# Change your inner voice | Troy Armour | TEDxYouth@ISMonaco Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x-wNMIg-H8 Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/0x-wNMIg-H8 Generated: 2025-12-03T17:24:49.636+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview Troy Armour realized that his inner voice, which constantly told him he was weird, different, and not good enough, was actually his greatest strength, driving him to found Junk Kouture and ultimately change his life by embracing what others told him was a weakness. **Key Points:** - Armour joined the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) forum ten years ago, which gathers entrepreneurs globally in small groups that meet monthly. - An event within this forum caused a significant perspective shift in Armour regarding his self-perception. - The negative inner voice that constantly told him he was different, gay, and unworthy was actually his greatest strength, which he had been hiding. - Armour founded Junk Kouture, an organization that gathers entrepreneurs and focuses on impacting young people through creativity and fashion. - The negative voice suggested he would fail, be a nobody, and that his father (a hard worker) and mother (a dreamer) had set him up for failure by living in a caravan. - He finally told his PR agent that he wanted to do interviews, and when asked why, he replied, 'I want you to tell me why I will not fail,' realizing his perceived weakness was his driving force. - The exercise given by Patricia Kallen, his life coach, involved imagining a happy place in nature and then writing a sentence about his true self, which led to the realization that his inner critic was based on external narratives. ![Screenshot at 00:14: Troy Armour introduces the premise of his story, reflecting on a simple question asked ten years ago regarding his self-perception versus who he could become, setting the stage for the narrative about his inner voice.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/0x-wNMIg-H8/00-00-14.png) **Context:** Troy Armour, CEO of Junk Kouture, recounts a pivotal experience from ten years prior when he was part of an Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) forum. This story centers on how he confronted a deeply ingrained negative inner voice, stemming from his childhood experience of growing up in a caravan in rural Ireland, which told him he didn't fit in because he was gay and interested in creative pursuits rather than traditional work. The turning point came through a specific exercise given by his life coach, Patricia Kallen, forcing him to articulate this internal conflict. ## Detailed Analysis Troy Armour, CEO of Junk Kouture, shares a transformative story about confronting his negative inner voice. Ten years ago, he joined the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) forum, where he was tasked with asking each member a simple question about their perspective on who they are versus who they could become. This exercise, coupled with a subsequent one from his life coach, Patricia Kallen, forced him to confront the deeply rooted negative narrative in his head—that he was weird, different (specifically being gay in rural Ireland), and destined to fail because his parents lived unconventionally (in a caravan). He realized this perceived weakness—his difference—was actually the driving force behind his success, including founding Junk Kouture, an organization focused on empowering youth through creativity and fashion. The realization hit him hard enough to make him cry, but ultimately, he embraced this internal critic, understanding that this voice, which others had projected onto him, was now his superpower. He concludes by challenging the audience to identify their own negative inner voice and reframe it as a positive driver for change. ### Joining EO and the Initial Challenge - Ten years ago, Armour joined the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) forum; he was tasked with asking members what they thought about their current self versus their potential self; this was complicated by an internal voice telling him he was different and gay. ### The Life Coach Exercise - Patricia Kallen, his life coach, gave him an exercise: imagine a happy place (green field, forest, beach) and write a sentence about who you are; Armour wrote, 'I am the son, I am strong, I am confident, I am bold,' realizing this contradicted the negative tape playing in his head. ### Confronting the Inner Critic - The negative voice constantly told him he didn't fit in (being gay in Ireland, not liking sports), but the realization that this perceived weakness was his greatest strength was transformative, leading him to write a new affirmation: 'I am the son.' ### The Result - This shift in perspective changed his life, allowing him to start companies like Junk Kouture, which he founded to impact young people through creativity, proving that what others told him he couldn't be was actually his driving force. ![Screenshot at 00:13: Troy Armour on stage at TEDxYouth@ISMonaco, wearing a black sweater with a large red heart.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/0x-wNMIg-H8/00-00-13.png) ![Screenshot at 00:25: Armour passionately explaining the significance of a realization that changed his life, referencing the first day of his life where he understood his perspective was different.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/0x-wNMIg-H8/00-00-25.png) ![Screenshot at 01:44: Armour describing the card he wrote down for the EO forum, which listed three things that happened to him the most, indicating he focused only on the negative outcomes.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/0x-wNMIg-H8/00-01-44.png) ![Screenshot at 03:33: Armour detailing his unconventional upbringing, mentioning his parents decided to build a house without a mortgage while living in a caravan, which labeled them as 'trailer kids'.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/0x-wNMIg-H8/00-03-33.png) ![Screenshot at 08:00: Armour describing the intense internal conflict and the 'FBI interrogation' feeling when he tried to speak about his feelings, highlighting the struggle to accept himself.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/0x-wNMIg-H8/00-08-00.png)