You Need to Develop Your Inner Shark
I recently went to the aquarium.
There were sharks.
And as I watched people gather around the glass, I noticed something interesting: everyone got excited when the sharks swam by.
Not when they were being aggressive. Not when they were attacking anything.
Just when they moved.
They would glide through the water, sometimes in pairs, completely unbothered. Calm. Focused. Taking up space like they had every right to be there.
And I thought: Oh.
Maybe I’ve completely misunderstood what it means to be a shark.
We’ve Been Taught to Fear Shark Energy
Think about the way sharks are portrayed.
Big. Scary. Deadly. Vicious. Aggressive. Unpredictable.
The bully of the ocean.
So when I was recently asked in a job interview whether I considered myself to be in my “shark energy,” I immediately associated the word with that version of a shark.
And I said something along the lines of wanting to maintain balance—not wanting to be too much shark.
At the time, it sounded reasonable.
After my aquarium visit?
I started questioning the answer.
Because maybe being a shark doesn't mean being aggressive.
Maybe it means being certain.
A Shark Doesn't Apologize for Taking Up Space
The sharks I watched weren't frantic.
They weren't asking permission.
They weren't looking around to see whether anyone approved of their direction.
They just moved.
There was patience in them. Precision. Awareness. A quiet sense of purpose.
And when the moment came to move, they were capable of moving quickly.
That feels very different from aggression.
That's strategy.
That's self-possession.
That's knowing you have somewhere to go and trusting yourself enough to get there.
And honestly? That's the energy I want more of.
Your Inner Shark Knows When to Move
I think ambitious women sometimes confuse confidence with constant performance.
We think we have to be the loudest person in the room.
We have to prove we're smart.
We have to have the perfect answer.
We have to make everyone comfortable.
We have to explain why we're qualified before anyone even asks.
But a shark doesn't spend its entire life announcing that it's a shark.
It just swims.
There is something incredibly powerful about knowing when to conserve your energy and knowing when to strike.
Knowing when to observe.
Knowing when to wait.
Knowing when an opportunity is worth pursuing.
And knowing when it's time to move.
That's the kind of shark energy I'm talking about.
Maybe You Don't Need to Become More Aggressive
Maybe you need to become more decisive.
More strategic.
More comfortable with your own ambition.
More willing to occupy space without shrinking yourself to make other people comfortable.
More willing to say, This is what I want.
More willing to pursue it before you have every single detail figured out.
And more willing to trust that you don't have to become somebody else to get there.
Because the funny thing about my aquarium revelation is that I realized...
I actually am a shark.
Maybe I'm a baby shark right now.
Maybe one day I'm a full-grown mama shark.
But the qualities are already there.
Patience.
Vision.
Precision.
Strategy.
Grace.
Movement.
And the ability to take up space without apology.
That's not something I need to tone down.
That's something I need to develop.
Emsy's Take
I don't know whether my answer in that interview had anything to do with the outcome.
Maybe it did. Maybe it didn't.
But I do know that sometimes a rejection gives you something more useful than a yes: a reason to examine yourself.
And this one made me realize that I may have been underestimating one of my own strengths.
I don't want to be less shark.
I want to become a better one.
Not louder.
Not meaner.
Not more ruthless.
Just more intentional about knowing what I want, moving toward it with purpose, and refusing to apologize for occupying the space required to get there.
So yes, girl.
Develop your inner shark.
Not the scary one Hollywood sold you.
The one that knows exactly where she's going.
And swims there.
XOXO, Emsy 💕
