Daring Breakthrough Podcast: You're Already Visible. You Might As Well Take Control of It.

You are visible whether you like it or not. So you might as well take control of it.

That line hit me right between the eyes during this conversation, and I think it will hit you too.

In this episode of Daring Breakthroughs, I sat down in person (yes, finally in person, after two failed recording attempts) with Beth Jensen and Alicia Schumacher, the co-founders of Bold Identity Studio. I had just finished their Bold Start Program, and we were all still riding the high of what happens when you bring women of impact into the same room with the right questions and the right intentions.

We got into it. The real stuff. Why we hedge our own success stories. Why "selling" feels gross when it doesn't have to. Why community is not a nice-to-have; it is the catalyst. And why investing in yourself is the most strategic move you can make, especially when the world around you feels uncertain.

Beth shared her story of leaving a nearly 30-year career in broadcast journalism to bet on herself. Alicia talked about losing her only sibling at 25 and how that loss reshaped her entire relationship with risk. Both of them are proof that breakthroughs are designed, not discovered.

Because here's what I know for sure: success is a team sport. No one breaks through alone.

If you have ever felt isolated in your ambition, this one's for you.

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CONNECT WITH BOLD IDENTITY STUDIO

🌐 https://boldidentitystudio.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573880865909 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bold-identity-studio/

Beth Fuller Jensen LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethfullerjensen/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bethfullerjensen

Alicia Schumacher LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-schumacher-6694a97/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aliciaschumacherco

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If this episode resonated, LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and tell me in the comments: When is the last time you felt truly seen in a room?

Transcript

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I think when you speak about visibility, it's not a choice of do I want to be visible or not? You are. Oh. So you may as well take control of it. You may as well be strategic about it. People are still going to look you up. So, if you have to have it, you might as well take control of it. Welcome to Daring Breakthroughs, the podcast obsessed with helping professionals at all levels build unstoppable confidence, gain crystal clarity, and create powerful connections that give you a competitive edge. We share practical strategies and inspiring stories from daring people who have achieved remarkable breakthroughs. I know that if you can see it, you can be it, because I navigated my own career from Walmart to Wall Street, and my friend, you can too. I'm your host and the author of Break Up. Break In. Breakthrough, Jenn Landis. Today, I am joined by Beth Jensen and Alicia Schumacher of the Bold Identity Studio. With more than 30 years of experience in journalism, storytelling, and strategic communication, Beth Jensen has built her career around elevating voices that deserve to be heard. After leading South Dakota's largest newsroom as news director of Keloland News, Beth retired from the station in 2025 to fully step into her next chapter as co-founder of Bold Identity Studio. Beth is a visibility strategist and storytelling coach who helps women clarify their message, claim their space, and lead with purpose. Her gift lies in helping women uncover the heart of their story and shape it into a platform for impact. Beth's deep expertise, media instincts, and contagious enthusiasm make her a trusted guide for thought leaders, executives, and women entering their boldest chapter yet. Alicia Schumacher brings nearly two decades of experience in marketing, leadership, and digital strategy. After years leading corporate teams and managing high-level campaigns, she pivoted to create Bold Identity Studio and Bold Minds— two spaces where women can rise with clarity, confidence, and community. A coach and speaker, Alicia helps women leverage their lived experience to build powerful personal brands that open doors. With a background rooted in storytelling, she's passionate about guiding women to own their truth and show up unapologetically. Please join me now in studio with Beth and Alicia. Alright. I am so excited to be here today with my dear friends Beth and Alicia of Bold Identity Studio. Um, funny story, I have to tell you because I think you'll get a kick out of it. We talk a lot in this podcast about being real and keeping it real. Ladies, for real, this is our third, our third attempt at recording this podcast, which is why we are sitting in this same room together in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, because we decided technology was not going to get the better of us. So here we are, persevering as strong women do, and we are here to shoot a in-person podcast. And I'm so glad I'm here. So I'm going to tell you, I just got a chance to experience Beth and Alicia's program, the Bold Start Program, and that's actually where I want to start our conversation. We're going to go a little out of order, if that's okay. All right. I think we're all feeling the high of having powerful women in a room together, and you said it just a few minutes ago. It is amazing — if these walls could talk, they have heard some pretty powerful stories, so we're going to start there. Then I want to go into your daring breakthroughs because that's what we're all about here — helping people be inspired and understand that if you can see it, you can be it, and we just got to experience that. And then we will just see where the conversation goes from there, if that's okay? Mm-hmm. So what I'd like to do is start out with explaining to our audience what is Bold Start. What is this thing that gave us this euphoric high that we're currently riding off of so that they can understand? Uh, Bold Start is, I would say the cornerstone of of Bold Identity Studio. It was the first thing we thought of when we decided to create this business because we had heard that women feel stuck. They're craving clarity, and they're craving community, and there is nothing like sitting around a table with a group of women who are all supporting you and being vulnerable, and you're all working on becoming the best versions of yourself. That sisterhood, that friendship, that energy, the vibe is just so powerful, and it honestly, it's exceeded every anything I could have hoped for. Um, and I think when people come, they don't always know exactly what to expect because there isn't really anything else like it where you do the introductions and you share where you are and all of a sudden you think, oh my gosh, I have that in common with her and that in common, and I thought I was alone on that. And then you realize that we're all so very connected, and we're all here committed to improving ourselves. One of the things that we're constantly surprised by is that you can have somebody who is at a massive transition or a an inflection point, and they're in it and they're in a season of discerning, and it's hard for them to show up here, and they might not feel like they belong. And you can have somebody who just is maximizing, and they are on a high, and yet, you can sit around the table, and you can find those points that you say, yes, either I was there, but they can also give each other and glean that information back and forth, and we experience that every single time. So when you bring powerful women together, and you create a safe space, which is what you did, both in the curation of who was here, in, in other words, who you let join and sit around the table, but then also the tone that you set, the rules of engagement, right? And also just the, the powerful questions that you ask, you created a psychologically safe space for women to bring their best. So kudos to you guys. It's not easy to do. But also, you do it for a purpose. So what is the end purpose that you want these women to walk away from the Bold Start Program having besides community? That's, I mean, hard stop, that's huge just by itself. But what is the individual woman? What should she walk away with? I think it's helpful to have an action. First of all, um, one of our guests said it today. We don't always stop and think about ourselves. We don't always stop and think about our story. We don't have these kinds of discussions with people very often, and sometimes you have it with your partner or with your best friend, but it's incredibly different and more powerful in some ways to tell it to someone who is an acquaintance or a stranger and to hear their genuine appreciation and admiration, and support, that's very powerful. So we also, um, you know, I think we're really good at telling our kids stories, our partner stories, our business stories. But when it comes time to telling our own story, we qualify it. We hedge, we don't own the successes. We say, well, yeah, that sounds great, but you didn't know this didn't go my way, or this, I made this mistake, or this was an issue. And so we're hoping that our process gives clarity to women's stories so they can show up with confidence and increase their visibility to get whatever they want. So whether that's running for office or showing up as a thought leader, or launching a podcast, or starting a new business, or getting a promotion at work, we want them to use all the experience that they've had to get what they want next. I have Mic drop. I agree a hundred percent. So, Alicia, I have a question for you. Sure. So you're, you're the marketing guru of this dynamic duo, and I, I've thought about how would I describe Bold Identity Studio, and how would I describe Bold Start? And the way I've, I, I think about it, and I want you to chime in on this, but in my mind, this is about branding, but not for the sake of how you show up, but rather branding in a way that connects to who you are, authentically, the mission that you feel called to and how do you show up? And one of the things that came up— so two part question. Yeah. The first part is, I want to see if you agree with that and if there's anything you'd add to that. Secondly, we talked a lot today around this table about the discomfort of feeling like we were self-promoting. Mm-hmm. Simply by owning our worth, and I think that gets in our way a lot. And so I'd like to hear your perspective on, on both of those things, like how would you describe the Bold Identity from the perspective of of branding? And then secondly, this darn pesky thing of self-promotion? Both great questions. We talk about this often, and we chose these words very specifically. They're two really big, audacious words, Bold Identity, and studio is where you're sitting. But when you think about being bold in your brand, it is living authentically, and that is a very overused word, but I can tell you the women sitting around here, when they start to speak from their place of, of power and they feel like they know who they are, it things come out so naturally they don't even see it happening. From a marketing perspective, we say this often in some of our sessions is there's a, there's a lot of influencers in the world and people who want to be that, there's enough to go around, like that's not what we're trying to build here. And also, when you think about visibility, we use these words, your brand, where you're visible, and it doesn't mean that you have to show up in all the, these right places that the world expects you to show up. It's what makes sense and what is aligned with you. And so when I look at it from a marketing perspective, a, it's the the most fun kind of marketing I've ever done because it feels so authentic to me, and you're able to pull out that story. And the through line of our different clients and people around the table, for them to be able to show up in a way that it's finally clear, and they leave with that confidence. So today you talked about visibility, and you talked, you gave a little different definition to visibility because a lot of us think visibility is like billboard. Mm-hmm. Right? We're yelling or we're screaming, or we're everywhere on social media. And you know, we live in an age of influencers. And so, you and I have also discussed that definitions matter. Mm-hmm. So I want to hear your definition of the word visibility. When you stepped, I looked at around the room today, and when they stepped into this room, some of the women today, their first step was to show up here, and that made them visible in a way to be seen around the table. We think I was a media buyer, and if you know what that is, you, I bought billboards, and TV spots, and radio back in the day, and that was so, uh, what the world sees as visible in Beth, in her career in TV. Like that is what we liken to visibility. But it's not. And when we take these steps, and we're able to make ourselves more visible to the people who actually see us, like that, for me, is the definition. It almost sounds like visible is also available. Making ourselves available. So answer yes, and I agree. I think making ourselves available, also with some boundaries, because we don't have to make ourselves available to everybody. Yeah. Yeah. Do you want to add anything, Beth? I would just, I, yes, I completely agree with what Alicia was saying, and I think when you speak about visibility, it's not a choice of do I want to be visible or not? You are. Oh. So you may as well take control of it. You may as well be strategic about it. People are still going to look you up. You can say, la, la, la, I'm not on social media, la you know, I'm ignoring all of that, or I don't care about how I speak about myself. Okay, but that is still a kind of visibility. that is still a brand. So if you have to have it, you might as well take control of it and get credit for it. I love this. We, um, last month in February of 2026, we did a, uh, newsletter series about feedback. And one of the things I've always believed is that people are talking about you whether you are clued into that conversation or not. Mm-hmm. Wouldn't you rather know what they're saying so that you can manage that message so that you can be part of the discussion, and you can set the record straight where it needs to be, Right? Or at least influence those discussions, or not. Mm-hmm. Which is very similar to what you're saying here, right? We are visible whether we like it and are comfortable with it or not. I think that's such a, a key moment and a key thing to just really think about, and get comfortable with because we need to get comfortable with it. And that's whether you're, you plan to stay in your current role for the next 20 years, whether you're seeking a promotion, whether you want to leave and start something new. I mean, no matter what you want, you need to invest in yourself because you can't count on anyone or any business providing it for you the way you can do it for yourself. Mm-hmm. You know, just recently in the last few weeks, you've got Amazon, UPS, Pinterest, the Washington Post, cutting hundreds, thousands of jobs between them, and those are big, successful companies, and I'm sure a lot of those people felt very secure in their jobs. Yeah. You can't take that for granted. You need to invest in yourself, and again, even if you're not planning to go anywhere and you just want to show up as the best version of you, you need to do that and be intentional about it. I so agree. Do you want to say something? Well, when you were talking about this, I was thinking, going back to your question about sales and when you are your own security. We talk about this — if you are your own security. When you are showing up in a way that feels aligned with your values, your beliefs, all of those things, you're selling, like something, right? And I think that so many of us are, are worried about how we're going to show up in sales, and we don't want to put ourselves out there and feel too salesy. But even this morning, piggybacking off of the experience we just had, so many of the women didn't even understand that they were, quote-unquote, selling something, whether it was their passion about their business or their newfound, uh, experience that they just had. So we start to pick up on that, and we can feel when they actually start to go into, let's say the quote-unquote selling pattern, and we're like, that's what it is. It doesn't have to feel like a marketing message every time. Click here, buy more, learn this, learn that. And so it's, it's a unique way of thinking about it, but it takes a little bit of time and finessing to help them understand that it doesn't have to be how we know sales today. It's truly living who you are and showing up that way. So speaking of living who you are and showing up, let's talk a little bit about your individual breakthroughs, because I know you both have really incredible stories. So to the extent that you're willing to share, um, your breakthrough journey, I mean, you just retired from like a typical job. I did. Um, so I would love for people to understand that this isn't just something you teach, this is something that comes from lived experience, and that you, um, you really do live what you encourage other people to do, and I think it's important to highlight those stories. So would you mind sharing yours? Of course. Thank you. Um, right. I grew up, I knew I always wanted to be in news. Both my parents were print journalists, and I knew from grade school that I wanted to go into broadcast journalism. I love the video aspect. I loved everything about it. So, since literally second grade, this is exactly what I've wanted to do. I went to college for it. I did many internships in it. That was my first job, and then I've been lucky to work at Keloland Media Group for almost 29 years as a reporter, then a producer, executive producer, and news director, and I love that station. I love its legacy. I love what it stands for. I still believe deeply in what they're doing and and will always be their biggest fan, but I would say probably, two years ago, both of my kids had just graduated from high school, and I just started thinking like, I love my job. I'm really good at it. I was, and um, I just thought is, is this it? Like, this could be it. I'm 53. I could happily work here for the next 10 to 15 years. I love the people, I love the mission, but I just felt like maybe there was something else I was meant to do, and I spent some time sitting with that. And then, as Alicia and I launched this business, it became clear to me that this was so deeply aligned with me, and this work was so rewarding that this would be a great way to spend the next 10 to 15 years, and I have never been a risk-taker. I, you know, I've been with the same person for 30 years, married for 27. I lived in two houses. I've would, you know, had basically the same job for 30 years. Like for me to do change, it took a lot, but it was just really on my heart that I didn't want to be sitting, like in a nursing home or hopefully my house, thinking, what if I'd done that? What could I have done? What could I have accomplished if I'd gone out on my own? And so Alicia and I built this business last year, and it just became more and more clear to me that, this is how I want to spend the remainder of my working years, and it's so aligned, and it, it, a lot of ways it's the same. It's storytelling, it's finding the content in people's lives that will help them connect with other people and get what they want. And, um, yeah, and so in December I left Kelo, and now I'm here full time, and it's, it's been fantastic. Love that. Would you mind sharing your story, Alicia? We talk about the contrast. Beth and I have a lot of the same values and beliefs, and the way that we approached our careers have been different, and I would say that life taught me at a really young age that life is short and, uh, I think that risk has been just a part of my DNA for, for quite a while, and I, I feel like I can't tell parts of the story without telling a few pieces of the story. And so when I was 25, I have one biological sister and, uh, she passed away from cancer very suddenly in, in May of 2009. And, uh, so there was, I, I use the word identity, and it's been such a piece of me for my whole life, especially my adult life, because my identity really shifted then from an, an older sibling, um, to losing my only sibling. And so, the reason I share that is because it's so connected to my outlook. Life is absolutely short, and I know that it's overused, but it's so true. And so, uh, it taught me to grow up real quick when I was in my twenties, and my peers and my colleagues and my friends weren't going through things that I could see life differently with perhaps a different lens, and so, I had started out in the ad agency world. I actually have a broadcast journalism degree, and mine took me down the path of storytelling for businesses and the marketing side of things, and, uh, how my brain was wired. I really was just drawn to advertising. And so I spent time, uh, media buying, and then my husband and I, after my sister had passed away, we needed a minute to breathe and to figure out life. This was before we had our kids, and so we actually opened two stores together, they were retail stores in Iowa and Minnesota, and it kind of, um, solidified our relationship, and we needed that break to be able to like, um, we were very new in our marriage when my sister passed away. And so, uh, it gave us a minute to work together and to bond us. And so, then we decided that wasn't for us, and we moved back home, and I spent about 10 years in corporate healthcare marketing, and then the last three in more of the, uh, internet service provider entertainment side of things, uh, leading digital teams. And so I, I say all that because, it feels like a zigzag, and my path has not been clear. We hear women talk about this all the time that, like, you didn't have a linear path, and I think the beauty that Beth and I can show through our lived experiences, sometimes that path is straight and narrow from second grade to now. But she's taking a huge risk now. When we talk about our through lines and the patterns and the things that follow us all the time, I know what that is now, but when I was moving through it, it didn't feel like the clear path, and here we are today, right? And, uh, I think all of that to be said, it's, it's how you view it, and we can be so darn hard on ourselves. And we look around, and we see how other people have shown up, and you know, it can, you can do two things with it. You can get better, and you can say, okay, I'm going to take this and, and run with it, or you can be mad at the world and be bitter about how your path has went, and so the women that we have show up here, it's uh, it's pretty outstanding and remarkable to see the risks that they're taking at various stages of life, from anywhere from 20-some years old to 60-something. And I believe so fully in how the power of risk can just put you on the other side. And so, uh, wrapping all of that up in May of 2024, I, I left the corporate world and decided to take a pause. I call it the power pause. It's not mine to use. There's a great book out there on power pause, but I wanted to spend a couple months with my kids before they went into middle school, and so I took three months to myself and recalibrated and started building businesses. I love it. I often talk about a career path being a spaghetti bowl, right? It's rarely straight, and I would even say inside an organization, you ascended, but even that was not completely linear. There are always zigs and zags. Yes, that's true. So I think, um, thinking about it in that way, I think is, is really healthy and normalizes because we, I think when we're starting our careers, very often we think it's supposed to look a certain way and it never does. Even if we, you know, we had a, a young woman who's a college student in the group today. Mm-hmm. And by the end of the discussion I felt kind of bad 'cause we had talked her out of going into corporate. We sure did. And that that was not our goal whatsoever. Those were rich, vibrant learning experiences for us. Mm-hmm. We would not be the women we are today without having had those zigs and zags and that spaghetti bowl experience that teaches you so much, disappointment, success, we learn from all of it. Mm-hmm. So, I'd like to close our conversation today with a question. For you, if you could give our listeners one piece of advice about their identity and about how they show up authentically, what would that be? You are sitting across the table. You are walking across the street with somebody that literally, you feel so different and so isolated, and we all have such common things in our life that make us drawn to each other, sitting there today, I mean there were women that were so, so different yet, everyone had a commonality. You are not as important as you think you are, and that sounds so rude, right? When you say it like, I, I have a reaction, but it's true, and the more that we can break down our story and start to talk about some of these things that bond us, I believe that you become closer to your own identity because you realize that somebody else is out there that is experiencing it too. Yeah. We tend to be more alike than we realize. Yeah. What about you, Beth? Um, I think you're right. We, we do have so much in common, and I think a lot of the things that get shared at this table are not the things that typically come up in conversation. It's pretty deep, um, I, I, we never like to tell people at the beginning of introductions, but we have not made it through one bold table introduction without someone or multiple people crying. It's just we're all carrying so much. Yeah. The load is so heavy. Our standards are so high. We are so hard on ourselves, and then to hear your issue that you don't even talk about, maybe with your husband or your friends, mirrored in someone else who's sitting across from you that may again, may have been a stranger, is just the most powerful thing. And so I would, to answer your question, I would say really focus on yourself. Take time for yourself, invest in yourself. It's really important to listen to your intuition, that voice to your higher power and, and what's the worst that could happen, like, take that leap. Try. Those jobs will always be there. Corporate will always be there, and you need to bet on yourself. Love it. Alright. How can people get a hold of you? How can they find you to learn more about Bold Identity Studio, your programs, your coaching, all the things? Absolutely. You can reach us at boldidentitystudio.com. Our website is the best place to start. And then we are on Facebook and Instagram, both as Bold Identity Studio, and we are on LinkedIn as well, and Beth and I keep up with our personal accounts too, so. Any final words? We are just so thankful for you, Jenn. You are a very, kind and generous supporter. We were thrilled when we got the chance to meet you about a year ago in Chamberlain, South Dakota, and had have been keeping in touch ever since. And we just, you are the living example of a woman who supports women, and we feel so seen by you and are super fans of you. And so, thank you so much for the way that you show up and are so generous with your gifts. The feeling is entirely mutual. I love it. Alright, that's it for today's episode of Daring Breakthroughs. Thanks for joining me for this episode of Daring Breakthroughs. If you found value, I invite you to review, like, and subscribe. Remember to check the description for free tools and resources mentioned during today's episode. Also, let's be friends. I'd love to connect with you. You'll find me everywhere @AskJennLandis. That's Jenn with two Ns. And finally, if you need a speaker for your next event, visit jennlandis.com. Until next time, share one insight you gained today with a friend. Thank you for joining us. Make one bold move. We dare you.