What if becoming unshakable requires being shaken first?
In this episode of Becoming Unshakable, I welcome Artesha Moore for a candid conversation about discomfort, failure, grief, identity, and the lifelong process of learning who you are beneath the armor you built to survive.
Artesha believes you cannot understand resilience without experiencing moments that test everything you thought you knew about yourself. From crying every day during her first senior leadership role to eventually becoming a CEO and discovering that success did not silence her inner critic, she shares how each difficult chapter forced her to confront another version of herself.
The conversation examines the difference between surviving and truly living. Artesha reflects on the armor she developed in response to adversity, discrimination, and professional pressure, and the realization that what once protected her was never her identity. She also speaks openly about grief, losing her sister and nephew, and why allowing herself to feel pain has also made her more present to joy, beauty, and the experience of being alive.
We discuss the pressure to perform, the courage required to admit when you are struggling, and the people who see something in you when you cannot yet see it yourself. They also consider why authenticity does not mean bringing every part of yourself into every room, how boundaries protect your energy, and why understanding the assignment can matter more than being the loudest or most visible person in the room.
At the heart of this conversation is a reminder that becoming unshakable is never a finished state. The challenges change. Old fears return. The things you thought you had overcome can appear again in new forms. What matters is developing the courage to keep learning, feeling, letting go, and trying again.
Artesha leaves listeners with a simple message for anyone facing grief, professional uncertainty, failure, or a difficult season of life: do not be ashamed of the messy parts of your story. They may become the experiences that teach you who you are and what you are capable of carrying.
Listen to discover why discomfort can become an advantage, how to recognize the difference between your identity and your survival armor, and what it means to keep becoming when life tests you again.
What have the most uncomfortable chapters of your life taught you about yourself? Share your thoughts and join the conversation.
About Artesha Moore
Artesha Moore, FASAE, CAE, is the President and CEO of Association Forum, the “association of associations” in Chicago. Founded in 1916, it has more than 3,000 members, who represent more than 44,000 association professionals from nearly 1,600 Chicago associations. These organizations serve 27 million individual members, have 9 million donors, and generate $10.3 billion annually in economic impact. Moore is an active contributor and strategist within the association management community with more than 25 years of professional leadership experience.
She has helped associations set and exceed aggressive membership and volunteer engagement goals throughout her career while integrating new technology solutions and strategies. She has had the opportunity to work with organizations that serve a variety of industries, including healthcare, engineering, and scientific research institutions. For more than two decades, she has worked tirelessly to create lasting structures that help identify volunteers and staff whose voices and ideas were not being heard and provide them with opportunities to lead. She has a knack for fixing uncommon problems by working from the inside out while empowering everyone around her.
Artesha holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and Management degree from the University of Maryland- Global Campus. She has been a member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) since 2001. She is a Certified Association Executive (CAE). She was inducted into ASAE’s Diversity Executive Leadership Program (DELP) in 2010. She was named one of Association Trends magazine’s Young and Aspiring Association Professionals in 2012. In 2021, she was selected for the ASAE Class of 2021 Fellows. She served as a faculty member at the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organization Management, where she developed a course to teach the new DEI curriculum. She has served on several ASAE committees and task forces. She is currently a member of the Choose Chicago Board of Directors. More importantly, she mentors the next generation of leaders, pushing them to find their own solutions to common and uncommon problems.
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About Heather R Younger, J.D., CSP
Heather R Younger, J.D., CSP is a highly sought-after speaker, 2x-TEDx speaker, diversity, equity and inclusion strategist, and contributor to leading news outlets. She is also the Founder and CEO of Employee Fanatix, a leading employee engagement and consulting firm. After over 25,000 employee engagement surveys and years of working with organizations to transform employee engagement, here’s what Heather has seen over and over: When you know how to listen, employees will tell you exactly what they need to bring their full selves to work. Book Heather to speak at your event or organization.
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