There was a time in her life when Kim Gravel wasn’t feeling confident and authentic.

“I wasn’t really living the life that not only I wanted, but that I was made to live,” Gravel said in a keynote speech at the 2023 Women in Retail Leadership Summit in Phoenix last month.

Gravel, the CEO and president of Hardee Girl and the founder of the apparel line Belle by Kim Gravel and Belle Beauty Cosmetics, shared insights from her new book, “Collecting Confidence,” including lessons she learned throughout her entrepreneurial journey.

“There are moments in your life when you’re faced with things that look like weakness,” Gravel told the Summit audience, adding that it’s so easy for women to point out their weaknesses. “We tear ourselves down; we don’t need social media to do it. We don’t need anybody else to do it because we do it to ourselves.”

Gravel wrote in her new book — which she calls a “self-appreciation” book — that it seems people are having this “crisis of confidence” when they should be giving themselves permission to be and do everything they want. She noted that authenticity is the biggest commodity we can offer this world.

“Give me somebody who is so authentically who they are and I’ll show you success,” said Gravel.

Women in Retail Leadership Circle Co-Founder Melissa Campanelli recently interviewed Gravel for an episode of the Women in Retail Talks podcast; you can listen to that episode here.