Let's talk about that stubborn little voice that pops up right when you're deep in a chapter revision or staring down a proposal section, whispering this isn't quite right or wait, actually, THIS is the thing. We've all been there.
Most of us have been trained to override it. To defer to a coach like me, an agent, the editor, the comp titles, the "what's selling right now." And look — data and outside perspective matter. Decades of expertise count for something.
But the truth is, every single decision comes down to a judgment call only you can make. And if you've spent years talking yourself out of your own instincts, that moment gets a lot harder.
Which brings me to this week's pod guest, Denise Soler Cox.
Her new book, What Will They Say?, is literally built around this tension — the voice in your head asking "what will they say?", versus the truth you actually need to tell.
She spent years drawing out the cultural patterns that keep women — especially Latinas — quietly sabotaging their own success by staying small, staying silent, staying safe.
Writing What Will They Say required her to trust her gut enough to say the unsayable thing, on the page, in public, forever. And she listened to her gut relentlessly, even when a book deal was on the table, she moved in a different direction.
Many authors I've worked with hit the point where the outside advice and the gut-check don't agree — and the ones who finish, who publish something true, are the ones who learn to trust the gut and take the advice in stride.
Denise is a sought-after voice on culture, identity, and belonging. She has spoken on over 400 stages, including two TEDx talks and SXSW 2026. She has partnered with Ralph Lauren, Amazon, Microsoft, and L'Oréal, among others — and in 2020, Apple Podcasts North America recognized her podcast The Self-ish Latina as both a Featured Podcast and Featured Host, with listeners in 32 countries. She has appeared as a culture expert on NBC Nightly News, and her work has been featured in Forbes, CNN and PBS.
I sat down with Denise for this week's episode of Bound & Determined and we got into all of it — the fear, the family stuff, the moment she decided her story was worth telling anyway. If you've ever felt that tug-of-war between your gut and everyone else's opinion, you need to hear this one.
