Are you called to more but terrified to be seen doing it?

In this episode of Her Faith at Work, Jan Touchberry goes deep into the fear that keeps so many faith-driven women entrepreneurs playing small: the fear of visibility. Through honest reflection, Biblical wisdom, and the powerful words of Rachel Wortman — “To steward your calling well, people need to know you exist” — Jan confronts the spiritual and strategic blocks that keep women entrepreneurs from stepping fully into their God-given assignments.

If you’ve ever said, “I’m waiting on God’s timing,” or “I’m just being humble,” when really, you’re battling fear and perfectionism, this episode will speak directly to your soul.

What You’ll Learn

• What “fear of visibility” really is — and why it’s more than a marketing issue
• How Biblical leaders like Moses, Gideon, and Esther overcame their fears to walk in obedience
• Why visibility is not about self-promotion but faithful stewardship
• How staying hidden can cost you kingdom impact
• 5 practical strategies to build visibility courage and confidence
• How obedience (not polish) leads to transformation and profit in your faith-based business

Scripture + Wisdom Highlights

• “Ready is not a requirement for obedience.”
• “Your voice isn’t just for you — it’s for the person God has assigned to your obedience.”
• Rachel Wortman’s quote:

“To leap you have to be visible, and to be visible, you have to face head on what you hope people don't see.”

• Esther 4:14: “Perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.”

Perfect For You If...

• You're a Christian entrepreneur building a faith-based business
• You want business growth strategies rooted in faith, not hustle
• You’ve struggled with imposter syndrome, comparison, or playing small
• You know visibility is important, but it feels overwhelming or even unsafe
• You desire kingdom impact, not just influence

Next Step: Join the Visibility Blueprint Workshop

Are you ready to stop hiding and start stewarding your voice with boldness and grace?

👑 Join Jan for the Visibility Blueprint Workshop — a live, half-day event designed for Christian entrepreneurs who are ready to show up in obedience and build visibility God’s way.

You'll walk away with:

• Clarity on what’s been holding you back
• A Spirit-led, personalized strategy for visibility
• Tools to show up consistently and confidently in your business

👉 Save your seat now at jantouchberry.com/visibility — spots are limited!

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Transcript

Have you ever felt called to more, but terrified to be seen doing it? Maybe you know there's something that God is asking you to build or to share, but the idea of putting yourself out there literally makes you want to crawl under a blanket and binge Netflix instead.

If that's you, today's episode is going to speak straight to your soul because hiding might feel safe, but I'm telling you it's likely not what God is calling you to. So today we're going to talk about it.

Let's get after it. Thank you. Hey there friends, welcome back to Her Faith at Work. I'm so glad that you are here today because we are going to go deep, not just into your business strategy, but like straight into the heart deep.

We're diving into the fear of visibility. And let me just say, I think that this is probably going to challenge you in the best of ways. In business and even sometimes in life, many of us say that we want growth.

We say we want more clients, we say we want more impact, but we're also scared to death of being seen. Seen in our vulnerability, seen in our imperfection, seen when we don't fully feel ready, raising both hands for all of that.

We say things like, I'm just not sure what to post or I don't want to seem like I'm bragging or I'll show up when I feel more confident. But let me ask you, what if that, all of that is not really humility?

What if it's the fear of visibility dressed in spiritual language? And then I want to talk about the unspoken fears that can drive us. I don't like my teeth. I need to lose some weight. I don't like the way.

sound or look in video. Let me tell you, we need to get honest. Okay. Those are all just excuses and I'm not judging you. I do it too, but I'm saying that we do need to invite the Lord to speak into the fears and then call us up out of staying in that space.

Fear of visibility. What do I mean when I say that really? Like what is, what is the fear of visibility? I think it boils down to the fear of exposure. Nobody likes to feel exposed or maybe for some of you it's the fear of being judged or the fear of failing publicly.

It's fear of showing up online and hearing crickets. or worse, being criticized. It's the fear that if the people who really know you might, they just might not approve of what you're doing. And we cover it up with all kinds of things, right?

These, these holier than thou moments. I want the Lord to promote me, or I want to make sure it's excellent before I launch because the Lord deserves excellence. I'm waiting on God's timing. All of that is true.

And I'm not saying that we shouldn't live through those lenses, but if those lenses are holding us back as excuses, there's a problem there. And it's a little bit of a truth bomb because sometimes waiting can be obedience, but sometimes waiting is avoidance.

And I think we have to be honest with ourselves and ask the question, when we're waiting, which one is it? Are we being obedient to the Lord because he's asked us to wait? Are we being disobedient to the Lord because we're avoiding due to fear?

All right. It is funny how when God calls you to something. Do y'all know what the reticular activating system is? It's this little thing that, that God has put in the back of our brainstem. I think don't, you know, don't quote me on that.

If you're like a sciency person, you're like, that's not where it is, Jan. Okay. In my mind is somewhere in the back of your head. Okay. It's attached to your brain. And what it does is once you're aware of something, you start to see it and hear it all over the place.

Well, I think the Lord does that to us too. It's not necessarily part of the reticular activating system, but it, at least he does that for me. Right. So when he is speaking something to me, I'll just speak internally.

Okay. When he's speaking something to me, I start to hear it and see it all around me as this confirmation, like he's tapping me on the shoulder. Do you get it? Do you get it? Do you get it? Do you get it?

like that with me about the subject of visibility for the last, I don't know, six months, maybe not quite six months, but it's been a long time, right? Since I started talking about visibility here on the podcast, which has been at least the last quarter, I'm seeing it and hearing it everywhere.

And this last week was no exception. Now, y'all keep in mind that I plan my podcasts out in bulk weeks in advance. So this topic was on my podcast calendar at the beginning of this quarter. So beginning of October.

And last week I was on a Zoom call with one of my friends, Rachel Wartman, shout out to Rachel. She's amazing. And she happened to be talking about visibility. Coincidence? I think not. And she said something that was so good.

I'm going to actually include a couple of her quotes because I was like madly taking notes as she was talking. But in this particular moment. She said, to steward your calling well, people need to know that you exist.

And for people to know that you exist, you have to be visible. Yeah. Visibility, friends, is not all about self-promotion, although sometimes for some people it is. And that feels gross and everybody knows that it feels gross.

But I'm trusting that the Lord has called you to something and you are not that, okay? So visibility for you, I'm sure, it's not about self-promotion. It's not about that. What it is about is stewarding your gifts, the gifts and talents and abilities and calling that the Lord has given you.

So often we think, well, I'm going to be visible after I figure it all out or after I clean it up or after I feel like it's polished enough. But friend, the visibility and the journey of going through the visibility is where we get refined.

It's in the showing up that God begins to sharpen us. He begins to shape our voice. He begins to teach us and train us. He begins to connect us to the very people that we are called to serve. Now I'm going to be honest, some of my most impactful content, like the stuff that people message me about that they, it stops them long enough for them to shoot me a DM or reply to an email or send me a text message.

Those things, those things usually happen out of a messy or an uncertain or even tear stained moments. It's not the polished ones typically. It's the times that are, that feel yucky to me because they're so vulnerable.

Those are the ones that deeply resonate with people. It's that Instagram live where I almost didn't hit go because I didn't feel qualified enough. Or I second guessed, what if somebody saw it and I didn't have a verse, right?

Or my theology wasn't quite right according to them or, you know, whatever fill in the blank. It's the story that I posted where I wondered if I was being a little bit too much, too vulnerable, too out there, too exposed.

It's the voice memo that I sent to somebody during a rough week, how, what if they take it the wrong way? Those are the moments that God has used, not the polished reels or the perfect carousels or the incredibly planned out to the T perfectly edited podcasts or YouTube videos.

So if you're waiting to be ready, I'm going to say this as gently as I possibly can that is true to my Enneagram ateness. Ready is not a requirement for obedience. Ready is not a requirement for obedience.

Now as I always try to do, I want to bring this back to the model that is given to us in the Bible. Okay. So where do we see this in the Bible? I want to talk about some patterns that we see about how God works with his people.

And mind you, there are many more that I am not going to go into because I want to keep this podcast episode to where it's not too long. But in Exodus chapter four, Moses, I love Moses. I identify with him so much.

He was called, but he resisted. Okay. If you know the story, if not go back and read Exodus four. Well read all of Exodus is actually fabulous. But in this particular chapter, he's resisting. God's telling him to go and he's like, no, I don't think so.

It's not because he didn't believe in God. It's because he did not believe in himself. He says, I stutter. He said, they won't listen to me. I'm not a good speaker. And God didn't argue with him about whether any of that was true.

He just said, go and I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say. And I think the same is true for us, right? If God is calling us to go, he's not going to argue with any of the imperfections that we're trying to work on or we have to deal with because he already knows, but he will go with you and he'll be with your mouth and teach you what to say.

God does not need your perfect delivery. He needs your availability, period. Now, I want to turn our attention to a lesser known character of the Bible, but you've probably heard of him. His name is Gideon.

He's actually another of my favorite characters. And Gideon was literally, if you read the whole story of Gideon in the Bible, he was literally hiding in fear and doing work in secret because of fear.

God shows up. He calls him a mighty warrior. Gideon is hiding, and God shows up and says, you are a mighty warrior. God speaks his identity to him before he felt ready, before he was actually living into being a mighty warrior.

God spoke it over him. He calls you to be visible before you feel visible, before you feel safe being visible. Why? Because God sees who he created you to be and what he called you to do. And he knows that he will go with you if you'll just be obedient.

Gideon had to step out. He had to step out from the shadows and get visible in order to live into the calling of being a mighty warrior, and he did. And then there's one of my... all-time favorites. I think she is probably one of the favorite female characters in the Bible, bar none, Esther, Queen Esther.

If you know her story, she was a Jewish girl. She was taken into the palace to be queen and she was chosen for such a time as this. She was positioned in the palace. She had every reason to hide. Her people, the Jewish people were getting ready to be annihilated.

She knew it and she knew that she had the power to go before the king and save her people. But she also knew that her life was on the line when she went before the king. He could have had her killed or banished all the things because he held the power and she did not.

But her Uncle Mordecai said to her, who knows, but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this. And let me tell you something. Just like Esther, you are in your position for a reason.

You're in this business for a reason. You have that voice, that passion, that story for a kingdom purpose. Your being visible is not about influence or fame. Although God may see fit to give you those as well, it's not about that.

It's about obedience to the one who put you there. Now, I don't want to pretend that any of this is easy because it's not. There is a real resistance to visibility, okay? There is a fear of being misunderstood.

There is a fear of spiritual attack. There is a fear of looking self-centered. But here's what you have to remember in all of this. When you hide, you might just be robbing others of a transformation that the Lord has in store for them.

Your voice is not just for you. It's for them. It's for her. It's for him. And when you silence it, somebody else might. stay stuck. Many of us feel like invisibility sounds good. It's comfortable, especially for us introverts.

I like being invisible, but I want to turn the conversation a little bit and talk about the price tag of being invisible because there is a price tag. It can cost us something when we stay hidden. It can cost us opportunity, can cost us alignment.

It can cost us impact. Maybe you haven't launched the offer yet because you're afraid of being visible. Maybe you haven't sent the email because you don't want to feel too pushy. Maybe you haven't told your story because you don't want to appear overly dramatic.

But what if your obedience friend is the answer to somebody else's prayer? In the Zoom that I was referring to earlier last week, Rachel said to lead, you have got to be visible and to be visible. You have to face head on what you hope people don't see.

What is that for you? Do you not like the way that you look? Do you not like the way that you sound? Are you unsure of how you come across? Are you unsure of the message or your calling? Like, do you need to get with the Lord and like talk to Him about it?

Friend, visibility really requires us facing what we hope nobody else sees. It means letting our imperfections be part of our message. It means embracing the truth that God uses the willing, not just the polished.

It means doing the hard work in the secret place with the Lord to confront your fears and to let you let Him help you deal with them once and for all. Get rid of them. Don't let the enemy keep you playing small, keep you being invisible.

He would, he would like nothing more than to keep us invisible because he knows that by us staying invisible, we might be silent enough that somebody else is going to stay stuck, is going to stay bound up.

But maybe the thing you're afraid to share is exactly what that person needs to unlock the freedom that the Lord has in store for them. Because if you're obedient and even 10 people see the thing that you put out into the world, if it's the 10 people that got assigned to your voice, it is enough.

It's more than enough. So let me say it again for those of you who a little bit discouraged. It is not metrics that define your impact. Your impact is measured by obedience and obedience to the kingdom of the Lord will always lead to fruit, always.

So true to form in this podcast, I want to get a little bit practical. So how do you build courage? Well, the first thing that you need to do is you need to journal about it. You need to ask the Lord, where am I hiding?

God, where are you asking me to show up? What stories am I scared to tell? What do I need to work on with you, Lord, so that I can fulfill the calling that you are putting on my life? And then get quiet and you need to listen and then take action there.

Okay, so that's number one. You're going to journal about it. Number two, practice micro visibility. What the heck is micro visibility? Have you ever seen what about Bob's super old movie? I don't know, back in the 1900s and Bob is scared of everything and his therapist tells him to take baby steps, baby step to the elevator, baby step outside.

Today, friend, I am proposing micro visibility, baby steps, just post one story. Or share one win with somebody or go live for three minutes or maybe speak at your small group, maybe your next step is to just pray out loud, say yes.

When someone asks you to pray, every yes is going to build your muscle, your visibility, muscle, and I'm telling you, it gets easier and easier and easier. All right. Number three, link your visibility with ministry.

Okay. You don't have to show up for applause. It's fine. It doesn't feel good. Show up for alignment with your calling. Ask who can I serve today by being seen. I was listening to a podcast. Oh, it's been a while now.

I don't, honestly, I need to look up her name because I quote this all the time. But this woman, she owns a rather large company and the company's main value is called hope. It's an acronym. And it goes through from the very tippy top as her, from her as the owner of this company to all the way down to every single worker that is involved with her company, they know that hope is their goal for the day.

Help one person every day. Help one person every day. For somebody in accounting, it's going to look very different than for somebody in marketing and for somebody in marketing, it's going to look very different than somebody who's working on an assembly line.

And for you, it's going to look a lot different than it looks. like for me, but who can I serve today by being seen? How can I help someone have hope? Help one person every day by being visible. Okay.

And then number four, you're going to invite feedback. You're going to ask a trusted friend or a mentor or a coach. How do you come across? How are you seen? Is there something that I'm not owning? And then make corrections and get better.

And then last but not least, get accountable. Visibility can lead to spiritual warfare, especially when it's hard for you. And so you need people in your corner to pray for you, to check in with you, to remind you of who you are in Christ and to remind you of what he's called you to do.

And so get accountable. I have a, uh, small group. It's just me and two other women. We meet every single Monday for about 30 or 45 minutes. And it's just a weekly check in. How you doing? How can we pray for you?

What do you need to be accountable for this week? And it has been invaluable. We've been meeting for a little over a year and I wouldn't trade it for anything. And I highly recommend it does not have to be formal.

It can be super simple, but get accountable. Find somebody that you can be accountable with. And then just remember that visibility is not about showing up just once. It's about becoming someone who doesn't hide anymore.

It's the repetition. It's the saying yes, the small yeses, the baby steps that lead to larger yeses and more yeses and more frequent yeses and then consistent yeses. And then it's not quite as scary anymore.

So friend, if this hits home, I want you to know this. We are all a work in progress. Somebody who doesn't seem to be fearful of being visible online, maybe they struggle with visibility in a different way.

So know that we're all there. Okay, we're all a work in progress. And the Lord is constantly building us more and more into his likeness for his purposes and his calling on our lives. We're being built for boldness.

We're being built for impact. And we're being built for visibility that honors God. So if you feel like this is something that God is calling you to, but you could use a little extra help from somebody with skin on, I created the visibility blueprint workshop.

And I would love to be that help for you if that's something that you feel like is a next step. So what is it, Jan? What is the visibility blueprint workshop? It's for the woman who knows that she's been hiding, that she knows that God's calling her something different, that she knows that she needs to be maybe pushed a little bit, and she's ready to step out in a obedience, but she needs some structure,

some systems, and some processes. So if you come to this workshop, it's a half-day workshop, you're going to walk away with clarity on your visibility blocks. You're going to know how to build your visibility through kingdom partnerships.

We're going to build together a spirit-led strategy for showing up for you. Everybody's going to be a little bit different. So we're going to keep the workshop small so that I can work with each one of you.

And we can really get into the nitty-gritty of what you need for your visibility blueprint. And just know that this may be the moment that God is calling you to say yes. So if you want more information on the workshop, you can find all the details at jantouchberry.com slash visibility.

Like I said before, spots are limited because I want to be able to work with each of you individually to get exactly what you need out of this workshop. So do not prefer. procrastinate. The first one is mid-January, so it's not too far away.

You can get signed up today. And as we sign off for today, just remember that your visibility is not about you. It's not. It's about who God wants to reach through you. So friends, show up. Show up scared, but do not stay hidden because your people are waiting.

They're waiting for you. Thanks for being here this week, and I will see you next time on Her Faith at Work. Have a great week. Thank you.