How Natasha B Russell Overcame Bullying to Build Confidence & Inspire Others

On this episode of Go Live and Prosper (the rebranded successor to Hustle Zone), host Ryan Perez sits down with Natasha B Russell — president and CEO of NBR Strategic Solutions Inc., a Calgary-based public relations agency, and a certified transformation coach and motivational speaker who works with men, women, and youth around the world. Perez opens by admitting the two had crossed paths for years in Calgary’s business and Black content-creator circles before ever properly meeting, and the conversation that follows is less an interview than an unhurried conversation about where confidence actually comes from.

Natasha’s story starts around age seven, when she developed what she describes as a rare form of “epilepsy of the mouth” — seizures confined to her mouth rather than her whole body, which doctors told her family was unusual. She saw numerous specialists and was put on trial medications; within two years the seizures stopped for good. But the medication left her with significant weight gain, and as a child wearing a medical-alert bracelet, she was bullied and teased. The real turning point, she says, came at age 11 in church, when a pastor’s line — that she was “fearfully and wonderfully made” — reframed how she saw herself. From there, she began feeding herself affirmations and rebuilding her self-esteem.

That confidence showed up early in unconventional ways. At 18, while many of her friends went into retail or fast food, Natasha talked her way into law firm jobs without a legal assistant diploma, betting on confidence and her ability to learn. She eventually earned a Bachelor of Communications in public relations, with honours, from Mount Royal University, and moved into the energy sector doing media and communications work. The pay was good, she says, but something was missing — the work wasn’t fulfilling her. That gap led her toward life coaching and motivational speaking, certifications she layered onto her PR background to build the hybrid practice she runs today.

A recurring theme is the specific weight of being a Black woman in Calgary’s corporate spaces. Natasha describes encountering microaggressions in law firms and later in energy, and being made to feel there was an invisible ceiling — “you’re only going to get so far.” Rather than staying limited to the local market, she expanded her client base into the United States. She also reframes something many would call a disadvantage: being the only woman of color in a room of a thousand or two thousand professionals, she says, is her superpower, not a threat.

Perez and Natasha also talk candidly about how confidence can be misread as intimidation, both professionally and personally, and how she’s had to learn to be more vulnerable — sharing her struggles rather than projecting only polish — to build real connections instead of pushing people away.

Parenting runs through the whole conversation. Natasha talks about raising her seven-year-old daughter, Natalia, who is often the only child of color in her class, and about having hard conversations early — including explaining the history of slavery after Natalia asked about a protest they watched together. She also describes deliberately not repeating her own father’s perfectionism (he once questioned her 97% grade), instead teaching Natalia about responsibility, saving, and the value of money, down to letting her decide whether a $16 pancake maker from her own savings is worth it.

The episode closes with a look at what Natasha is building next: a workbook called Strategize for My Success, group coaching programs called “Boss Up” and “Communicate with Confidence,” and new work as oversight consultant for the Calgary Black Chambers, where she’s helping develop a youth mentorship program. She recounts asking a room of roughly 15 kids, ages 9 to 19, how many considered themselves leaders — only one raised a hand — and says that’s exactly the mindset she wants to help shift.

Asked what she’d tell the 11-year-old girl who felt she wasn’t good enough, Natasha doesn’t hesitate: “You are enough.” It’s the same message, she says, she now offers to anyone who feels like they don’t belong in the space they’ve chosen.