You're Too Ugly to Play Dorothy
Speaking on the theme Catalyst at Speaker Slam® in Toronto on Jan 29, 2019, Courtney McLeod took the stage with a five minute story.
Transcript
when I was eight years old I dreamed of being Dorothy from my favorite movie The Wizard of Oz I longed to escape and to be someone else I wanted to be beautiful and sweet and have adventures with friends instead of living my reality which was being the shy unpopular girl by day and at home the lonely only child often caught in the middle of my parents violent screaming matches I knew that if I wanted something to change then I would have to do something about it so I push through my fear and insecurity and I announced to my class that I would be putting on
a production of The Wizard of Oz I would be holding auditions and the best part I would get to play Dorothy I couldn't believe how many kids we're excited and wanted to be part of something I created I went from being either teased or ignored to all of a sudden everyone looking to me for direction Courtney is this the yellow that you want for the yellow brick road Courtney did I do my lines okay it felt great I'm not gonna lie things were really starting to come together at home I would practice my lines while my mom sat beside me lovingly sewing my costume I
felt important for the first time in my life and then the big day arrived it was Showtime I'll admit I was nervous but I was ready for my moment to shine we were all in our costumes I felt so beautiful in my dress my classmates all gathered around as I prepared to give the pep talk that I've been practicing in the mirror for weeks when I heard those words you're too ugly to play Dorothy we don't want you in this play tears stream down my face I burned with shame and embarrassment all of the unworthiness and self-doubt that I felt on a daily basis rose
to the surface and I wanted to die in that moment this was the most important moment in my young life and there I was sitting on the sidelines watching my play being performed without me as painful as that day was I walked away with the understanding that I just wanted to be loved and supported for my uniqueness and that has become my fuel and my motivation for everything that I do I now have two beautiful amazing daughters of my own ages 8 and 11 and I do everything in my power to help them build their confidence for when they have their Dorothy moments and they
will the motto in our house is to always be yourself no matter what but more than that be proud of who you are I model this for them by owning mock work eNOS my craziness and I do things like interview people in my bathtub with me with water and bubbles and I call them tub jocks instead of TED talks we're getting over 40 women to stick to an inflatable velcro wall like on my front lawn because that's how I roll I created a kick-ass ladies group and this brings the most amazing women together and we support and celebrate the uniqueness of every single member together
we grow and we get outside our comfort zones we gain our confidence that way we are not watching our lives from the sidelines oh no we are too much we're having too much fun having crazy adventures doing things like movie stunt school or spraying each other with champagne like we are a professional sports team because that's how we do it it's a group it's a place where everybody gets to be loved and supported for their uniqueness so that when we are faced with Dorothy moments oh we are able to rise to the occasion we are able to stand up and show up as our confident
empowered kick-ass selves you see all of the characters in The Wizard of Oz go on this quest they just want the things that they desperately don't feel that they have a brain courage a heart and they feel that only this magical wizard can give it to them in the end they realize they had those things all along everything that we need for success happiness it's already in us we just need to believe in ourselves we were not meant to sit on the sidelines of our lives we are meant to impact the world in a way that only each of us can I still have Dorothy
moments we all have Dorothy moments at least now I can think to myself there is no one like me there is no one like me there is no one like me just like there is no one like you
Transcript generated from the recording and lightly cleaned. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.