University of Houston research professor and author Dr Brené Brown brought her themes of vulnerability and strength to the International Spa Association’s Conference & Expo in Las Vegas last week, delivering the opening speech to an audience of spa and wellness professionals from around the world.

Brown – a spa-goer herself – told the audience that the work they do is important, but it’s also hard.

“You’re healers, but you’re truth tellers,” she said. “When I go to a spa, the truth of my life catches up with me. Y’all are the people who tell me the truth about my life two to three times a month.”

And telling the truth involves vulnerability, which is what Brown’s research and best-selling books focus on.

She said people often think of courage and vulnerability as opposite ends of a continuum, but that in reality, they’re really the same thing.

“Vulnerability is not weakness – it’s our most accurate measure of courage,” said Brown. “There is no courage without vulnerability.”

She said that while vulnerability can make us feel uncertain, fearful and even shamed, it is also at the root of important feelings and values such as love, belonging, joy, empathy, trust, innovation, creativity, accountability, adaptability, ethical decision-making, and hard conversations – things that are important to develop both personally and professionally.

Brown shared stories from her own life and marriage to illustrate the importance of vulnerability and how it informs courage, and said that business owners in particular have to be willing to put themselves out there and take risks, even when they don’t know the outcome.

“There’s nothing comfortable about being brave with your life and your business,” she said.

But, she continued, “If you’re business owners, you have no choice – you’ve got to be willing to fall and to fail. The world’s changing too fast.”

Before her TED Talk – one of the most-watched of all-time – made her a near-overnight celebrity, Brown said she had avoided criticism by staying small, and that she soon learned that taking risks inevitably meant that critics would follow.

“If you are brave with your life and with your business, you will get your ass kicked,” she said. “It’s just the physics of courage if you keep putting yourself out there.”

But showing up and getting in the arena even when you don’t know what the outcome will be is necessary for growth, Brown suggested, even when you fail.

“Take off the armour and the weapons, and the only thing you need is to be clear on your values,” she said. “The only thing you need is to remember why you failed, and you can get back up again.”