In this motivational talk, Caroline Cavanagh tells the story of Georgia, a young woman who once hid in a windowless art cupboard because of crippling anxiety. At 16, Georgia faced a life‑threatening robbery in a Nigerian hotel; her ability to step back from fear likely saved her and her mother. Cavanagh uses Georgia’s transformation—from a confined, anxiety‑driven existence to an international traveler and 23‑year‑old business owner—to illustrate two key lessons for business leaders. First, anxiety often stems from imagined risks; by questioning whether a risk is real or imagined, the perceived threat shrinks. Second, deliberately entering uncomfortable situations expands one’s comfort zone, fostering personal and professional growth. The speaker challenges listeners to identify their own “art cupboards,” consider how COVID‑induced restrictions have limited them, and deliberately practice discomfort to broaden their comfort zones. She reframes fear as a functional, evolutionary response rather than a purely negative force, urging leaders to help staff re‑evaluate risk and embrace growth.
Chapters
3:23 AM, a time that Georgia will never forget. She was on holiday with her mum in Nigeria, and in those small dark hours, something disturbed her. She opened her eyes to see the hotel room door inching open, and there, his body filling the doorway, was a huge man. What the— The tiny bit of light finding its way into the room around him glinted off something metal in his hand— a gun. How would you have reacted to that? Georgia's mum froze with terror, but Georgia got up, opened the safe, and stepped back. He reached in, took out the money, smiled at Georgia, and left. Georgia's reaction that night possibly saved both of their lives. Would you have been able to control your fear in the face of such risk? And here's the real shocker: Georgia was 16, and 2 years before that she had spent most of her school days hiding in a smelly windowless art cupboard due to crippling anxiety. At 14, her world was tiny because everything outside of that art cupboard scared her. In it, she felt safe. As business owners, is it possible that some of your staff have their own virtual art cupboards where they stay safe? How might safe be restricting your business? Georgia went from art cupboard to international traveller because she learned 2 things. Firstly, she learned to understand risk. Most of Georgia's anxiety was triggered by imagination. She worried not being able to answer the teacher's questions, but there were no teachers in her art cupboard. They were purely scenarios playing out in her mind. She feared having a panic attack, but she'd never had a panic attack— another imagined scenario. In our work together, Georgia learned to step back from anxiety and to ask herself, is this risk I'm facing real or imagined? She started to see that the imagined risks were vastly disproportionate to the real ones, and her relationship with risk started changing. She could see that what was really outside of her comfort zone Wasn't so scary. People often say, I have anxiety, but allow me to be blunt. Anxiety, panic, worry, they're all shades of the same colour: fear. But fear is a 4-letter F-word, and a bit like that other one, people feel uncomfortable using it. I want you to feel uncomfortable. Because the second thing that Georgia learned is that uncomfortable leads to growth. Play a little game with me, if you would, and simply cross your arms. Comfortable? Now open them and cross them the other way. Uncomfortable? We often refer to comfortable as our comfort zone. It's where things are easy, requires little effort. And as we're here today listening to these talks, I propose that most of us have had our lives restricted in some way by COVID— our businesses, relationships, social life. But now the restrictions are lifting. What would you like to be doing but are not because it's outside of your comfort zone? By going into uncomfortable and with a little bit of practice, You increase your comfort zone, find new ways of doing things. How could your life be improved with a bigger comfort zone? Georgia's comfort zone went from art cupboard to embrace Nigeria. Anxiety triggered by imagination replaced by the ability to manage fear in the face of life-threatening risk. By going into uncomfort, It came easier and easier, and at 23, she is now running her own business. The F-word is no longer uncomfortable. Fear is not a bad thing. Fear keeps us alive. Fear keeps us moving as part of that primitive fight-or-flight response. So stop believing it's anxiety that keeps us safe. Reflect on your relationship with risk and allow uncomfortable to help you, your staff, your business increase its comfort zone.
