“Providing guidance throughout Dabbs prompts the reader with questions. She believes a better
understanding of past experiences and how society has established systemic barriers to entry
can help people design their future.”— The Financial Times In a world overcrowded with labels
don’t allow your identity to be defined by other people. Learn how to take back your power
choose to feed the aspects of your identity that serve you and let go of those that don’t.
Everyone feels like an outsider at some point in their life—when we walk into a room and think
to ourselves “I don’t belong here.” To avoid these feelings of exclusion many of us hide our
authentic selves and allow others to define our identity. You Belong Here offers a new
framework that allows each of us to define how we want to be seen heard and valued on our own
terms so we feel a sense of belonging in any situation. Further it serves as a launchpad for
organizational leaders and culture builders to create safe spaces for individuals to show up as
their authentic selves. Readers will explore our four identities: Our Lived Identity is made
up of the aspects of our identity we inherit when we are born into the world. Our Learned
Identity includes the parts of our identity that we’ve chosen or claimed as we make our way
through the world. Our Lingering Identity is the identity we default to when we feel like an
outsider and fall back into as a survival mechanism. Our Loved Identity is where we find our
authentic selves and see ourselves through a lens of empowerment. In the journey to understand
our past experiences and how society has established barriers to entry we can design our own
future rooted in our Loved Identity. We learn to rewrite the stories that aren’t serving us
and embrace the ones that do. Rather than look for a seat at someone else’s table we find the
tools to build our own. When we fully leverage this and live with authenticity and purpose
we can be seen heard and valued in a way that gives us a sense of belonging at home at work
and in society. Belonging is realized when we understand everyone is an outsider and it’s the
power to create space for those differences that unite us all.
