Candy O’Terry
Candy O’Terry is Living Crue’s Official Podcast Partner. Candy’s award-winning series “The Story Behind Her Success” is highlighted in each issue of Living Crue Magazine.
Do What Scares You
It’s a New Year, new you. Switch up your wardrobe, lose 10 pounds, try a new hair color, blah, blah, blah. Here’s a thought: This year, do what scares you.
When you interview women for a living, you learn a lot about how to live your best life. Over the last 30 years, nearly 1,000 women from every walk of life have shared their stories with me. First on Magic 106.7’s Exceptional Women show and now, on my podcast and radio series, “The Story Behind Her Success.” I’m here to tell you that a life well lived comes in many colors, shapes, and sizes. Success is defined in many ways, but it has one attribute in common: being brave.
“The only time we learn is when we step outside of our comfort zone and into that scary place where we probably won’t be perfect and we just might fall flat on our faces. ”
But here’s the thing: failure is rocket fuel for the hungry soul. Failure teaches us about strength and perseverance and these attributes are among the most valuable qualities a human being can have.
Recently, I interviewed a woman named Laura DeSisto. Born and raised on the south shore, she is the author of a memoir called Resurfacing: Sisterhood, Sharks and Storms. Laura spent most of her life terrified of sharks and to be honest, I identified with her. We both saw the blockbuster movie “JAWS” as children and emerged from the movie theater determined never to swim in the ocean again.
A successful advertising copywriter, Laura’s greatest joy was being a mom. But in midlife, when her children left the nest, she lost her identity and became depressed. It was her sisterhood of friends who came to her rescue. They picked her up, dusted her off, put a glass of wine in her hand, and announced: “We’ve signed you up for scuba diving lessons!”
Before Laura had the chance to argue, she was in a scuba diving class. On her first dive in the Bahamas, Laura came within a few feet of, you guessed it, an 8-foot-long shark. When I spoke with her on my podcast, Laura told me, “We were about 40 feet down. I look off into the distance and I see this dark shape and I think, ‘I wonder what that could be?’ It gets closer and closer and closer and I realize it’s a shark. It is coming right at us! Eventually, it’s within one or two feet of us to the point where I could see into its eyes. And then, right before it was close enough to touch us, it veered off and swam away.”
When I asked Laura what happened next, she said, “I could hear my heart pounding in my chest, but in the moment that it happened, I was not afraid. My biggest emotion was fascination and wonder. The fear dissipated.”
Today, Laura is a shark lover. No longer afraid of sharks, she is a skilled scuba diver who routinely swims with them. When I asked her how this experience changed her, she said, “There is something about facing your biggest fears that really changes you on an elemental level. Find what you love and it will make you come alive.”
Trust me when I tell you that I am not going scuba diving with sharks anytime soon and I’m not suggesting you do that either. But what I am saying is that it is never too late to connect with childhood dreams, to step out and take that giant leap of faith.
Think of this article as my wish for you in 2023. Every word is aimed at stirring up the deepest part of who you are. Don’t doubt yourself. This new year, join me in resolving to be brave. Do what scares you. This is how we’ll learn what we’re made of.
This is how we’ll discover our true identity.
You may know me as the voice you heard coming out of your radio for 25 years on Magic 106.7 in Boston. It was a long journey from secretary to co-hosting morning drive, but I learned so much along the way. There were so many highlights, but the two that mattered most to me were hearing my own songs on the radio and the creation of the weekly “Exceptional Women” show. Interviewing women is what I love to do and I’ve continued that with the launch of the weekly podcast series: The Story Behind Her Success. So far, nearly 1000 women have shared their stories with me and I’m not stopping! Women around the world are downloading these inspiring stories and now, I’m bringing them back to local radio with the creation of the Candy O Radio Network. Mothers, daughters, sisters and friends all benefit from positive messages: shared wisdom, rooted in hope, love and perseverance. My goal is to create a place where inspiration is just a click away. Take a look around and be sure to join her Think Pink Club!
