+1 Confidence
From Quiet Nerd to Confident Communicator
‘+1 Confidence’ isn’t just a brand. It’s my journey.
As a teenager, I was shy. Quiet in class. Nervous around people. Definitely not someone you’d expect to grab a mic and make a room full of strangers laugh.
But at 24, I did exactly that. I started performing stand-up comedy; partly to face my fears, partly to embrace my misfit nature, and partly because I figured, if I can survive this, I can survive anything. Over the next 12 years, I did about 350 gigs. I got pretty good at it. I didn’t become famous, but I learned how to hold attention, improvise, and stay standing when things weren’t going my way. That was the real win. At the same time, I worked as a video game level designer; a world full of brilliant minds who often struggled to speak up. I saw how we all operated, and I realised: this was where I could help.
So then I took another terrifying leap: I built a career coaching people to communicate with clarity and confidence. And here’s the irony; when I worked in games, I barely spoke in meetings. Now I get invited to lead whole days of training.
Why ‘+1 Confidence’?
Because small upgrades lead to big change.
I’ve always loved games: tabletop, digital and card-based. There’s something powerful in the idea that just a +1 modifier – one small, incremental boost – can dramatically change your outcome.
In Dungeons & Dragons or Warhammer, ‘+1’ to all your rolls might not look huge on paper… but over time, it stacks up. You land more hits. You win more encounters. You feel more capable.
Confidence works the same way.
You don’t have to transform overnight. In fact, you shouldn’t. Real growth is about showing up again and again, collecting tiny wins. +1 each time. Grinding XP in real life, learning from mistakes. Gaining resilience.
That’s what ‘+1 Confidence’ stands for: not perfection, but progression.
Why I Give You a Token
A simple object. A powerful symbol.
In games, tokens mean something. They track progress, show status and unlock new paths.
When I work with clients, I give them a +1 Confidence token, a small, physical reminder that they’ve gained something important. It’s not just a memento; it’s proof of progress. A symbol of skill earned, voice claimed, mindset shifted.
And when the nerves hit (because they always do), you can hold that token and remember: you’ve already levelled up.
