Proudly Authentic, Always Real

Joanne Lockwood is joined by Jodie Goodchild, an award-winning community creator and LinkedIn trainer, to explore what it looks like to be proudly authentic in business and in life. Jodie shares her journey of coming out as a lesbian, the fear and uncertainty that can come with naming your truth, and the freedom that can follow when you stop living for other people’s approval.

From there, the conversation moves into the practical realities of visibility: why posting and sharing your perspective can feel like a second “coming out” for small business owners, how imposter feelings keep people lurking, and what helps individuals find a voice that sounds like them rather than a corporate persona. Joanne and Jodie discuss polarisation, boundaries, and the difference between being authentic and being intentionally provocative.

They also unpack how community and trust are built through consistent, human content and real-world connection, including Jodie’s approach to creating brave, supportive spaces for business owners to learn, show up, and grow. Alongside reflections on inclusion and safety in groups, they touch on wellbeing pressures in entrepreneurship and the importance of protecting time to live, not just work.

One-sentence summary

Jodie Goodchild’s message is that freedom begins the moment you stop shrinking yourself to fit in — and that when you live out loud, you give others permission to do the same.

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Synopsis

Jodie Goodchild didn’t always feel she was living her life. As an “out and proud lesbian woman”, she speaks honestly about the years before nineteen when confusion, silence and fear shaped her world. She was “convinced that if I spoke my truth that I would be shunted away from my family”. That fear kept her small. It wasn’t until the stillness of Covid — watching life feel fragile and finite — that she asked herself the hardest question: if her time were up, had she truly lived? The answer was no. That reckoning pushed her out of corporate safety and into something far riskier: building a business rooted in who she actually is.

Now, she creates spaces where people can show up without the polished mask. She teaches business owners to stop hiding behind jargon and start speaking like humans. More than marketing advice, what she offers is courage. She knows what it costs to cross that chasm — sexuality, identity, entrepreneurship — and she refuses to let fear dictate her life again. What she is trying to change is simple but powerful: a world where people don’t wait until a crisis to be real. Because when people are visible, honest and seen, they don’t just grow businesses — they reclaim dignity.

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10 Small, digestible concepts for easy learning

1. Coming out isn’t only about sexuality — it’s about visibility.

Your first business post can feel as vulnerable as telling the world who you love.

2. Fear shrinks when faced.

The cliff edge you imagine is often just a small step forward.

3. If you stand for nothing, no one connects.

Being a little polarising is often the price of being real.

4. Authenticity isn’t licence to be cruel.

Say it how you would in a room — not from behind a keyboard.

5. Visibility solves more than perfection.

People can’t work with you if they don’t know you exist.

6. Trust grows through repetition, not persuasion.

People buy after they see you being consistent, not pushy.

7. Community reduces loneliness.

Entrepreneurship feels lighter when someone says, “How did that project go?”

8. Resilience lives in those who’ve already crossed a chasm.

The courage to come out builds muscles that serve everywhere else.

9. You can’t give endlessly without refilling yourself.

Impact matters — but so does rest.

10. Being seen changes what’s possible for others.

“If they’ve done it, I can do it” is how ripple effects begin.

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The “why” in the story

What they believe is true about people

People want connection, not performance. They want to buy from humans, not faceless brands.

What they cannot unsee

The cost of staying silent — the years spent not fully living because fear felt safer than honesty.

What they are no longer willing to tolerate

Letting other people’s imagined judgement dictate her voice or her future.

What they are trying to build instead

Brave spaces where visibility feels safe, ordinary business owners feel capable, and identity is an asset, not a liability.

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Narrative structure

1. The trigger:

Covid forced her to confront mortality. Sitting with the thought of life ending, she realised, “No, I haven’t” done everything I wanted.

2. The tension:

The recurring fear: what will they say? Whether about sexuality, pricing her work, or posting online, the internal critic sounded familiar and loud.

3. The insight:

The people who matter stay. The chasm isn’t as wide as it looks. And courage compounds — once you leap, other risks feel possible.

4. The pivot:

Leaving corporate comfort. Stopping the polished corporate voice. Teaching others to “just talk like you talk”.

5. The destination:

A life with freedom — where work supports joy, where impact doesn’t erase self-care, and where people stand on stages having been fully themselves.

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Five key takeaways and learning points

1. You are allowed to take up space.

So what: Stop editing yourself down to something more acceptable.

2. Silence is expensive.

So what: The years you hide are years you don’t fully live.

3. Consistency builds trust faster than cleverness.

So what: Keep showing up as yourself; familiarity creates opportunity.

4. Community is protective.

So what: Surround yourself with people who ask how you are, not just what you sell.

5. Freedom requires boundaries.

So what: Protect your energy, your values and the spaces you create.

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Ten distinct ideas explained

1. The chasm illusion

Fear exaggerates consequences. When you step forward, you often land on solid ground, not in freefall.

2. Identity as strength

Being an “out and proud lesbian woman” isn’t a footnote — it’s proof of resilience and depth.

3. Visibility as dignity

When you speak plainly about your work, you affirm that what you do matters.

4. The loneliness of entrepreneurship

Leaving corporate life can free you — and isolate you. Community restores the human element.

5. Transactional selling is fading

People are tired of being targeted; they respond to relationship and repeated presence.

6. Authenticity has boundaries

Being real does not mean being reckless; care and accountability coexist with courage.

7. Generosity builds reputation

Give your best insights freely — it creates trust before money is mentioned.

8. Age and confidence intersect

At nearly forty, Jodie feels more herself than ever — proof that identity deepens, not fades.

9. Rest is part of impact

Building others up while neglecting yourself leads to imbalance; sustainable courage includes recovery.

10. Example is powerful advocacy

Each time someone sees her win publicly as herself, it chips away at someone else’s fear.

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How people should change as a result

1. Think

• Shift from “What will they think?” to “Who might this help?”
• Replace “I’m not important enough” with “Someone needs to hear this.”
• View authenticity as alignment, not exposure.
• See visibility as service, not self-promotion.
• Understand that courage in one area strengthens you in others.

2. Feel

• Move from defensiveness to curiosity about difference.
• Shift from shame to self-acceptance.
• Replace scarcity with generosity.
• Trade impostor syndrome for quiet confidence.
• Move from fear of judgement to pride in identity.

3. Act

• Post one honest reflection about your work this week — no jargon.
• Reach out to someone whose voice you admire and tell them why.
• Create or join a small community where learning and belonging coexist.
• Ask a client if you may share your work together — visibly.
• Protect a block of time for rest, without apologising.
• Challenge one limiting thought by asking, “Whose voice is that really?”
• Make eye contact, remember a name, make someone feel seen.

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One thing to remember

The life you’re waiting to live begins the moment you stop hiding who you are.