Pretending Almost Killed Me
Christina Hepner helps women stop pretending and start showing up as who they actually are.
About Christina
At 19, I woke up and couldn't move my right arm.
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Within days, the pain had spread to every joint in my body. Months later came the diagnosis — rheumatoid arthritis. And instead of dealing with it, I did what everyone told me to do. Stay positive. Push through. Pretend everything was fine.
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I spent that year drinking heavily, performing normally so convincingly that nobody knew. Inside, I was so depressed I wanted to end my life.
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That summer, I went home. Sat alone on my parents' porch on a quiet dirt road. And in the silence, I finally asked myself the questions I'd been running from.
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Pretending almost killed me. Stopping saved me.
But stopping wasn't the end of the story.
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I went on to build a career as a journalist and communications strategist. And everywhere I went, I saw the same thing. Leaders performing strengths they didn't have. Teams hiding behind the mask. Organizations reward performance and lose the person.
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I did it too. I performed my way through my career, showing up, saying the right things, playing the role, while quietly wondering why it still felt like pretending.
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That question is what led me here.
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Now I help people stop pretending and start showing up as who they actually are.
Not through theory. Through story, honesty, and a framework that works in the middle of the hard season — not after it.
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I'm a former TV journalist, award-winning storyteller, and communications strategist. But most importantly, I'm someone who almost lost everything by pretending to be fine and figured out the way back.
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If that's the kind of speaker your audience needs, let's talk.
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Let's Work Together
If you’re looking for a speaker who will challenge your audience to stop performing and start leading authentically, let’s talk.
313-355-7278
