No. It really doesn’t go away. This feeling that I don’t belong. Or that I really don’t have what it takes to do what I do. Doubting my abilities. Doubting my power.
Who do I think I am?
That was very much the feeling this past month.
My business partner, Julie, and I have a successful business. We do good work. We make things happen. Our clients love us. And, we love them! Things have been going great!
But we were challenged this month. Things weren’t going so well with a specific client. You know when you get that “feeling.” Something was a little off. Then emails from a third party started showing up in our inbox with requests for said client. Ummm…Ok. Of course, we can send them what you need, no problem.
More requests. More information was exchanged.
The initial project was going well. Everything we had done up until then was great and well received. It was future work that was being worked on by others.
We needed to have a conversation. A serious one. And, get clarification – yet, we were scared to do so. Why?
Well, I knew why.
“That imposter or phony feeling at work or school rarely has anything to do with our abilities, but has more to do with that fearful voice inside of us that scolds and asks, “Who do you think you are?”
Brene Brown
I started doubting my ability and wondering where I went wrong with this client. My perfectionism was starting to rear its ugly head. The combination of these two was almost crippling. And, I was not a fan.
So we stopped. And, we reviewed. And, we learned where we could have moved things a bit differently.
We allowed this client to take us off our very successful process – and we learned our lesson there!
And, we also realized that we cannot make others like us. Or listen to us. Or agree with us. But we can continue to be authentic to who we really are. Heart-Centered. Just like our business name implies: Heart-Centered Marketing and Business Solutions.
We must continue to be authentic to ourselves. We are good at what we do. And as a team, we are fucking fantastic!
No, we are never going to please everyone all the time. Whether that is on stage for me or through our work. My need to be liked was overtaking my knowledge that this is not a popularity contest. This is business. And, in business, you won’t make all the sales. Or continue on all the projects. We just hope that they take with them a little of our authenticity and magic in support of their passion.
And, that is ok. And, perhaps they will return to work with us again.
And, while I know we are good at what we do, we don’t need to be that egotistical. But not a shrinking violet either. We have to stand our sacred ground. Know that we know what we are doing and help those clients that believe in us and us in them.
Because we do.
Don’t Shrink. Don’t Puff Up. Stand On Your Sacred Ground.
Brene Brown
We gained our wonderful bank of clients by being authentic. And, one of our clients actually told us that by being authentic and heart-centered, the business will find us.
Boy, is he right.
Now, we will also market ourselves and do all the things we do for our clients. You know, business things. But, afterall…
Authenticity is magnetic.
RKG
Who do we think we are?
We are two women who own a successful marketing and business solutions company. We attract all the best, successful, creative, and wonderful clients. We know our shit.
We may have lost a client and we have to realize that the longer we are in business that it may actually happen again. And, that’s ok. As long as we continue to be true to ourselves, expand our knowledge, keep up with trends, we’ll be fine.
Imposter Syndrom is now in check.
We are Heart-Centered Marketing and Business Solutions.
Carmen is a single mom who acts, sings, drinks way too much coffee, and writes stuff as she authentically navigates life. Sometimes it’s interesting, sometimes not so much. You can decide. But if something moves you, drop a line, share it far and wide, and let me know what you think! Be sure to check out her business website, Heart-Centered Marketing and Business Solutions.
