Nobody Cares. And That Should Set You Free.
It was 2016. I was sitting in Jason Sisneros’s office, crying. Full-on ugly crying. Jason was someone I really respected in business. We didn’t know each other that well at the time, but when my world started falling apart he was the person I called. My business had collapsed. Everything I’d built was in pieces around me, and I was convinced the whole world was watching me fail.
Jason waited. He let me get it all out. Then he looked at me and said, “Are you done now?” (LOL.) “I’m going to tell you something that you need to remember, Leah. Nobody cares. Everybody is too busy worrying about the shit going on in their own lives. Nobody really cares about what is going on in yours.”
I sat with that for a minute. And then my whole viewpoint shifted and I was able to get on with cleaning up the mess and starting over.
He was right. The audience I’d imagined watching my failure? They weren’t watching. They were dealing with their own life and their own problems. The people I was sure would think I was done? They hadn’t even noticed. Or if they had, it was a passing thought or a passing conversation that didn’t matter at all in the grand scheme of things. The catastrophe I’d built in my head was a one-woman show with no audience.
That conversation changed how I approached everything after it. Jason went on to become a trusted friend and mentor. But that day in his office, he gave me the most valuable piece of business advice I’ve ever received.
The Fear Nobody Names
Most people I talk to who are sitting on the sidelines of building an online business, who haven’t posted the content, who haven’t launched the offer, who haven’t started using AI even though they know they need to, are not stuck because of a skills gap.
They’re stuck because they’re terrified of being seen.
They don’t see it that way. They say they need to learn more first. They’re waiting for the right strategy, the right timing, or the right moment that never actually comes. And they keep on waiting because it never comes. But underneath all of that, the actual thing stopping them is the fear that someone they know will see them try something new and judge them for it.
A former coworker might see their content and think they’ve lost it. A family member might roll their eyes. Someone from church might question why they’re suddenly talking about AI or online business or content creation.
And so they do nothing. They sign up for another course. They watch more tutorials. They save more posts. They tell themselves they’re “getting ready.” But getting ready has become their permanent state because actually doing something means being visible. And being visible means being judged.
The Excuse That Just Expired
Here’s what’s different now. Two years ago, you could tell yourself the reason you hadn’t started was because you didn’t know how to write content, didn’t know how to build a funnel, didn’t understand personal branding, or couldn’t figure out the tech.
AI eliminated ALL of those excuses.
You can sit down with Claude or ChatGPT right now and draft a week of content in an afternoon. You can build a content creation strategy with AI walking you through it step by step. You can use AI to help you clarify your offer, write your emails, structure your online business, and plan your growth. The tools exist. They’re accessible. And many of them are free.
So what’s left?
The fear. That’s it. The skill barrier is gone. The tech barrier is effectively gone. The cost barrier is lower than it has ever been. The only thing standing between most people and actually building something is the story they’re telling themselves about what other people will think.
And Jason already gave you the answer to that one.
What This Actually Costs You
The fear of being seen has a real cost, and it compounds.
Every month you spend consuming instead of creating, someone with half your expertise is building an audience because they weren’t afraid to start. Every week you spend “getting ready,” the people who started six months ago are getting further ahead and building proof you could have had too.
I’ve watched it happen over and over in my own community. Good, smart, capable people who know more than most of the creators they follow, sitting silent because they’re afraid of what someone might think.
Meanwhile, the person who posted the imperfect reel, who launched the messy first version of their offer, who started the content and figured it out as they went? They’re six months into building something real. Their personal branding is developing. Their business growth is compounding. And the people watching them aren’t judging. They’re buying.
Nobody was watching you NOT start. And nobody is going to judge you for starting. They’re too busy worrying about their own life. Jason was right.
The Part That Actually Matters
AI removed the skill excuse. And in doing so, it exposed the real one.
Before AI, you could hide behind “I don’t know how.” Now that AI can help you draft content, research your niche, structure your offer, build your systems, and get your first version out the door, the hiding place is gone. The only question left is whether you’re going to do something with what’s available to you.
And I get it. I sat in Jason’s office covered in tears and snot, convinced the world was cataloguing my failures. The fear felt enormous. But it was a lie. Nobody was keeping score except me.
Your fear of what people will think is not protecting you. It’s costing you. Every day it keeps you from starting an online business, from posting content, from building something that could create real provision for your family, it takes a little more from you. Not dramatically. Quietly. The kind of cost you don’t notice until you look up one day and realize you’ve been “getting ready” for two years.
What I’d Tell You Right Now
Start before you feel ready. Use AI to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Post the content that scares you a little. Build the offer even though it won’t be perfect. Let the first version be rough.
Nobody is watching as closely as you think they are. And the few who are? They’re probably more impressed that you started than they’d ever be critical of how you did it.
The tools are here. The excuse is gone. The only thing left is the decision.
AI in Action starts Monday.
Seven days. Seven live sessions with me. One hour a day. We build real systems together, not theory, not “here are some prompts,” actual builds you walk away with and use.
Day 1 you map the three places in your business where you’re doing labor AI should be doing instead. Day 2 we extract and document your voice fingerprint live so AI stops making you sound like everyone else. By Day 7 you’ve built a personal AI governance document and a 90-day action plan that outlasts the challenge.
It’s free. Replays go into the private community.
If that conversation with Jason landed for you the way it landed for me, this is your next move. Stop getting ready. Come build something.
Register for AI in Action LIVE
PS. Jack asked me this morning what I was talking about on my stories. I told him I was trying to help people stop being scared. He said, “Of what?” And honestly? That’s the whole point. Most of the things we’re afraid of don’t make sense when an eleven-year-old asks you to explain them.