
Building Self Worth Without Approval with Tori Kelly
From Human School by Miles Adcox
July 17, 2026 · 1h 14m · Episode 37
About this episode
Tori Kelly discusses her journey of self-worth, motherhood, and the pressures of performance with host Miles Adcox.
Have you ever believed you're only worthy of attention when you're performing and perfect? What if the thing you fear your kid will inherit is the exact thing you've never worked through yourself? Tori Kelly , a Grammy-winning vocalist who's been sharing her voice with the world since she was a kid, sits down with Miles for a conversation about identity, motherhood, and what happens when the performance stops. Tori opens up about growing up in a mixed-race householdwhere she often felt othered, getting signed at 12 and "shelved" before she'd lived enough life to have something to say, and the lie she quietly believed for years: that she wasn't worthy of attention unless she was singing. She talks about touring stadiums with Ed Sheeran while pregnant, writing her new album, God Must Really Love Me , in two weeks while holding her newborn son, and why his first cry made the record. Tori and Miles go deep into the perfectionism she traces back to her earliest days on stage, the phone cleanses she uses to fight comparison, and why motherhood has made her want her son to see her mess up, say sorry, and be human. Miles shares a mentor's metaphor about gratitude that reframes how you…
People in this episode
Host: Miles Adcox
Guest: Tori Kelly
Topics covered
- identity
- motherhood
- perfectionism
- self-worth
- music career
Keywords
- Tori Kelly
- identity
- motherhood
- perfectionism
- music
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: God Must Really Love Me
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