Inside a Black Sherpa 29k Club Masterclass on Authenticity with **Jo Whight**

“Who are you when no one else is watching?”

That was the first question Jo Whight posed to the room.

No formal introduction.
No credentials slide.
Just a pause… and a question most of us don’t give ourselves time to answer.

Before that, there was laughter. Red outfits. Pyjamas. A bit of gentle self-deprecation. A reminder that this wasn’t a performance or a polished keynote… it was a human space. That mattered more than it might seem, because what followed asked people to go somewhere real.

This was one of the most honest, hard-hitting, and quietly transformative sessions we’ve hosted inside The Black Sherpa 29k Club.

Not a talk about authenticity.
A workshop that asked people to feel it, name it, and work with it… together.

“I’m an 8… until I’m not”

Early on, Jo asked a deceptively simple question:

“On a scale of 1–10, how much of your true self do you show to the world?”

The answers came quickly.
7s. 8s. 9s.

At first glance, it sounded encouraging.

But as people began to talk, something more nuanced emerged.

One member shared that she felt fairly authentic in her content-creation work… but noticeably shrank in academic settings. Another reflected that they were confident most of the time, except when speaking to senior leaders, where a more polished, corporate “wrapper” came back on.

The room recognised it instantly.

Authenticity isn’t fixed.
It’s contextual.

Most people aren’t inauthentic… they’re adaptive. And that adaptability comes at a cost.

Jo named it clearly: the energy drain of identity-splitting. Running multiple versions of yourself depending on the room you’re in. Code-switching. Self-monitoring. Editing in real time.

It’s exhausting.
And for many in the session, simply naming that exhaustion felt like a release.

Identity, survival, and the stories we inherit

Jo’s work sits at the intersection of identity, leadership, and social mobility… and her own story gives that work weight.

Before sharing it, she paused. She named that the next part would touch on mental health and suicide, and explicitly gave people permission to step away if they needed. It was a small moment, but an important one… a live demonstration of what emotionally intelligent, trauma-aware leadership looks like.

Jo spoke about growing up in poverty, navigating social care, losing her mother to suicide, and finding herself homeless at 18. She also shared what came next: a 20-year career in financial services, leadership awards, and recognition that many would never have predicted for someone with her background.

But the most powerful part wasn’t the success story.

It was the reflection.

“I wasn’t exceptional. I was given the right opportunities, access, and support.”

And then the quieter truth underneath:

“It was a lottery.”

There were others just as capable. Just as driven. Just as talented.
They simply weren’t given the same access.

That line matters. Because it stops this work from becoming a story about mindset alone. Confidence doesn’t exist in a vacuum… it’s shaped by systems, opportunity, and early experience.

Jo also spoke candidly about how often she was told to “be confident” or “be authentic”… without ever being shown how.

When your early life teaches you survival rather than self-promotion, advice like that doesn’t empower. It confuses. And over time, it can quietly convince you that you’re the problem.

The social mirror: when other people write your story

This is where Jo introduced a concept that landed hard in the room: the social mirror.

The way we come to see ourselves through the expectations, labels, and projections of others… parents, teachers, managers, organisations, society.

The danger?

That mirror is often distorted.

It reflects who others need us to be, not who we actually are. And when you live there too long, you start waiting for permission:

to speak
to lead
to take up space
to want more

Jo put it simply:

“Today is about revoking the permission slip. Ripping it up. Throwing it away.”

From heavy labels to conscious choice

This wasn’t a session where people nodded and moved on.

Jo took the room into the work.

Participants were asked to write down three labels they carry… the quiet, unhelpful ones that surface under pressure.

Not good enough.
Too young.
Too assertive.
Not experienced enough.
Wrong background.

Then came the instruction that shifted the energy.

Rip the paper out.
Scrunch it up.
Throw it away.

It sounds simple. Almost childish.
It wasn’t.

The physical act mattered. It moved the work from thinking differently to deciding differently.

Then came the reframe:

“I am more than my label.”

“I’m not experienced enough” became:
→ I am more than my age.

“I’m too assertive” became:
→ My story will be different.

Someone named what many were thinking: no one tells men they’re “too assertive” in the same way.

Values: not slogans, but signals

The second half of the workshop moved into values… again, without fluff.

Jo shared a story from a leadership programme where she’d been asked to bring something meaningful from home. While others brought photos, she brought a brick… taken from rubble during a house extension.

The brick symbolised security. Stability. Safety.

It represented a value forged through lived experience… shaped by homelessness, loss, and the fear of losing everything again.

That story reframed the exercise that followed.

Participants identified their values, narrowed them down to a non-negotiable five, and then reflected on two moments:

a time they felt deeply fulfilled
a time they felt deeply unhappy

The patterns were immediate.

Fulfilment showed up alongside belonging, creativity, family, impact.
Unhappiness clustered around misalignment… even when money or status was present.

The insight that landed hardest?

Values aren’t inspirational posters.
They’re diagnostics.

When you’re out of alignment, your body and behaviour tell you… through stress, resentment, disengagement, burnout.

From insight to identity: “I am becoming…”

The final shift was from understanding to identity.

Jo introduced the idea of turning values into affirmations… with an important distinction.

If “I am…” feels unbelievable, your brain will reject it.

So instead:

“I am becoming…”

That single word creates space for growth without self-deception.

Jo also offered a practical tool many people scribbled down quickly:
your thoughts are not reality.

Name the inner critic. Create distance. Speak back to it. Confidence isn’t the absence of doubt… it’s learning not to obey it.

Breaking through barriers with confidence

Participants shared affirmations like:

“I lead with compassion, and my narrative is defined by my truth… not society’s limits.”
“I lead with generosity and share my knowledge freely.”
“I own my creativity and no longer ask permission to share the world through my eyes.”

These weren’t polished soundbites.
They were first drafts of a more intentional way of showing up.

Why this work matters… personally and organisationally

When organisations avoid conversations like this, people pay the price quietly.

Energy is wasted managing impressions.
Potential is lost to self-doubt.
Talented people disengage or leave… not because they can’t do the work, but because they can’t be themselves while doing it.

When you create space for this work, something shifts:

people name what they’ve been carrying
confidence becomes grounded, not performative
leadership becomes more human… and more effective

That’s not soft.
It’s strategic.

Why this is exactly why the 29k Club exists

This masterclass was a live example of what the Black Sherpa 29k Club is here to do.

We exist to help underrepresented professionals build:

clarity about who they are and what matters
confidence rooted in truth, not approval
community where this work doesn’t have to be done alone

This was our first session delivered fully as a workshop… and the response made it clear why that matters.

Insight landed.
Action followed.
And accountability stayed in the room.

Jo closed with a challenge: don’t keep this private. Bring your affirmations back. Let them be seen. Let the community hold you to them.

That’s the difference between content and change.

A leadership challenge to take forward

Whether you joined live or are catching the replay, take a moment with these:

Where do you show up as different versions of yourself… and what does that cost you?
Which value are you currently out of alignment with, and how is that showing up?
What’s one “I am becoming…” statement you’re willing to practise this week?

This session was deliberately positioned as the foundation for what comes next… identity first, then success, then personal brand. Because what you build should rest on who you are, not who you’re copying.

The work doesn’t finish when the session ends.

That’s when it starts.

Climb steady 🖤

About Jo Whight

Jo Whight is a multi-award-winning senior leader with over 20 years’ experience in financial services, spanning commercial strategy, leadership development, DEI, and culture transformation.

After experiencing homelessness at 18, Jo went on to lead high-performing teams and deliver large-scale organisational change. Her career… and her lived experience… give her a rare ability to connect identity, opportunity, and performance in ways that are both human and practical.

Through her organisation, Red Lotus, Jo partners with employers to surface untapped talent, challenge inequitable systems, and build environments where people can thrive without having to shrink, mask, or conform. Alongside this, she works directly with professionals to help them rise with clarity, confidence, and conviction… grounded in who they are, not who they think they need to be.

Her work has received multiple industry honours for leadership, inclusion, and impact.

Jo works with organisations, leadership teams, and communities through workshops, programmes, and speaking engagements focused on identity, values-led leadership, and social mobility.

To learn more about Jo’s work or explore ways to collaborate, visit Red Lotus or connect with her directly.

I’m Yam – Founder of The Black Sherpa

Founder | Strategist | Speaker | Host of The Black Sherpa Podcast

I founded The Black Sherpa to create a world where talent rises on merit and no one’s potential is held back by bias or barriers.

Through bold strategy, storytelling, and our flagship community, The 29k Club - I help professionals grow with confidence and support leaders to build cultures that truly live their values.

Let’s connect and build a future where inclusion powers performance, and leadership reflects the world we serve.

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Who Are You Really Showing Up As?