When young, author Heidi Patullo bought into the labels donned on her: smart, pretty, talented and "Miss Perfect," and for several years her choices, both academic and personal, reflected a fierce dedication to this identity. Superficially, it worked. And yet, even as a young adult, Patullo knew it was for show...merely a veneer of perfection and excellence and certainly not her chosen identity.

A born pleaser, she dismayed over disappointing those whom she felt counted on her being the woman they believed her to be. And so she maintained the many "acts," downplaying and silencing...

When young, author Heidi Patullo bought into the labels donned on her: smart, pretty, talented and "Miss Perfect," and for several years her choices, both academic and personal, reflected a fierce dedication to this identity. Superficially, it worked. And yet, even as a young adult, Patullo knew it was for show...merely a veneer of perfection and excellence and certainly not her chosen identity.

A born pleaser, she dismayed over disappointing those whom she felt counted on her being the woman they believed her to be. And so she maintained the many "acts," downplaying and silencing...