Commit to Yourself – Building the Most Powerful Relationship to Lead with Growth, Presence, and Grace
- Dec 10, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 11, 2025
Samantha Regan is a business leader, designer, owner and founder of Fera Poppies LLC., By Samantha Regan.
Promise yourself a powerful relationship because it’s the most important bond you’ll ever forge. Leadership isn’t just about power, it’s about presence. For women, especially, leadership is an act of courage, to show up authentically, to hold your ground in rooms that weren’t designed for you, and to lead not just with intellect but with empathy, grit, and conviction.
When someone joins my team, whether as a colleague, partner, or intern, they’re not stepping into a job, they’re entering a culture. One defined by growth, presence, and responsibility. When you have a presence, others naturally follow. These are my 13 defining values, the guiding principles that shape how I lead and what I expect from those who choose to build alongside me. They’re not rules meant to restrict. They’re principles that built me, so I believe they will also build others:
1. Never assume you know anything
Curiosity is your greatest competitive edge. No matter your experience, never believe you’ve “figured it out.” The moment you stop asking questions, you stop growing. Confidence and curiosity are not opposites, they are partners. The best leaders are lifelong learners.
2. Report everything: Every detail matters
Women are often told not to “sweat the small stuff,” but the truth is, great leadership lives in the details. Clarity builds trust, and trust builds strong teams. Whether it’s an insight, a challenge, or a subtle shift in tone, communicate it. The small things shape the big things.
3. You’re a leader: Act like one
Leadership isn’t about waiting for permission, it’s about owning your presence. Don’t shrink your voice or second-guess your intuition. Lead with discernment, not doubt. Authority begins the moment you believe in your own judgment.
4. Expect betrayal: Keep going anyway
Not everyone will support you. Some will misunderstand you. Others will disappoint you. Keep going anyway. Integrity, resilience, and self-respect will carry you further than approval ever will. Strength is staying steady when others waver.
5. Do what’s best for everyone: Not just yourself
True leadership means balancing ambition with altruism. Every decision you make should serve the greater mission, not just your own goals. Success that’s shared lasts longer because it’s built on collective progress, not personal gain.
6. Train like an Olympian
Excellence isn’t gendered, it’s earned. Approach your work like an athlete in training, with consistency, precision, and purpose. Discipline is not the enemy of creativity, it’s what gives creativity its edge.
7. I’m your boss, not your cheerleader
As women, we’re often expected to nurture. But leadership isn’t about handing out constant validation, it’s about creating transformation. I’ll challenge you before I comfort you, because growth rarely happens in comfort zones. Empathy matters, but accountability changes lives.
8. Match your expectations with your effort
Ambition without aligned effort is a fantasy. If you demand excellence, embody it. Make sure your work ethic matches your goals. High standards mean nothing if they’re not supported by consistent execution.
9. I don’t have all the answers
Leadership isn’t about omniscience, it’s about openness. Admitting you don’t know everything is not a weakness, it’s wisdom. Collaboration creates innovation. Great female leaders build teams where every voice has value, and every idea is heard.
10. Have the audacity to speak up
Audacity is a muscle, build it. Speak the truth, even when it shakes the room. Your credibility is not built by being agreeable, it’s built by being honest. Courageous communication is the ultimate form of leadership clarity.
11. Smell your shit, own your decisions
The moment you start crowdsourcing every choice, you surrender your authority. Leadership requires decisiveness. Make the call. Stand by it. Learn from it. Accountability is the quiet confidence that earns lasting respect.
12. If you can’t starve with me, you can’t eat with me
Leadership isn’t glamorous, it’s grit. Behind every success are late nights, hard choices, and unseen sacrifices. Surround yourself with people who share your endurance, those who show up when it’s hard, not just when it’s easy.
13. Have fun
Joy is strategy. Energy is contagious. Build cultures where laughter fuels productivity and where passion doesn’t burn out purpose. Celebrate small wins. Have fun doing hard things, it’s the key to sustaining success.
14. Embrace the dark days: They’re where growth happens
Do not hide your missteps, bring them into the light. Each failure reveals where pride concealed ignorance, and each lesson earned through pain becomes the foundation of wisdom. The one who learns quickly is not the one who avoids error, but the one who faces it without shame and rises without complaint. Every leader faces moments of uncertainty. The darkest days often shape the brightest futures. Sit with discomfort. Learn from it. Growth doesn’t happen when everything feels right, it happens when you face what feels wrong and rise anyway.
Final thought
These principles are more than leadership advice, they are a way of life for women who choose to lead differently, curious, relentless, humble, and hungry to grow.
Because leadership isn’t about being perfect, it’s about being powerful, present, and progress-driven.
The world doesn’t need more women who play small. It needs women who lead big with vision, resilience, and grace.
Read more from Samantha Regan
Samantha Regan, Business Leader, Designer, Owner, Founder
Samantha Regan is a leader in making clothes, fashion and is redefining the landscape for luxury fashion. Samantha blends fashion, healing, somatic awareness and designing desire. She dedicates her life to helping others unleash their genius through clothes as a ritual of transformation.
