Leonardo DiCaprio and Me

Leonardo DiCaprio and I have a lot in common

The 2002 movie, “Catch Me If You Can”, starred a young Leonardo DiCaprio, playing the part of Frank Abagnale Jr.

This award-winning film directed by Steven Spielberg, was inspired by the true story of a young man who successfully posed as a teacher, a doctor, an airline pilot and a lawyer. He so convincingly assumed each role that few questioned his authority to hold these positions.

In each identity, he leveraged his love of learning, powers of observation and personal confidence to adapt and function as different people.

My interpretation of the story is that Leonardo, aka Frank, succeeds in each impersonation because he immersed fully into each persona, believing he was that identity and didn’t need to act. He became that individual and stayed in character until there was a reason to transform.

This is why I think Leonardo, or at least his character in this movie, and I have a lot in common. Throughout my life and the diverse roles that I have played, I was none of those identities until the first time that I was.

I was driven to succeed by educating myself, doing and observing results, and adapting as needed.

I grew into each change I was hired for or transitioned to. Through experience and practice, I became a parent, a valued employee, a wife, a business owner, an investor, a speaker, an author...

I was not handed a ‘Womanual’ for each new role. I didn’t have a microchip implanted that automatically updated my operating system and made me a subject matter expert.

In my book ‘Who Am I Now?’, the chapter “I’ve Never Been This Me Before” tells the story of my realization that I must be who I have never been before if I want to grow.

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