What Winning Speaker Slam Taught Me About Power, Parenting, and Becoming

Last month, I stepped onto a stage and shared a story I had carried for almost my entire life.

I didn’t know what would happen. I only knew that I was done hiding.

That night, I stood in front of over a hundred people at North America’s largest inspirational speaking competition, Speaker Slam, and delivered a story about childhood betrayal, motherhood, and the healing power of saying no.

When it was over... I won first place.

But this isn’t a story about winning. It’s a story about becoming.

A quiet voice that grew louder

In the past year, I quietly stepped into what I thought was my purpose, but I’ve come to see it more as a return to myself.

My work now centers on helping parents navigate difficult life transitions: divorce, job loss, grief. Through somatic coaching, I guide them back into their bodies and help restore their nervous systems… and with it, their confidence, sense of self, and connection to what matters most.

But on that stage, something shifted.

For the first time, I shared a story I had never spoken publicly. A story about being hurt, not believed, and silenced as a child. And then, years later, being given a choice as a mother:

To repeat the cycle, or to break it.

I still remember my son looking at me with pleading in his eyes. He told me what he was feeling and what he needed. In that moment, instead of brushing it off, minimizing it, or overriding him to keep the peace, I chose to believe him.

In that moment, I became the mother I never had.
And something in both of us healed.

The speech that started it all

The speech was called The Power of Knowing.

In it, I shared what I’ve observed in both my life and my work: that children don’t believe what they’re told because it’s true, but because they don’t know that it’s not true.

They need to be mirrored and believed to learn how to trust their own knowing. And the greatest thing we can teach our children is how to trust themselves.

I didn’t know it at the time, but that speech became a launchpad.

Since that night, I’ve been invited to speak on new stages. I’ve appeared on CTV Your Morning, CP24, and Breakfast Television and others, sharing this message of presence, parenting, and self-trust.

But what stays with me most are the quiet moments after when a parent messages me to say, That part… I’ve felt that too. When they realize they’ve been waiting their whole lives to be believed and now want to offer something different to their children.

None of it would’ve happened if I hadn’t taken the stage.
If I hadn’t followed the whisper that said: It’s time.

What stepping into your voice can do

That’s what I want to leave you with, because this story isn’t just about me. It’s about what’s possible for you.

There is someone out there waiting for your voice. Not your polished version. Not your perfect script. Just your truth, spoken clearly and with heart.

When I stood on that stage, I didn’t know if my voice would shake. I didn’t know how it would be received. But I knew I was done self-abandoning. And I knew I was ready to speak to the child I had once been, and the children we’re raising now.

I didn’t step onto that stage to win. I stepped on because there was something in me that had to be said.

And maybe… there’s something in you, too.

The legacy work

I want to be clear: I don’t blame the people who didn’t know how to support me when I was young. They were doing the best they could with what they had. But I also know that silence kept me small for too long.

So now, I choose to speak. Not to shame the past, but to change the future.

Because every time we trust our knowing, every time we choose presence over performance, every time we look a child in the eyes and say, “I believe you,” we are writing a new legacy.

If you’ve been waiting for a sign to speak, to share, to step forward... maybe this is it.

Your voice has power.
Your story matters.
And you never know who will find themselves in your words.

Sending you love and encouragement... maybe for you too, it's time.

Vivian 💜