In 2019, I wrote a blog post called “Finn Fear – Fear of the Unknown.” Back then, my fear lived mostly in my head: self-doubt, comparison, and the feeling of being small in a big, loud country.
I had moved from Finland to the US, and I suddenly found myself surrounded by more competition, more ambition, and more noise than I’d ever experienced back home. In that 2019 post, I wrote about how moving to Chicago pushed me out of my comfort zone, how I started comparing myself to others in unhealthy ways, and how fear of the unknown almost stopped me from doing things I deeply wanted—like writing that very blog.
My message then was simple: fear not, because fear stops you from living. Be uncomfortable. Try things. Test your wings. You’ll regret not trying more than you’ll ever regret failing.
Looking back now, I can see that version of me clearly. Brave. Ambitious. A bit terrified. But still willing to step forward.
That woman is the same one who founded FINN-X—a customer experience consulting company with a Finnish Heart, helping small businesses make their customers feel seen, heard, and genuinely cared for.
Fast forward to now: fear with higher stakes
Today, fear looks different.
I’m still the same Finnish woman navigating life in the US—but now I’m also a twin mom, a founder, and a long-term partner to small businesses who trust me with their customers.
At eight months pregnant with my twins, I had an experience that changed how I think about fear forever.
I was driving when a car ran a red light. I hit it square on the driver’s door. The other car spun into oncoming traffic, and our Range Rover was totaled. In one moment, everything went quiet and sharp at the same time.
No one was badly hurt, thank God. The twins were monitored, and I still carried them to full term, 38 weeks. The other driver walked away too—hopefully without a driver’s license anymore. I was left with bulging discs in my neck and chronic pain, but it could have been so much worse.
I often say this was the scariest experience of my life. But the fear I felt wasn’t for me.
When I called 911, the first thing I blurted out—against every protocol—was: “I’m eight months pregnant. I was in a car crash.” My mind went straight to the twins. Their safety. Their lives. My fear was no longer about who I was becoming in the US. It was about whether my babies would be okay.
It was fear with real, tangible stakes.
The mouse who lost its fear
Every night, I read to my twins in Finnish. There’s one story they absolutely love.
It’s about a mouse that almost dies in a mousetrap. After that near-death experience, it becomes completely fearless. It travels the world, has the confidence of a lion, and negotiates like nobody’s business. A boardroom full of seasoned leaders would be intimidated—or mesmerized—by this tiny creature.
By the end of the story, the mouse gets a bit too cocky and is brought back down from the clouds to the surface. Still, I can’t help admiring its no-fear approach. Its boldness. Its refusal to shrink.
And every time I close the book, I find myself asking the same question:
If a tiny fictional mouse can live without fear after almost dying, why am I still so afraid of putting my best self out there?
The fear that stayed—and how it changed
When I read my 2019 blog now, I recognize the younger version of myself who was scared of not being good enough, of not fitting in, of speaking with an accent, of standing out and being seen.
That fear hasn’t totally disappeared. It’s just… evolved.
Back then, the unknown was my career, my place in a new country, my worth in a hyper-competitive environment. Today, the unknown is bigger:
- Will I be the mother my kids need?
- Will my body hold up after trauma and chronic pain?
- Will I dare to step fully into who I am—even now, with more to lose?
- Will I build FINN-X in a way that truly reflects my values of perseverance, integrity, and care?
2019 fear was loud but abstract. 2026 fear is quieter, deeper, and more rooted in love and responsibility.
And this is where the mouse comes in.
I don’t actually want to be fearless. The mouse loses something when it becomes completely unafraid. It becomes reckless, detached from reality, floating in the clouds until life (or the story) pulls it back down.
But I do want more of its courage.
- The courage to walk into rooms where I feel small.
- The courage to share my ideas, my work, my story—even when my accent is heard, even when my voice shakes.
- The courage to show my twins what it looks like to keep going, even with fear in the passenger seat.
- The courage to help small businesses change how they treat their customers—and their employees—even when “the way we’ve always done it” feels safer.
From Finn Fear to FINN-X: fear, people, and customer experience
When I wrote “Finn Fear – Fear of the Unknown” in 2019, my advice to myself and others was:
- Don’t let anyone bring you down—believe in your own dreams, even if no one else does.
- Trust yourself—no one knows you better than you.
- If someone doesn’t understand your accent—repeat yourself. They’ll adjust.
Those lessons are still true. But today, with FINN-X, I would add this—especially for the small businesses and founders I work with:
- Let fear inform you, but not define you.
- Let near-misses and hard moments sharpen your priorities, not shrink your vision.
- Let your courage grow at the same pace as your responsibilities, your team, and your business.
- Remember that your people—not a single department—create your customer experience every day.
At FINN-X, my motto is “Making Your Customers Matter.”
But the real change starts with your people. When employees feel trusted, supported, and given the right tools, language, and confidence, they don’t have to operate from fear—fear of saying the wrong thing, fear of spending a few extra minutes with a customer, fear of making a human decision.
When your people are not paralyzed by fear, they naturally care more. And when customers feel genuinely cared for, they become loyal.
Loyal customers come back again and again—and that’s how small businesses grow in a sustainable, human way.
What the fearless mouse teaches me about CX
The fearless mouse in my twins’ bedtime story reminds me of something important for customer experience, too.
If we remove all fear from our teams, we might also remove healthy caution, empathy, and care. We don’t need people to be fearless. We need them to feel safe enough to:
- Speak honestly with customers
- Take an extra minute to listen
- Make a small exception when it’s the right thing to do
- Admit a mistake and fix it with integrity
That kind of environment doesn’t happen by accident. It’s designed—through clear processes, training, leadership, and everyday choices.
That’s what I help small businesses do through FINN-X: build customer experiences where both employees and customers feel that they truly matter.
The fear is still here. Just different.
I’m still that Finnish woman who once wrote about fear of the unknown in Chicago.
Now I’m also a mother who survived a car crash, a woman who reads about a fearless mouse to her twins every night, and a customer experience consultant who believes that courage, empathy, and clarity are the foundations of great CX.
The fear is still here. Just different.
And maybe that’s the point. Maybe the goal was never to become the mouse that fears nothing—but to become the human who feels everything and still chooses to live, build, and serve customers fully.
If you’re a small business owner who cares deeply about your customers—but you sometimes feel held back by fear, uncertainty, or “the way we’ve always done it,” I’d love to have a thoughtful conversation about your customer experience, your people, and what “making your customers matter” could look like in your everyday reality.
