Why the Stories We Edit Are the Ones Others Need Most, with Maria DeLorenzis Reyes
Tricia Brouk helps high-performing professionals transform into industry thought leaders through the power of authentic storytelling. With her experience as an award-winning director, producer, sought-after speaker, and mentor to countless thought leaders, Tricia has put thousands of speakers onto big stages globally.
Being able to support authors and speakers in using their voices for impact is a privilege, and I had the pleasure of sitting down with Maria DeLorenzis Reyes to talk about her powerful new book, "Unedited: Women’s Stories of Truth, Identity, and Transformation That Shape Leadership".
Maria created and produced this collaborative book project and wrote it alongside seven other women, each bringing her own deeply personal story of identity, courage, loss, reinvention, and becoming. Together, their stories explore the experiences that shape who women are, how they see themselves, and ultimately, how they lead.
At its heart, "Unedited" asks a question many women will recognize: What happens when we stop editing ourselves to fit the expectations of everyone around us? It is a book about the labels we inherit, the truths we silence, the identities we outgrow, and the freedom that becomes possible when we decide to tell the truth about who we are. Because when women stop editing themselves, leadership changes.
Maria, why did you write this book?
I created "Unedited" because I have spent my career watching what happens when people feel they have to edit themselves in order to belong, succeed, be accepted, or be seen as a leader. Women, in particular, become very good at editing.
We learn when to be quieter. When not to be “too much.” When to make ourselves more palatable. We carry labels that were handed to us by families, relationships, workplaces, culture, and sometimes by one moment that changed the way we saw ourselves. Over time, those labels can become stories we begin to believe.
I wanted to create a project that challenged that. So I developed and produced "Unedited" as a collaborative book and invited seven other women to join me in telling the stories that shaped us. I am not standing outside of these stories as the person who simply assembled them. I am in the book too. I wrote my own story alongside theirs, because I believe the power of this project comes from all eight of us being willing to go first, to tell the truth, examine the identities we have carried, and share the transformations that changed how we live and lead.
Each woman returns to a pivotal experience in her life and explores what happened, what she came to believe because of it, and who she became when she stopped allowing that moment, expectation, or label to define her. For me, this is also a leadership book because I do not believe we can separate who we are from how we lead. Our experiences walk into every room with us. They influence our confidence, our decisions, our relationships, our boundaries, and the cultures we create.
When we understand our own stories, we have the opportunity to lead with awareness of ourselves instead of old wounds, expectations, or performance. And when one woman tells the truth about her experience, something else happens: another woman recognizes herself in that story.
That is where connection begins. That is where possibility begins. That is where transformation begins.
What was the process of writing your book like for you? Did anything surprise you about it?
The process was much more emotional than I anticipated, not only as a writer, but also as the person who created and produced the project. There were really two journeys happening at the same time. I was writing my own story and confronting the parts of my identity and experience that I was willing to put on the page, while also holding the vision for the entire book and supporting seven other women as they found the courage and clarity to tell theirs.
I went into the project thinking about story, leadership, and impact. What I did not fully appreciate was what happens when you ask someone to revisit a moment that fundamentally changed the way she saw herself. You are not simply writing about something that happened. You are meeting an earlier version of yourself again.
For each of us, there were moments we had explained away, minimized, compartmentalized, or simply moved beyond because life required us to keep going. Writing asked us to slow down and look again, not only from the perspective of the woman who originally experienced it, but from the perspective of the woman we have become. That was incredibly powerful.
What surprised me most was how universal the emotions were, even though the stories themselves were completely different. The circumstances were different. The labels were different. The ages and experiences were different. But underneath them were emotions almost every human understands: wanting to belong, questioning your worth, feeling like you are too much or not enough, losing trust in yourself, finding your voice again, and deciding who gets to define you.
I also watched something extraordinary happen among the eight of us. The more honest one woman became, the safer it became for another woman to be honest too. That reminded me that vulnerability is not weakness. Used intentionally, it creates connection. Connection is often where transformation becomes sustainable.
There were certainly moments when I thought, “Do I really want to put this part of myself on the page?” I know some of the other women experienced versions of that same question. But that is exactly why the book is called "Unedited." The stories we are most tempted to remove are often the stories someone else most needs to read.
What do you want the reader to feel while reading your book, and what do you want them to do after reading it, Maria?
First, I want the reader to feel seen. I want there to be moments when she stops on a page and thinks, “I thought I was the only one who felt that.”
That is one of the reasons I wanted this to be a collaborative book rather than only my story. Eight women can offer eight very different windows into truth, identity, struggle, and transformation. A reader may not see herself in every circumstance, but I believe she will recognize herself in the emotions underneath them.
I want readers to experience the full range of the book: recognition, discomfort, compassion, hope, courage, maybe even anger. But ultimately, I want them to feel possibility. Possibility that the story they have been carrying does not have to remain the story that defines them. Possibility that they can question a label they accepted years ago and reframe it. Possibility that they can become more honest about what they want, what they believe, and who they are now.
When they finish the book, I do not want them simply to close it and say, “Those were powerful stories.” I want them to turn the question toward themselves. Where am I still editing myself? Where am I making myself smaller to keep someone else comfortable? What label am I still carrying that no longer belongs to me? What truth have I been afraid to say out loud? What would change if I trusted myself enough to live and lead from that truth?
Then I want them to do something with the answer. Have the conversation. Set the boundary. Tell the story. Take the opportunity. Make the change. Use their voice. Because transformation does not happen simply because we understand something differently. It happens when we begin showing up differently.
How does this book tie into your work in the world? Where can we buy your amazing book, Unedited: Women’s Stories of Truth, Identity, and Transformation That Shape Leadership?
This book is deeply connected to the work I have been doing for decades, and in many ways, it is an extension of the conversations I have been having with leaders throughout my career. Whether I am coaching a chief executive officer (CEO), working with a leadership team, speaking to an organization, or helping someone navigate a personal transformation, so much of my work comes back to the same fundamental question: Can who you are and how you lead exist in the same room?
For a long time, leadership was associated with having the answers, projecting confidence, maintaining control, and keeping the personal separate from the professional. I believe leadership is evolving and becoming what it needs to be in this moment. The leaders who create meaningful connection and cultures that perform at a high level are increasingly the ones willing to lead with awareness of themselves, curiosity, courage, humanity, and truth.
That does not mean sharing everything or leading without boundaries. Authentic leadership is not about having no filter. It is about not abandoning yourself in order to lead. That is the bridge between "Unedited" and the work I do every day.
Creating and producing this book also allowed me to bring that belief to life in a different way. Rather than simply talking about authenticity, identity, vulnerability, and transformation, I invited seven women to join me in demonstrating what those things actually look like in real lives. I wrote alongside them because I wanted the book to reflect the same leadership principle I ask of others: if we are asking people to show up honestly, we have to be willing to do it too.
When we understand the experiences that shaped us, we become more conscious of how we show up. We recognize our triggers, question our assumptions, understand our biases, make more intentional decisions, and create environments where other people have permission to bring more of themselves into the room too. That changes people. It changes teams. Ultimately, it changes cultures.
"Unedited: Women’s Stories of Truth, Identity, and Transformation That Shape Leadership: is available now, and readers can learn more and find out how to get their copy here. My hope is that people will not only read the book, but share it, gift it, talk about it, and use it to begin conversations that perhaps they have been waiting a very long time to have. Because one person choosing to tell the truth gives someone else permission to do the same.
About Maria DeLorenzis Reyes
Maria DeLorenzis Reyes is a leadership expert, executive coach, author, speaker and founder of MDR Brands and Training Innovations. Having worked with more than 1,600 organizations and trained over 400,000 professionals, Maria helps leaders create cultures rooted in authenticity, courage, connection, and belonging. She is the creator and producer of "Unedited," a collaborative book she coauthored with seven women, and the host of the Finding the Upside podcast and TV show.
Read more from Tricia Brouk
Tricia Brouk, Founder of The Big Talk Academy
Tricia Brouk helps high-performing professionals transform into industry thought leaders through the power of authentic storytelling. With her experience as an award-winning director, producer, sought-after speaker, and mentor to countless thought leaders, Tricia has put thousands of speakers onto big stages globally. She produced TEDxLincolnSquare in New York City and founded The Big Talk Academy. Tricia’s book, The Influential Voice: Saying What You Mean for Lasting Legacy, was a 1 New Release on Amazon in December 2020. Big Stages, the documentary featuring her work with speakers, premiered at the Chelsea Film Festival in October 2023, and her latest passion is the new publishing house she founded, The Big Talk Press.
