We recognize and celebrate brave female leaders. The women we are featuring in our Brave Women Leaders blog demonstrate resiliency, bravery, and the ability to radiate their light brightly. They have gifts to share with the world and take tiny steps of bravery each day to share them with the world.

Natanya Bravo is a brave, bold, and brilliant leader I have come to know virtually. Natanya spent the first part of her career living bi-coastal between New York and Los Angeles, creating global brand marketing campaigns for Fortune 500 consumer brands including Adidas, BMW, and Coca-Cola among others. While successful by society’s terms, she knew she wasn’t living up to her potential. Tired of saying “one day” – she finally listened to that internal voice and leaped into the unknown. Leaving behind a successful career, she booked a one-way ticket to Paris to realize her potential and create her dream life.

She is the Founder of The Bravo Life, created to inspire women around the world to realize and actualize their full potential. Now a global community of over 20,000 women, The Bravo Life provides coaching, resources, and live experiences and retreats for women worldwide who are committed to living their best lives, as their best selves.

What does bravery mean to you?

For me, bravery means being afraid and doing it anyway. It’s being so committed to personal growth and showing up as your very best self that you are willing to face the uncomfortable moments, take bold, messy action, jump even when you don’t know exactly how or where you’re landing, and get out of your own way every single day.

What is one of the bravest things you have ever done?

I grew up planning every single detail of my life, obsessively. From my teenage years, I meticulously mapped out what career I would have, the salary I would make, and where I would live. I followed the traditional markers of success that society tells us will bring us happiness, and found myself a homeowner with a six-figure VP level job by the time I was 26. Yet, I was miserable. I was living a life of “shoulds” and had suppressed my inner voice so much so that I no longer knew what I actually wanted my life to look like, let alone how to get there.
Just before my 30th birthday, I quit my old life (and career) and booked a one-way flight to Paris, France. I didn’t speak the language, didn’t know a soul in Paris, and had no clue where my next dollar was coming from. I was terrified, but I followed the internal guidance system we all have but often ignore (aka intuition) and did it anyway. I did it afraid. Three years later and that one decision has completely transformed my life. It allowed me to reconnect with who I am, how I want to show up in this world, and create a life that I am truly aligned with.

 

What benefits have come from leaning into bravery? 

Leaning into bravery has led me to be at complete peace and in alignment with who I am and why I’m here. It has given me the confidence to take the very next step, even when I can’t see the top of the staircase, and trust that I will find my way. That one (terrifying) decision to move to Paris led to me becoming fluent in French, meeting my husband, and launching a business that has now supported over 500 womxn around the world to step into and fulfill their purpose so that they can empower others to do the same.