How to Reclaim Your Voice and Tell Your Story Without Waiting for Permission with jess dahl & Angela Hargar Thompson EP.88

Author: Jess Dahl
September 24, 2026

There was a season in Angela Thompson’s life when she was waiting for someone else to choose her.

She had moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting, went to auditions, took classes, and worked toward the opportunity that would finally make her feel like she had “made it.”

Angela described it as having a kind of “Cinderella syndrome.”

She was waiting for someone else to come along, hand her the opportunity, and give her permission to start living the life she wanted.
But sometimes the opportunity that changes your life doesn’t look anything like you expected.

For Angela, it looked like saying yes to sailing across the Pacific Ocean.

That decision eventually led to creating a documentary, writing a memoir, healing from an emotionally abusive relationship, and discovering that she didn’t have to spend her life telling only other people’s stories.
She had her own story to tell.

And maybe the biggest lesson from Angela’s journey is this:
You don’t have to wait for someone else to give you permission to become who you’re meant to be.

Listen to full episode on Say Yes Anyway Podcast

Stop Waiting for Someone Else to Choose You
When Angela first moved to Los Angeles, acting was how she understood herself as a storyteller.
She was telling other people’s stories.
She even resisted the idea that she could be a director or producer because she worried pursuing other forms of storytelling would distract her from becoming an actor.

Looking back, Angela realized she had been waiting for an outside opportunity to validate her.
Then she got an invitation to leave Los Angeles and sail across the Pacific.

She was burned out from hustling and trying to make everything happen, so she said yes.
One week into the trip, COVID began changing the world.
Auditions stopped. Her side jobs disappeared. The life she knew in Los Angeles was suddenly on pause.
But Angela had brought a camera.

So she kept filming.

Eventually, those recordings became her documentary, Quarantine at Sea. And instead of waiting for someone else to create an opportunity for her, Angela started creating her own.

Sometimes we think we need someone else to tell us:
You're ready.
You're qualified.
You're good enough.
Now you can begin.

But what if you stopped waiting?
What if the permission you’ve been looking for is permission you can give yourself?

You Don’t Have to Know Exactly What You’re Doing
Angela had never made a documentary before.
She didn’t have the entire process figured out.
She literally started by searching how to make one.

The advice she found was simple: start filming and allow the story to emerge.
So she did.

She interviewed people. She captured B-roll. She kept the camera going.
Then she came home with around 16 hours of footage that somehow needed to become a 90-minute documentary.
Angela didn’t know how to edit, so she started watching tutorials and learning.

The closer she got to completing the project, the more resistance and imposter syndrome showed up. But she kept moving forward.

That’s such an important reminder when you’re trying something new.

You don’t need to understand every step before taking the first one.
Sometimes clarity comes because you started.
Sometimes confidence comes because you kept going.
Sometimes the only way to discover what you’re capable of is to do something before you feel completely qualified to do it.

Your Story Can Become Part of Your Healing
Angela’s documentary wasn’t the end of the story.
There were things that happened during that season that the documentary didn’t fully capture.
Angela eventually realized she had been in an emotionally abusive relationship, and after leaving it, she knew there was more she needed to say.
So she started writing.
Angela initially believed she was writing her memoir to help other women who might find themselves in similar circumstances.

But something unexpected happened.
The writing started healing her, too.

She described staying up until around 4 a.m. during a five-month period to get the story out. With every chapter she wrote, she felt another layer of her heart begin to heal.
She thought she was creating something for other people.

Instead, the process became part of her own healing.

That’s one of the most powerful things about telling your story.

Your story doesn’t have to remain trapped inside you.
You can write it.
You can speak it.
You can create something from it.
And you don’t necessarily have to know who it will help before you begin.

Sometimes telling the truth about what you’ve experienced helps you understand your own story differently.

What Happened to You Does Not Define You
Angela’s memoir eventually became Worst Tits Ever.

The title came from a cruel message her ex sent her during their breakup.

Angela shared that she would wake up to messages attacking her appearance, finances, worth, and identity. One day, he sent an email saying he had changed the title of her documentary from Quarantine at Sea to Worst Tits Ever.

At first, the comment hurt.

Months later, while Angela was writing her memoir, those words came back to her.
This time, she saw them differently.
She decided to use them as the title of her book.

For Angela, it became an act of taking her power back.
Instead of allowing someone else’s words to determine how she saw herself, she took the insult and transformed what it meant to her.

How often do we carry words someone else said about us?
Maybe it came from a relationship.
Maybe it was a family member.
Maybe it was a friend.
Maybe it was a stranger.
Or maybe nobody else is saying those things anymore, but you’ve repeated them to yourself for so long that they’ve started sounding like truth.

Angela shared how a friend encouraged her to “flip” the negative messages she was receiving and replace them with something different.
Because just because something was spoken over you doesn’t mean it gets to define you.

What happened to you is part of your story. It does not have to become your identity.

Sometimes You Need People Who Can See What You Can’t
There was another important part of Angela’s journey.
She didn’t figure everything out alone.

At one point, Angela knew she wanted to create a course but couldn’t clearly see what it should be about.

To me, the thread seemed obvious.
Storytelling.

Angela had been acting, making a documentary, writing a book, and continually coming back to the power of stories.
But she was too close to it to see the connection herself.

Angela talked about the value of having someone outside of you reflect back what may already be sitting right in front of you.

Sometimes you need people who can remind you who you are.

People who can see your gifts when you’ve become too familiar with them.
People who challenge the lies you believe about yourself.
People who encourage you to go deeper instead of shrinking back.

You still have to take the step.

But you don’t always have to figure out the step alone.

Your Story Might Be Exactly What Someone Else Needs
Angela didn’t know exactly who her documentary or book would reach.
At one point, she shared her documentary with girls participating in healing work through Wholeness Journey.
She wasn’t sure they would even want to sit through it.
But they connected with it.

That experience reminded Angela of something important:
You never really know who your story is going to reach.
The thing you think is too ordinary might speak directly to someone.
The experience you’re afraid to share might help another person realize they aren’t alone.
The lesson you learned through trial and error might save someone else from having to figure out everything in the dark.

Your story doesn’t have to reach everyone to matter.
Sometimes it just needs to reach the person who recognizes themselves in it.

Give Yourself Permission to Start
When Jess asked Angela about the central message behind her memoir, Angela’s answer came back to permission.
Don’t wait for someone else to give you permission to live your life or create your art.

Give yourself permission.

Her second message was about courage.

Angela wanted people to know that even after trauma or an incredibly difficult situation, it is possible to find the courage to walk away, start over, and rebuild.

Maybe you’ve been waiting for someone to choose you.
Maybe you have an idea sitting in your head.
Maybe there’s a draft sitting on your computer.
Maybe there’s a story you know you need to tell.
Maybe you feel made for more but can’t quite see what “more” looks like yet.

You don’t need to know the entire path.

Angela didn’t.

You can take one step.
You can try something new.
You can create before you feel qualified.
You can keep searching.
You can say yes to the thing that scares you.
And you can give yourself permission to begin.

Your Story Is Yours to Reclaim
There’s something powerful about realizing that you get to decide what happens next.

You cannot rewrite what happened.
You cannot control what someone else said about you.
You cannot go back and become a different version of yourself.
But you can decide what those experiences mean moving forward.

Angela’s journey moved from waiting for opportunities to creating them, from telling other people’s stories to sharing her own, and from allowing someone else’s words to wound her to reclaiming those words on her own terms.

And she didn’t do any of it because she suddenly had everything figured out.

She kept saying yes.
She kept creating.
She kept learning.
She kept moving forward.

At the end of our conversation, Angela shared a simple reminder:
Be empowered. Believe in yourself. Say the yes.

Maybe that’s what you need today too.

You don’t need permission to start living your life.
You don’t need permission to create.
You don’t need permission to tell your story.
And you don’t have to wait until you feel completely ready.

Your story matters.
Your voice matters.
And you get to decide what the next chapter looks like.

If you're ready to grow in wholeness, discover your purpose, and build a life aligned with who God created you to be, learn more about Jess's coaching, speaking, retreats, and resources at JessDahl.com.

Connect With Angela
Website: AngelaHargerProductions.com
Instagram: @angelahargerthompson

Connect With Jess
Website: JessDahl.com
Instagram: @jessdahl_
Wholeness Journey: WholenessJourney.org

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