Create Your Joy: The Power of Living Authentically

It’s time to flip the script on conformity. Natasha “Tash” Durkins spent her childhood feeling isolated and shunned by her community; in her book, “Fiercely Joyful: 11 Keys to Living Authentically & Creating a Life You Love,” she explores the journey to find her voice and embrace her true self. Through these personal, transformative anecdotes, Durkins guides you into building a life that authentically reflects who you are.

What is the book about?

Growing up, Natasha “Tash” Craig Durkins struggled to fit in with kids in her community. Desperate to belong, she abandoned her uniqueness, too unpopular for the White kid cliques and teased by Black kids for “acting white.” In time, Tash learned to create her own circle rather than seek one to fit into. Building resilience in her triumphs over life’s challenges, she discovered her true self and learned how living authentically helped her create a Fiercely Joyful life.

Being Fiercely Joyful is having the powerful feeling of happiness, freedom, fulfillment and peace that comes from choosing to be the version of you that aligns with your purpose. Not the version of you others prefer but the one that is authentically you.

Do you:

• Bite your tongue too often?
• Conform to others’ expectations?
• Pretend to be happy when you’re not?
• Struggle to articulate what brings you joy?

If you answered yes to any of these, Fiercely Joyful is for you. It took Tash many years to get here: not to a place of perfection, but a life filled with enduring joy. Tash shares her experiences, lessons and knowledge to help others seize the power of authenticity. In reading “Fiercely Joyful: 11 Keys to Living Authentically & Creating a Life You Love,” you’ll be inspired to be more of who you are meant to be: the best version of you, which is the whole version of you.

Topics include:

We are all a unique work of art, meant to be appreciated, valued and loved. In this book, I give you the keys to create your life’s collection – which includes these pieces and more:

1. Being Authentic: letting go of conformity and showing up as you personally and professionally. Period.
2. Getting Connected: getting in touch with your intuition, listening to it and recognizing when to follow it.
3. Using Your Voice: moving past the discomfort of a spotlight or worries about those who may judge you, speaking up anyway to share what you really think.
4. Being Grateful: being grateful and employing an abundance mindset—viewing the world as having plenty of what you want and need–drives positivity.
5. Embracing the Journey: learning to embrace the bumps along the way. Your challenges or traumas don’t define you; they grow you.

Why should people read it? Who is the book for?

This book is for you. Yes, YOU:

• The one who bites their tongue way too often.
• The one who shows up for everyone except the person in the mirror.
• The one who pretends to be happy when sad.
• The one who says yes when their inner voice is shouting no.
• The one who never accepts help when it’s offered but bends over backward to help others.
• The one who puts their needs after everyone else’s.
• The one who tries to be what their parents or partners want rather than what they yearn to be.
• The one who puts dreams on hold, self-eliminates or cries alone.
• You, the one who is surrounded by plenty of loved ones yet feels overwhelmingly alone.
• The one who always pretends to like things they don’t.
• The one who is afraid to be vulnerable.
• The one who dismisses how their uniqueness makes them absolutely amazing.

You will love this book if you feel inspired by stories of triumph and transformation, enjoy humor, embrace calling a thing what it is and are ready to get about the work of creating a life that makes you happy.

Single most important takeaway:

“Too many of us settle for our lives instead of creating the ones we want. We have a choice. Let’s CHOOSE JOY.”

Meet the author

Natasha “Tash” Durkins, a seasoned executive and keynote speaker, is the CEO and founder of Fiercely Joyful LLC, which offers coaching and motivational speaking services rooted in authentic living for individuals and groups. A Scranton, Pennsylvania, native, Durkins gained an enduring sense of joy and fulfillment from being uncompromisingly authentic. She created a life in which she gets out of her comfort zone, fails, learns, grows and embraces possibility. Now an authenticity champion, Durkins coaches and mentors those aspiring to break free from conformance to societal norms and show up authentically. She shares her story and techniques in her breakout debut book, “Fiercely Joyful: 11 Keys to Living Authentically & Creating a Life You Love.” An alum of Howard University and graduate of George Mason University, Durkins is a foodie and loves exploring culinary delights across Washington, DC, where she lives with her husband and two dogs.