A fellow veteran once said to me: "You're such an accomplished woman."
My actual response out loud, "Am I?"
I wasn't being falsely modest. I genuinely didn't know. Because I don't think much about my credentials:
B.A. in 2005—that was a long time ago
M.A. in 2022—took forever to finish
Military service—yet I never deployed to combat
Building this business—we're still small
Let me pause on that last one. Do you know the actual SBA definition of a "small business"? Depending on your industry, you can have 500 employees or make millions in revenue and still be classified as small.
But I was using "small" like it meant "not enough yet." Like it carried shame.
Being shameful and being humble are not the same thing. Humility recognizes gifts received. Shame dismisses value earned.
In 2007, Crystal was serving on military duty overseas when she received a Red Cross message that her mother had hung herself. When she returned overseas from emergency leave, she discovered that her tour of duty had been extended. Worse yet, for the next seven months, she faced repeated situations of sexual assault by a person who held a leadership position in her own unit.