EP 20: Leading From Your Truth with the Founder of Binge Eating Disorder Association, Chevese Turner
There is nothing safe about catalyzing the much-needed changes we need in our world today.
Speaking your truth feels loaded right now. I’m not talking about speaking your truth as a way to say whatever you feel whenever and wherever.
I’m talking about the deep knowing inside of you that is you without the armor, the spin. The you that doesn’t absorb the projections onto you from the world.
The pull to dim what you know to be true as a protective response is real.
Sitting on the fence is a protective response. It also keeps you small and led by the burdens of fear.
I have been rumbling with this truth in my own writing and speaking, noticing the years of protecting internally that push me to placate and keep things vague when there is a lot to lose or a chance to get hurt.
The more I unburden the hurts I have held for so long, the more my capacity to move through the vulnerability of leading from my truth and speaking my truth increases.
Sure, leading from your truth is scary... especially In a world that cancels and criticizes in a heartbeat.
My guest today knows a lot about the challenges and costs of leading from your truth.
With 25 years of experience, Chevese Turner is an internationally recognized eating disorders, weight discrimination, and social justice activist who founded the Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA) in 2008.
Chevese is dedicated to moving beyond the current dominant weight-focused paradigm in public health and healthcare delivery to one that is weight inclusive, promotes well-being free from weight stigma and discrimination, and views our understanding of the social determinants of health as an important way forward for individuals who find themselves at the intersection of oppressions and repeated denial of healthcare based on their body size, color, ethnicity, age, gender, socio-economic status, etc.
This is a conversation about so much more than food and body issues. It is about coming home to your truth. It’s about healing from your pain and the traumas of betrayal and constantly being misunderstood. It is about courageous leadership.
Listen to the full episode to hear:
- Chevese’s insights on the pace of change
- The pain many feel because they are misunderstood and devalued because of the body they inhabit—and the responsibility that all leaders have to ensure this doesn’t happen
- The essential importance of not censoring yourself so you can show up in your truth
