Ep. 2 - Feel Like An Imposter? You’re Not Alone.

Hello, Amazing mamas. Welcome to the Gutsy Mama Podcast, where we are going to be talking about all things momming, marketing, money, and mindset. So in this solo episode, I wanted to talk to you all about impostor syndrome.

Because I feel like it's a word that gets thrown around a lot, especially when it comes to women. I feel like we as women tend to feel a little more impostor syndrome when it comes to business and things like that. So I wanted to jump in and have a conversation with you about impostor syndrome.

It is something that I have struggled with in my own life. When it came to launching my business, when it came to launching the Gutsy Mama Project, when it even came to launching this podcast, impostor syndrome can rear its ugly head and stop us from reaching the goals that we want.

So I recently finished the book Presence by Amy Cuddy, which is a wonderful book. I had a long road trip, 20 hours of driving, and finished that book while I was driving. And I wanted to have a conversation with you about impostor syndrome because it is something that she talks about pretty extensively in that book. And my takeaway from this book, or at least my takeaway from my own life with impostor syndrome, is imposter syndrome never really 100% goes away.

And it's one of those things that, at least I have always had to deal with in some regard. So when I first started building Squarespace websites, I had impostor syndrome about whether or not I was good enough to build websites. And now that I've built, you know, 80 or so websites, I know that I can build a website pretty well and pretty quickly. And I might have a bunch of happy clients and referrals and things like that. So my imposter syndrome around building websites, is not there. But the thing is about impostor syndrome, once you conquer one task, impostor syndrome can rear its ugly head and another portion of your life.

So am I good enough to teach other moms how to build businesses? How to build websites? Am I good enough to run a business? Am I good enough to quit could have impostor syndrome around all sorts of things in your life, and it can keep rearing its ugly head?

But here's the thing. You just have to keep pushing through it. And I have always found that if I just push through, make that first step turn that negative thought on its head. I've always had the ability to turn it around and get over it. Like I said, just like with building websites, just like with starting a company, just like with hiring on staff, whatever it is, once you get over that initial hump, the imposter syndrome behind it sort of gets pushed to the push to the wayside as I think what we need to do.

And impostor syndrome is just kind of one of those things. We're not all born wildly confident people who know they're going to be good at absolutely everything. I don't think there's a person on the planet who believes that they are good at absolutely everything. So when you're starting something new and impostor syndrome rears, its ugly head, Mama, I just want to say to you, it's like that for everybody. Everybody feels that fear. That idea that, hey, am I going to be able to do this? What's going to happen if I don't? And we all start to worry about the worst-case scenarios.

But I think we need to understand, and what I hope that you'll understand by listening to this is that fear is a fucking liar. It will tell you what it means to tell you to protect itself. And it's your brain trying to keep you safe by keeping you in the same place. And staying in the same place for most of us is never going to be the best option.

So if you are ready to ditch your imposter syndrome and do it, the key is to just start. There's a reason that inside the Gutsy Mama Project my course where I teach moms how to build, grow and scale Squarespace agencies, there's a reason that I put the mindset section up first. It's the first module that we go through. Because while everyone wants to learn how to build Squarespace websites quickly, it's certainly very important.

Getting your head on straight when you are starting a business can be the most important thing after two years of running the Gutsy Mama Project and working one on one with loads and loads of moms. The thing I know and understand is it doesn't matter how good you are at building websites, if you don't have your head on straight.

Some of the people who are the best designers that I've worked with struggle the most because they don't have their heads on straight. They let their imposter syndrome take control.

So I want to say to you your imposter syndrome. Let it be. It's always going to be there in some form, you cannot let it control your life. Once you conquer one thing impostor syndrome is going to figure out a way to rear its ugly head in another place in your life.

And you know what? Screw it. It's going to be there, so you might as well live and go after the things that you truly, truly want.

So that is my soapbox rant about impostor syndrome. If you have any questions about the Gutsy Mama Project, feel free to reach out to me at support@gutsymamaproject.com. The next round of the Gutsy Mama Project is about to launch.

So if you are interested in learning how to build, grow and scale a Squarespace web design agency with a group of amazing moms. Even if you've never designed a website in your life, please visit beagutsymama.com for more details or find me on Instagram @gutsymamaproject.

So cheers amazing mamas and I will see you on the next episode.