The Joys of Riding It Solo: Lessons from Cannes Lions

Anything is possible in the South of France 👀

Disclaimer: This is not a Substack covering the top trends discussed at Cannes Lions (isn’t that what ChatGPT is for?)

Rather, the following note is a reflection on what happens in life when you believe that you belong in the room and take a leap of faith to do things by yourself.

…What is Cannes Lions?

If you’re anything like me two years ago, you’re probably asking yourself…what is Cannes Lions? You mean the Cannes Film Festival?

No judgement if so!

Cannes Lions is short for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. In other words, it’s adventureland. Lions is a place that brings together top talent from across the globe in the media, entertainment, marketing, and advertising industries, celebrating innovation, creative thinking, and presitgious work in the field.

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A post shared by @cannes_lions

When I was first encouraged to attend by a mentor of mine, I thought to myself, “I have no place galavanting across the French Riviera with a bunch of celebrities and CMOs.”

However, now that I’ve returned back from an incredibly successful Lions experience (check out some deeper dive recaps on my time at Cannes here), I’d politely tell my former self to redirect those very limiting beliefs to words that are…dare I say… kinder to myself?

I didn’t know it at the time, but that inner dialogue set the foundation for a ton of personal transformation that was to unfold over the following years, reaching breakthroughs in how I think about myself and the process of building a brand.

💡 This leads me to my first takeway from attending Cannes Lions: believe in yourself, and you’ll fit right in.

The power of believing in yourself

They say that you should surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, and I couldn’t agree more. We are a product of our environment, so immerse yourself in spaces with people who inspire you.

I recognize this runs the risk of the comparison trap, but reminder that you get to choose whether or not you fall victim to that mindset.

One way to ensure you stay inspired and uplifted, rather than feel imposter syndrome, is to recognize that you are deserving to be in those spaces.

Although it took me some time, I finally bit the bullet and said “Screw it. I’m buying a plane ticket to France and I’m going to experience the magic of what Cannes has to offer.” I absolutely do have a place galivanting across the French Riviera with top talent because that is exactly the type of guest, supporter, and enterpreneur I want to attract as I build Everyday Endorphins.

Circa February 2025. Me reaching out to literally every contact letting them know I’ll be at Cannes and asking them to connect me with someone

Cultivating a mindset of self-worth is hard. I’m still a work in progress. By no means am I perfect and by absolutely no means am I saying I’m entitled to being in a room filled with top executives just four years into my career.

I know I’ve got a lot to learn. But, there’s a difference between entitlement and worthiness. Worthiness comes from within, entitlement stems from arrogance.

Humility & Fostering Connection

What I loved about Cannes is that I was amidst some of the most successful people in the world who also happened to be humble about their achievements. This environment of deep humility was conducive to developing true authentic connection because people were there to be open, stay curious, and meet as many individuals as possible.

💡Lesson here: lead with a sense of curiosity. Recognize that there is more to someone than their achievements, and stay interested in who the person is, not necessarily what the person has done.

• Example A: I was immersed in a conversation about innovation in the business world, and it wasn’t until about halfway through that I realized I was talking to a Peloton instructor (Peloton instructors are celebrities in my eyes! 😆)

• Example B: I met someone who was from Toronto and immediately started raving about Othership. We somehow landed on the “what do you do for a living” question - turns out he’s an artist and has designed album cover art for famous rappers like Lil Yachty. How cool is that?!

It only took a whole podcast rebrand, countless hours of self reflection, and a large dose of courage to snap myself out of former limiting mindsets.

If I’ve learned anything, it’s that limiting beliefs kill confidence. When you’re not showing up with confidence, you’re simply not showing up as yourself.

And I can guarantee you that those conversations were only able to occur because I had the ability to show up as my true self.

💡This now leads me to my second largest takeaway: living presently and making bold moves alone is key to experiencing true serendipity.

Planning gets in the way of living

I didn’t intend to go to Cannes by myself, but the way certain life events unfolded led me to ride this trip (mostly) solo.

I was anxious at first to attend alone. That felt like a lot of pressure. I had no idea what to expect from the week and was worried about not doing Cannes the “right” way.

What if I wasn’t attending the best talks? What if I wasn’t meeting enough people? What if no one wanted to spend time with me or get to know me? What if Everyday Endorphins wasn’t ‘successful’ in the eyes of those who are standing on stages and speaking at panels?

Sometimes when we let our monkey minds run wild, they actually block us from taking action. 💡 Overthinking, overspeculating, and overanalyzing can plague us like a disease, limiting us from taking leaps of faith and living boldly.

I’m so glad I didn’t let those spiraling thoughts stop me. I couldn’t have predicted how many positive events unfolded, which all stemmed from surrendering to the solo experience. I somehow finessed my way into the most exclusive parties, networking events, and panels, without necessarily “sticking to a plan.”

💡 Lesson here: not everything in life needs to be overengineered or planned out perfectly.

A friend of mine once told me that planning gets in the way of living. I now have a deeper appreciation for his words of wisdom after my week in Cannes.

I also realized that the relationships I built were largely due to the fact that I had to force myself to go up and talk to people on my own. It all started with “Hi, I’m Stella! What’s your name?”

💡 Second lesson: It’s critical to learn how to enjoy your own company and get comfortable with putting yourself out there. Existing outside of your comfort zone builds greater self-confidence. Go up and talk to people. Learn to lean into the discomfort of sitting by yourself, attending experiences by yourself, eating by yourself, etc.

Some more thoughts on this shared below:

@everydayendorphinsYet another example of how getting comfortable with discomfort will yield SO many benefits 🔥 More solo activity for maximum endorphins @Cannes Lions #solotravel #comfortzone #lifeadvice #adventure #happiness

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Stella’s Endorphins: Cannes Edition

Here’s a quick personal highlight reel from the week:

• Befriending Alex Elton-Allisett from Whalar on line for an opening party at AdWeek (which we never got into due to capacity constraints), who graciously ended up inviting me to his company’s dinner that evening! Talk about unexpected pivots ☺️

• Attending the Spotify concert…TWICE! (still dreaming about how this happened)

• Spending time with some amazing Accenture colleagues over lunches and dinners

• Meeting so many incredible enterpreneurs and creatives - John LoPresto from Tracksuit, Alex Paikkos-Wheeler & Thomas Coyne from OpenWeb, Desiree Marchetti from Bond & Brand, Olivia Janisch from Creators Residency, and more!

• Hearing NBA players DeAndre Jordan & Aaron Gordon, and Olympian Tara Davis-Woodhall at The Wellness Oasis lounge speak about mental health awareness

• Meeting Deepak Chopra & attending his guided meditation

• Soaking in wisdom from various panels at The Female Quotient, VaynerMedia Cafe, Creators Lounge, AdWeek beach, and more

• Spending an afternoon at the VaynerMedia Villa & meeting tons of successful creators (as well as GaryVee himself!)

• Catching up with Kendall Toole and attending her guided breathwork session at the TikTok lounge

Coming down from the Cannes high

Suffice to say, last week was jam packed and truly an experience of a lifetime. I came away feeling inspired, energized, and most of all, grateful. Grateful for how the world rewarded me with doing something completely out of my comfort zone.

It really goes to show what can happen when you put good energy into the universe and start showing up in the places where you want to belong, like you belong.

And in the words of White Lotus… “I’m just happy to be at the table.”

Until next time,

Stella