From Shy To Shine My Daugthers Bold Leap

What if your greatest growth lies just beyond your fear?

In this heartwarming episode of Achieve From Inner Peace, Dr. Matthias Hombauer shares a deeply personal story — how his 9-year-old daughter, once too shy to speak in class, stepped into courage by interviewing a global ocean leader.

From nervous beginnings to a fearless, joy-filled moment of pride, this story captures what it truly means to lean into discomfort — not from fear, but from love.

Matthias reflects on the importance of creating safe spaces for growth, being a role model through action, and teaching our children (and ourselves) that courage doesn’t mean not being afraid — it means doing it anyway.

This episode is an invitation to rediscover your own edges — and to remember that you’re capable of far more than you think.

 

“Courage isn’t the absence of fear. It’s the choice to move through it.”

Let’s start a conversation. 🌐 Website: matthiashombauer.com

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
From classroom quiet to global Spotlight.
Here is how my daughter turned shy whispers in the classroom to a fearless interview with an ocean hero.
Today I want to talk about my 9-year-old daughter and.

(00:22):
A couple of weeks ago, she came to me and said, dad, I'm giving this talk in my school.
She's now in fourth grade and we need a topic and I want to talk about Sea Shepherd.
And I was like, what? I was blown away.
That's cool.
Uh, for all of you who don't know what's who Sea Shepherd is.

(00:45):
Sea Shepherd is a worldwide, uh, ocean conservation.
NGO and I had the pleasure to work with a couple of guys, especially with Marcus, who is not only the director of Sea Shepherd, Austria, but also, uh, manages the global fleet.

(01:05):
And the crazy thing about it's that he is, uh, living like an hour drive from me.
So I immediately turned to my daughter and said, that's so cool that you want to talk about Sea Shepherd.
And what are we going to do is we are going to interview Marcus because he is the leader.

(01:29):
He knows everything about it.
And she said, that's awesome.
Let's do it.
So last week, it was a Friday, we drove to his, his hometown, and we met in a cafe, and my daughter was pretty nervous in the car.
She said, oh, I'm, I'm really anxious about this, you know.
Can we turn back? Um, and I said, no, you're going to do this.

(01:54):
You know, it's normal to feel nervous, to be nervous in this kind of situations.
And for me, I framed it as if I'm feeling this feeling, that's rocket feel, because I know if I go through it, there is what the real growth is.

(02:14):
And she's like, yes, let's do it.
The really cool thing about it is that a couple of years ago, she was so shy in class that she didn't even talk to her teacher, and the teacher came to us and said, Hey, we need to do something.
Mia is too shy, she's not talking.

(02:35):
And here sitting next to me, this my 9-year-old daughter being ready for interviewing like a global ocean leader.
For the first time, so I was so, so proud of her already, and it wouldn't matter how this interview would turn out.

(02:59):
I know that there is so much growth for her only by showing up only to be in this situation and.
Exploring.
So we, we met Marcus at the cafe, um, and they set everything up, you know, I had my mics with me and, uh, and in the car we, we wrote down some, some questions.

(03:29):
So my daughter had her own book, a little booklet.
She wrote like 20 questions and two bonus questions.
Um, and then they were sitting.
Uh, next to each other.
And Mia started the interview and as if she had performed this like hundred of times, she was so confident just talking about her que asking the questions, uh, you know, being present.

(03:57):
There was even eye contact.
So this was really, really beautiful to witness.
And, uh, by the end, she.
Also, uh, asked two bonus questions, which were like, uh, one was really ridiculous.
And, uh, that was, was really, really cool that she brought this as well.

(04:18):
Um, and by the end when we drove back, Mia said, my daughter, this was the best day of my life, dad.
And so what I'm learning is I want to be a role model for my kids, and not only for my kids, but.
I want to be a role model, and the best way to be a role model is to invite them into your world.

(04:48):
Show them what's possible, give them opportunities where they can thrive, or they can experiment what they can feel safe.
I could have said, you know what, it's too much work to do an interview.
Let's go to Jet GPT, find some data.
And it's, anyhow, just a 10 minutes talk.
It's cool, you know, don't rush it.

(05:09):
But for me it was important.
And here is the, here's the thing, yes, Mia was really shy in the beginning, but she could change and she's now doing a 20 minutes interview.
With an ocean leader.
So this also shows like we are capable.

(05:31):
You are capable of everything you want.
Stop playing small.
You know what's the worst case that can happen if you go outside your comfort zone and be wild, do an interview, you know, go on stage, do a keynote, whatever it is, whatever gives you the edge.

(05:54):
There is the growth, and I want to invite you to find something in your life where there is an edge, where there is something uncomfortable, and I want you to lean into that.
Not from fear, but from being courageous and despite of fear, you're doing it anyhow.

(06:22):
So what is one thing in your life where you are playing on the edge, where you feel like if I'm leaning into that, that's going to be uncomfortable and you know that this is where the growth is? Let me know.
Loving you guys.