Daring in Idaho helps women to discover their inner joy.
By Liza Long, Photography by Jim Peterson
Nancy Nadolski wasn’t planning on changing the world. Then one afternoon while folding socks and washing dishes, she listened to Brene Brown’s inspiring viral TED talk on the power of vulnerability. Nadolski, a a nurse practitioner who has a private practice in psychiatry and insomnia medicine at North End Psychiatry Associates, signed up to attend one of Brown’s three-day intensive workshops in Salt Lake City, and it changed her life.
“The permission slips offered each day were what I needed to be vulnerable and unpack a box of shame I’ve carried since age 8,” Nadolski wrote to me. “I finally owned a life story that fueled my default negative thoughts of ‘Who do you think you are?’ and ‘You are never enough.’”
After Brene Brown’s talk went viral with more than 25 million views to date, the University of Houston research professor decided that she wanted to start a global conversation about shame and vulnerability. Determined to understand the dynamics of how we connect with others, Brown developed The Daring Way™ curriculum, followed by Rising Strong last summer.
After completing the workshop, Nadolski connected with Diane Hakes, social worker rock star of 26 years, who was the first person in Idaho to complete The Daring Way™ facilitator training. Hakes was in the first group of facilitators trained by Brown in San Antonio, Texas. She has been employed in agencies as a counselor and is the social worker at St. Luke’s Newborn Intensive Care Unit.
Hakes now uses Brown’s approach in her own private practice. The Cancer Connection has employed her to facilitate The Daring Way™ for cancer survivors and their care givers and supports. “The shame and vulnerability of a diagnosis of cancer instills courage like I’ve never seen before,” she said. Hakes has facilitated workshops in McCall for St. Luke’s, and with Nadolski, she has begun to offer monthly weekend workshops and retreats for Treasure Valley women who want to free themselves from the narratives that have made them unhappy.
