A year ago, I was preparing for what should’ve been a super casual interview. It was hosted by my friend, in Polish, and I even got the list of questions ahead of time. I thought I was ready.

Then it started with something I hadn’t prepared for:
“Can you introduce yourself?”

Total blank. I hadn’t expected such a hard question! I was visibly nervous, stumbling, trying to find words that didn’t want to come.

But I survived.

Fast forward to this year.

Recently, I got a message asking if I could host a Twitter Space about stablecoins — a pretty serious topic that I’m not exactly an expert in. And I got the request the day before the Space was scheduled. I sighed.

“Yeah, sure, no problem.”

It was the result of a year filled with practice:
Decentralized Voices podcast, Out of Ordinary podcast, a few discussion panels, Twitter Spaces…
Each one was a small step forward.

I’m still not a perfect speaker. I still get nervous before going live or standing in front of a crowd. I forget points I wanted to make. But compared to that moment a year ago — when introducing myself felt impossible — it’s night and day.

You don’t suddenly become fearless.
You just keep doing the thing until it stops feeling impossible.

Confidence doesn’t show up as a single breakthrough. It sneaks in through repetition, small risks, and the realization that nobody else is keeping score the way you are. Each time you speak up, each time you risk not being perfect, you prove to yourself that you’ll survive.

And the opportunities keep coming — soon I’ll be hosting my first panel during ETHWarsaw and giving a talk at the SheFi event. Still a little scary. But I’m looking forward to it.

Next year, I’ll probably look back on today and think:
“Wow, I was still so scared back then.”

Oh — and that stablecoins Space?
Turned out great.