From being the CEO of a business to when I transitioned to, to, uh, luxury retail, that I was, for the first year, I was handling some client relations for the Southern Florida area, but I was also an assistant store manager. So people were scratching their heads like, she went from being a CEO of a business to being an assistant store manager at the mall. Like what went wrong? You know, and so that surface level, and I'm sure we'll talk more about that, on the expectations and not like what a lot of what stops us from saying as many times is all of these, those things that paralyzed you, right? And, and one of them is perception is what others are going to think is, how is this going to look? Yeah, I, I so agree with that, and I do want to get back to that, but I also want to talk about this, this concept of saying yes. I was talking to someone else this last week and she said that she had recently been given some advice to"Say yes and show up", and that the person that she had been talking to, that was literally their life motto. That was the way they made all of their decisions. You just say yes, anytime an opportunity comes to you, and you show up. And it got me thinking about, about that more deeply. And I know that you say yes, that you are known for saying yes, and I want to pause on that because I think a lot of the people that are listening to this are questioning about the wisdom and, um, should I actually say yes before I know how things are going to play out, right? We tend to want a little bit more surety before we say yes to something. So, I want to know, why has that been such a defining theme, and how did you find the courage to say yes before you knew how it was all going to play out, in spite of other people's ideas and opinions, which by the way, you and I have also had plenty conversations about. Plenty of Conversations about, we can do a whole episode on that, but, uh, I, you know, most of these yeses happened before I was a hundred percent sure. And in some cases, I would say, I was never a hundred percent sure. So, if I waited for the confidence and for that full, like, you know, I got all the T's crossed, I'd still be waiting. So that's one piece to this that I think is really crucial, but I laugh because people talk about how companies now is really fashionable to say there's a culture of failure. I think saying yes to things before you have the ability to know what they're going to be or before you have all the information, is the human equivalent of, uh, or leadership equivalent of, uh, of a culture of failure, if you will, because you will fail. Right. Guaranteed. But, when you think about innovation, when I think about really, um, going somewhere you've never been, and to achieve the things you've never achieved, you must be willing to do something you've never done. So, very much so in the culture of innovation. You know, uh, I say this all the time, that you're going to have to be willing to test 10 things to maybe get three to work, if you're lucky. Hmm. Uh, so I think in, in the very same way, the only way to break through in some, in some cases, the only way to get through certain doors. The only way to, to get someone to, to get to be in the same room as certain people is to say yes to something that may be, may look a little bit messy, and many times those yeses involved a significant amount of work, extra work. which was either not paid, or underpaid, or not recognized, right? So all the things that people, will tell you traditionally you know, you need to have clarity. You need to know what it is that you're doing. You need to know exactly what, the rewards are, and et cetera, et cetera. And I'm here to tell you that my, my trajectory was the opposite of that. And at times it was, you know, at times those yeses came in the form of picking the project that nobody wanted. Hmm. Many times, there's a reason why nobody wants that project Yeah. but, um I have never gotten more opportunities or more learning than in those moments, than in those opportunities, even if they led to more work, they led to a lot of discomfort. So, I think it has to be uncomfortable in the right way, but, I think the yes is, um, often treated as something that you need to say yes to, something that's exciting, and in my view, you need to say yes to sometimes to things that make you slightly uncomfortable. So I talk a lot about visibility and about saying yes to projects or finding opportunities to elevate your visibility. And that's somewhat what I heard from you, Tati, right? You took on these things, in part, before you knew where they were going to go, because they gave you some visibility. Um, or maybe you didn't take them on because you were seeking visibility, but you ended up getting visibility as a result of them regardless, whether you were seeking it or not. It puts you in a place where more eyes were watching you, even if those eyes were watching you as you failed. Because, as you said, failure is going to happen and failure is instructive. Something you didn't say but that I kind of read between the lines was also fail fast. Like, try to figure it out fairly quickly, um, and move on to the next thing. So I'd like to know your response to that. Do you think failing fast goes along with this culture of failure that you talked about? Or if not, you know, when does that come into play? If you're going to fail, failing fast is your best-case scenario. I will tell you, and it might be a little controversial, I don't think you can control that always. Sometimes, the failure is going to take a little bit longer, uh, to happen. And, you know, uh, when we're talking about companies and some of the work that I do, like I said, is very fashionable right now to talk about culture failure and failing fast, we let our teams try. And the question, the follow-up question I have for that, for organizations is always, okay, so what's the budget that you have dedicated to failure? Ooh. So, and there is a version of that question for you as an individual, how much do you dedicate to that? Because you have to, again, back to the, the innovation, right? If you look at several industries where innovations at the forefront of it, they will tell you the hundreds of experiments that need to happen in order to have one that's viable. And not even successful viable. So, when you're applying that to yourself, are you ready to invest knowing that in many of those instances you're going to lose? To your point, it's not always. and I would even say yes, there are more eyes watching you, depending on where you are. sometimes it may be uh, not great for you. It may set you back a little bit, so you know, which is why, which is a very legitimate reason why some people don't want to go into that. So, a lot of times I think that there's a sort of surface-level conversation around the culture of failing. But like the light version of failing, you know, the vanilla failing, which is not really failing, doesn't really affect you. And I think the yeses that matter and the things that you go into, obviously within reason, right? Again, like, like I was talking about, you have to be able to assess, I think that it's irresponsible to say yes without assessing what happens to you in the worst case scenario of that, can you handle it? Uh, and obviously, you work towards the best-case scenario. Uh, but ultimately it's an ability to take that risk. And yes, failing fast, amazing if you can get there, uh, but at times it's just going to take a little longer. But enjoy those learnings of that failure, whether it's a fast one or a bit of a slower one. Yeah. Make the failure count. You make the failure count. Yes, exactly. Make it count. So, so let's talk about, let, let's dig into this even a little deeper. How do you know, and how can you determine whether or not making a courageous yes or is it reckless yes. Right? You're saying yes, but there are times when we shouldn't say yes. You just pointed out some good examples, right? If you can't afford to fail, whether that, you know, affordability is in reputation or in dollars or in time, there are times when yes is not the right answer. So, how do you know when your yes is truly courageous and something that's going to push you, and that the resulting potential failure will count, will be worth it, and when is it Um, a reckless one? How do you tell the difference? Excellent question. Um, as I reflect on this, I think a courageous, yes, has limits to it that you, you determine, whereas a reckless one doesn't. Um, you know, if I'm not willing to explain this decision to a team, a board, a partner, a best friend, or myself six months later, uh, I shouldn't say yes. It could be a reckless yes. Um, you know, reckless can feel exciting at times, but I think that, um. The way that I can tell is that the courageous ones feel heavier. It's, uh, you know, those limits because it's also upon you to draw what those limits are and to understand where they are You have to kind of draw the, the paths you can imagine to failure in your mind. Which is not a fun thing to do. It's pretty heavy to think about that, uh, and still want to move forward with it. So, it's I think that that's part of building that courage. But, I'd say that the main differences, uh, limits. Yeah. So, I've got one last question I want to ask you about this whole idea of saying yes, and then I want to move on to some of your other reinvention experiences. I think there are probably some people that are listening today that are saying, this is great. Tati and Jenn have had all these opportunities to say yes, right? Where did those opportunities come from? I want one of those opportunities. How do I find an opportunity where someone is asking me to do something and I have the ability to say yes? So what would you say to those people who are saying, I don't know where to go find these opportunities? How? How do I do that? I love that question so much. You know why? Because, um, there is a, um, something that we haven't explicitly said is that this yes, doesn't come in the form of a question necessarily. It's not someone coming to you and asking, would you like to do this, or would you like to do that? It comes in the form of a situation, and at times it comes in the form of you raising your hand and volunteering for something that's the yes. Not someone coming to offer you is not a passive. This, this culture of yes, and this idea of saying yes is not a passive thing where you sit there, and you know, you come to me, and you ask me if I want to do something, and I think about yes or no. This is an active, uh, situation where you are searching for opportunities in which you can put yourself. You can push your boundaries. You can push your limits. You raise your hand for the project that nobody wants, even if you weren't asked to do it. That's where I think that the big difference is. I can tell you that probably, at this level in my career, we're at a 50/50 place where I find these places where I want to say yes to something that's a bit riskier, and things come to me. Earlier in my career, 90/10. Nobody was asking me for anything. I was the one finding the opportunities and inserting myself and saying, Hey, can I do this? Could I be part of this project? Could I, could I apply for this? Could I, could I learn how this works? Can I help you in this project? Nothing in return. I just want to learn what this is, so next time you get somebody to be a part of this. So I think that there's a lot of, um, misunderstanding around this, and I love that you asked this question. It's an active process, not a passive one. Yeah, I love your response. It's so good. I, um, tend to think about my biggest opportunities being where my passion meets someone else's pain. Where is my organization stuck? Where are they having a problem? Whether they want to acknowledge it or not, right? But what is the thing we all talk about when management isn't in the room? What is that thing? And do my talents and passions align in a way that I could yes to that fix that create opportunity for myself, um, and hopefully do so without failing. Um, and if I fail, hopefully right. I've counted the cost and applied all the things that Tati just shared, and I know when to back down. So. Love that. So, let's move on. Uh, Tati, I want to talk a little bit, about your experiences because you've led inside some very high-expectation environments. What does that require? When you're talking reinvention in that kind of a situation, what does it require emotionally from you? Not just strategically we, we know you're strategic, but what about the emotional side? The emotional side is the one that, um, I love, and again, I, I'm a fan of your work because you talk about these tough things in real terms, right? Because that's the part that nobody talks about. Even if you go to a presentation or a conference or you hear somebody speak or you watch a TED talk, and it's all about, you know, I had this incredible hurdle. Here's how I bypassed it. You know, so it's always sort of this blueprint for success, whereas the emotional piece of the reinvention is tremendous because when reinvention involves career, involves these big shifts, a lot of times, you lose status before you gain the momentum. Say that again. That's so good. Reinvention means you may lose status before you gain momentum. So good. Emotionally, Mm-hmm. it's huge. In addition, there's no guarantee of gaining momentum. You have a, you know., optimism and you're working hard and all of the good things, but there is no guarantees. Nothing is guaranteed. So, I feel like there's this stretch whenever you reinvent yourself that it's very taxing emotionally, which is you're doing all the right things, but no one notices, Hmm. No one sees it. At some point, you start questioning, Is this right? Am I doing the right thing? And this is when people quit, right? Or they retreat back to like, you know, I shouldn't have never said yes. Why don't I just stay in my lane? This is, this is terrible. But that's the part you go to stay. You know, I on the prize and I on the ball. I think the hardest part of reinvention emotionally is not learning something new, it is sitting with the silence. I am letting there be silence because I think that is such a good, good part, no pun intended, but that is just, that's so true because we do these things, and we work like crazy. I always think of a duck in a pond, right? You don't see the legs going crazy in a million miles an hour under the smooth, calm surface of the, of the water. And at first they're going pretty slow, right? Especially if there's no current pushing you along, and it can feel that way when you say yes to all of these things. In fact, I'd say, I can't think of a time I said, yes it didn't feel that way. It always feels that way, that's part of the process of saying yes to these things. So, um, being aware of your emotional state and understanding where other people are in their emotional state and not expecting them to show up for you in that way, I think can also be really good. We almost have to add some logic to ourselves, right? Um, even in the midst of this highly emotional component, you have to find ways to inject logic because otherwise, um, I would say it's just so tough you're going to quit. Inject logic, uh, you and I have actually had multiple conversations about this, building a safety net around you, Yeah. the right people, whether they're mentors, sponsors. I know you talk a lot about this, but also friends. Yeah. People that, uh, and not just, and I'll put a little asterisk to that. It's a lot of times your friends will be very worried about you, and their advice will be to, for you to quit because they kind of see you going through something hard, and they're the people who love you may not be giving you the best advice at those moments. So I think that there's a, um, finding the right the right friends doesn't mean that they're more friend, they're more of a friend than the others, is just finding sort of the right, and I don't mean building a yes board. Uh, a yes personal board is the opposite, in fact, I think is building a practical one. A, a real one, one that's going to challenge you. But I think that's incredibly, incredibly important to have that. But to your point, you've gotta go in knowing that these are going to be a part of that game. And then again, that's where you set your limits. That's where couple of times in my life and career, I was dangerously close to a health breakdown Hmm. because I didn't follow the limits that I set for certain things. Hmm. And I spoken very openly about this, but I think that a, there's a really important parts in sort of continuing to reset that and continue to re-look at those limits, continuing to kind of, you know, go back to readjust even. Because my, what you might have set up in the beginning may not be, uh, six months later, three months later, may not be what you need. Yeah, so many, so many good pearls of wisdom here. I hope people are enjoying this as much as I am. So, Tati, if you had to summarize your biggest breakthrough lesson in one sentence, what would that be? It will be that every real breakthrough in my life started with a yes. And there you have it. One sentence and a beautiful one at that. And that's the perfect place to pause. In this first part of our conversation, we focused on the courage it takes to say yes before you feel ready, the emotional cost of reinvention and what it really means to step forward without permission. So, everyone, thank you so much for joining Tati and I for this episode of Daring Breakthroughs. If you found value, and I believe you did. I invite you to review to like, to subscribe, and remember to check the description in the show notes for free tools and the resources that we mentioned today. Let's stay connected. You'll find me everywhere at Ask Jenn Landis. That's Jenn with two Ns. And if you need a speaker for your next event, visit jennlandis.com Until next time, share one insight you gained today with a friend and make one bold move. I dare you.