Reclaiming Your Power When Your Value Is Overlooked

Ever walk into a room and feel like your value isn’t being recognized?

You know you’re qualified. You’ve done the work. But the perception doesn’t match the reality. You start to wonder:

Am I doing something wrong—or just not doing it right for this environment?

It’s a frustrating tension. And for many, it becomes a quiet source of burnout, self-doubt, or withdrawal.

But the truth is: the real problem isn’t your value or your potential. It’s the lens through which others are viewing you. And if you don’t proactively position your own value, others will continue to define it in ways that work for them.

Feeling Trapped In the Past?

Most people don’t feel stuck because they’ve peaked. They feel stuck because they’re still being evaluated by a version of themselves they’ve already outgrown.

You’ve evolved—but the systems, assumptions, and expectations around you haven’t.

That dissonance is one of the hardest parts of growth. The environment that once celebrated you may no longer reflect who you are — or see who you’re becoming.

I’ve lived that tension across multiple pivots: NFL rookie. Angel investor. Entrepreneur. Team owner. Executive coach. Fund manager.

In each new chapter, I had to confront the assumptions that entered the room before I did. Sometimes from others who refused to let go of how they initially met me. Other times, from my own head—recognizing the patterns and anticipating others not taking me seriously.

That’s the trap. You begin adjusting to how others see you. You anticipate friction and get into a defensive posture instead of showing up to play offense with the confidence you’re enough.

New Frame > New Identity

When you feel boxed in, reinvention feels like the answer. You chase new certifications, new titles, new environments—anything to be seen differently.

But here’s what I’ve learned:

You don’t need to become someone new. You need to reframe who you already are in a new context.

I felt this tension in the first chapter of my transition from football into business. Early on, I felt pressure to chase an MBA to prove I belonged. I thought the degree would show people I had the “know-how” to run the businesses I was already engaged in. I found myself in a race to collect certifications and chase important titles as a source of external validation—proof points I could complete in this new arena.

In hindsight, I felt like I needed to become someone new by leaving behind all I’d accomplished as a professional athlete.

People saw the entertainment value of my past—but discounted the systems, pressure, and strategy it took to build a decade-long career at the highest level.

Eventually, I got tired of trying to earn credibility I already had, in rooms I was more qualified than the people presenting the ‘opportunities.’ I had to own my entire story—it’s what made me uniquely qualified to walk my path.

The shift: it wasn’t about becoming someone or something new. It was about revealing who I already was—through a more useful lens.

I learned to reframe my story to reflect the strategist, operator, and leader I had always been. I didn’t reinvent—I revealed who I already was, just in a new context.

How to Know It’s Time to Reframe

Here are three signs you’re due to reframe and reposition your value:

1. You feel underestimated—but can’t explain why. You’re being misread or undervalued in the current context of your role.

2. You’ve outgrown your current role—but keep getting pulled back into it. People still see you for who you were, not who you’re becoming.

3. You’ve done the work—but it’s not translating. Your growth hasn’t been reframed in a way others can interpret as value.

If any of that resonates, it’s time to build a new frame that reflects the full depth of who you are—and the unique value you bring to the table.

Lessons From Each Pivot

Over the last 15+ years, reframing my identity has gone from survival skill to strategic edge. What started as reactive became intentional.

And here’s what I’ve learned in the process:

It’s not just about how others see you—it’s how you see yourself. Once you embrace that shift, how you show up changes.

Here’s what each pivot taught me:

• Clarity precedes positioning. You can’t reframe what you haven’t defined. Self-awareness is the foundation.

• Every pivot has a tradeoff. To step into a new version of yourself, you’ll likely have to release a version that used to work. That’s not loss—it’s evolution.

• Framing is a skill. You have to translate your story into the language of the room—without losing your voice.

• Your lens is your leverage. The way you see the world is shaped by lived experience. That’s your edge. The goal isn’t to abandon it—it’s to help others see its value.

Each time I stepped into a new arena I stopped trying to prove I belonged. I became confident in the fact I did. With that belief, the focus shifted to repackaging my unique perspective and experiences to deliver the value I knew I was capable of producing.

That’s the work of reframing. It builds self-confidence and self-validation that others can feel.

Reframing in Practice: A 3-Step Process

If you’re wondering where to start, here’s a simple framework that’s helped me—and many of the leaders I’ve coached—reposition their value for the next level:

1. Audit: What parts of your current identity, experience, or value are being overlooked—or misinterpreted?

2. Align: What roles, environments, or opportunities better reflect where you’re headed and what you bring to the table?

3. Articulate: How are you telling your story? How can you translate your existing strengths into language that reflects where you’re going—not just where you’ve been?

Reframing stops being abstract when you treat it like a skill. And when you practice it with intention, you start to Create Separation—without forcing it.

Closing Thoughts

There will always be rooms that misread your value. That doesn’t mean you have to wait for them to catch up.

Design the lens you want to be seen through.

Framing isn’t about optics. It’s about alignment—between who you are, what you bring, and how that value gets communicated.

The goal isn’t reinvention. It’s resonance. To begin that work, ask yourself:

• What part of your current role no longer reflects the version of you that’s evolving?

• If someone evaluated your value today based only on what they can see—what would they miss?

The answers to those questions give you a starting point.

Start with clarity. Anchor in your truth. And watch the right opportunities begin to open.

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