Special Delivery: The Power of Being Seen

By Danielle Masterson, Editor, NutraIngredients 

Earlier this year, Petra Erlandson shared a LinkedIn post about how appearing on NutraWomen Wednesday impacted her in ways that exceeded even my expectations as the show's host: “This was my first recorded video interview and looking back, I can trace a direct line from this interview to the confidence I now have with public speaking and to developing my voice in a way that extends beyond my job title.”

I commented, “Sometimes others see potential in you before you see it in yourself,” and it reminded me of a story from years ago about an Indigenous girl and a postcard that would change the trajectory of her life.

Although she received good grades in high school, the girl never saw herself attending college. Instead, she planned to attend a trade school in Detroit. One day, the 16-year-old received a postcard in the mail from Michigan State University inviting her to an early admissions day for minority students. At the time, she saw the invitation as an easy way to skip school for the day, so she quickly signed up. 

Weeks later, she found herself on campus writing an essay and filling out an application for the Big Ten university. She was surrounded by intelligent people her age, many of whom appeared nervous and excited about what would come from the application process. The girl sat quietly among her peers as they eagerly awaited the results. She wasn't concerned, though. She had always been a realist and knew the idea of getting in was too far-fetched. 

At the end of the day, some students were accepted. Others were placed on a waitlist. The girl sat with her envelope and a foregone conclusion. To humor herself, she opened it.

She was accepted.

She spent the rest of the day walking some of the university's perfectly manicured 5,300-acre campus, taking in the lush gardens and ivy-covered buildings while the Red Cedar River flowed in the backdrop. She reminded herself it all was too good to be true. She decided to enjoy the day, knowing she would eventually get an email informing her there was a misunderstanding, that she really wasn’t going to be a student there.

To the girl’s surprise, a year later she found herself moving into Hubbard Hall and beginning her fall semester. Despite never missing a class, she spent the following few semesters struggling to keep her grades up, battling imposter syndrome and wondering whether she truly belonged. She persisted, and it would pay off. She went on to graduate with a 4.0 her final year  —  proving to herself that she belonged all along.

That girl was me.

That postcard  — a single moment of recognition–changed everything for me. Some of the most important lessons are the ones the world quietly hands us. 

Looking back, what strikes me most is that someone at Michigan State saw possibility in me long before I could see it myself. A simple postcard communicated something I hadn't yet learned to believe: that I belonged. As someone who would become a first-generation college graduate, that message mattered more than I realized at the time. 

Many years later, when I read Petra's post, I was reminded of that same truth. Sometimes confidence doesn't begin within us. Sometimes it begins when someone else extends an invitation or creates space for us to step into something bigger than we could have ever imagined for ourselves. 

I hope my story inspires more conversations about how we can create intentional, inclusive and accessible opportunities for others — because we never know when a single invitation, a few words of encouragement or a moment of recognition might change the course of someone's life.