This is the year to kick the pesky imposter syndrome to the curb and move forward on your journey towards reaching your full potential. We hope the stories and lessons below will help you overcome self-doubt.

Tess Pell

Imposter syndrome is something I have fought, and some days, continue to fight, throughout my entire career. Even now, using the word ‘career’ made me second-guess myself. “Career? Am I really someone with a career? Me? No one takes me seriously, though.”
But looking back on that career helps me remember how amazing I am and how far I have come. I have been at the bench for 13 years and have been making jewelry for 25 years. I have been a maker since I was 6 or 7 when my mom taught me how to crochet. In my grade school pictures, I am wearing crocheted and knotted hemp jewelry that I made myself to wear in the school photos.  Read More>>

Racquel ‘Radcity’ Lee

I had to learn to appreciate my work, even when others didn’t notice or recognize it. I realized that my motivation for creating wasn’t about seeking validation from others ⸻ it was about taking pride in what I did and overcoming my self-doubts. I transitioned from music production to becoming an artist, actor, and filmmaker. I had to remind myself that the stories I wanted to tell through sound and cinematography mattered to me. The right audience would find my work because of the passion and love I poured into each script, song, and character. That internal validation was all I needed ⸻ I just had to start, create, and evolve. Read More>> 

John Bermudez

One of the things I do to overcome imposter syndrome is to, “check my resume”. What things have I done in the past that are similar to the task I’m trying to accomplish now? It doesn’t have to be the exact same thing. What challenges have I overcome previously that I can reflect on to give me the confidence to believe I can and am capable of doing the thing at present? Read More>> 

Stacey Papp

I honestly don’t know if I can say I’ve overcome imposter syndrome but I have learned to make friends with it. When I started Paper Iris, I felt like a fish out of water, completely clueless on how to be a creative and run a business at the same time. When I was younger, I had an art teacher tell me that I shouldn’t ever think of making a career as a creative because my work wasn’t “there”. Read More>> 

Layla Young

Having faith in God and trusting my community helped me overcome imposter syndrome. Both supplied me with words of encouragement, wisdom, direction and hope at a time when I could not see myself. At a certain point while seeking that validation, I tried saying to myself the words that the people I admired and trusted would say: I am more than a conqueror; I am an artist; Everything I need to succeed is already inside of me; My voice matters; I belong here. I started to believe what I was saying slowly but surely. Read More>>

Nathan Weidner

I was never aware of imposter syndrome until about a year ago. I had always dreamed big and had aspirations to create films, and once I realized that dream I rode a high for quite a while. That high was fueled when we began to get our films onto streaming services. However, it eventually it began to wane. I would meet other filmmakers who were striving for and achieving some of the same things, and rather than celebrating their victories as a fellow filmmaker I began to look at these achievements as common. The thought that permeated my mind was, “Well, if I did it, then obviously anyone could do it,” as if I had not accomplished anything out of the ordinary. Read More>> 

Dane Rauschenberg

It is easy to think that what you are creatin in art, what you are writing, the races you have completed or anything else are not “that” special. But the easiest way to overcome imposter syndrome is to just not care. People are going to like what you do or they are not. There really isn’t much you can do about it either way. When you here people say LeBron James is not that good or they don’t like the amazing singing of well, name dozens of people, you are quickly made aware that opinions will be held and all you can do is create. If people like it – GREAT! If they don’t, oh well. Read More>> 

 Emily Grummel

The truth is, I didn’t overcome it all at once. Imposter Syndrome isn’t something that disappears overnight- it’s something I’ve had to unlearn and grow through piece by piece. At first, I thought success would cure it. I figured if I just worked harder, earned more, learned more, and checked every box, I’d finally feel like I belonged. But that wasn’t the case. Read More>> 

Shloka Reddyreddy

I’ve always considered myself to be a rather lucky person.
In school, this meant high test scores were attributed to good guessing skills.
In competitions, wins were associated with easy judges and optimal competition slots.
In creating my own business, too, my mind often scrambled to find traces of good luck in my accomplishments. Read More>>

Matt Mathurin

Honestly, I don’t think you can ever overcome imposter syndrome. As a photographer, you are constantly refining your craft, always looking for perfection because you want to deliver your best work every single time. And as a creative, you are evolving in a very competitive environment. There is always something that will make you doubt yourself. Read More>>

Jasmine Scott Aka JCS

The best way to overcome imposter syndrome is to remember that if you’re weren’t capable, you’d never be doing any part of what you’re accomplishing.

Competition is the worst way to go about anything. Always focus on what you’ve done – and admire it: Read More>> 

Peter Loyd-Vuolo

Imposter syndrome has been a fantastic motivator and one of the most challenging aspects of being a photographer and in a creative field. Honestly I can’t say that I’ve completely overcome it. However, I have learned to recognize it and do my best not to let it skew my perceptions. Read More>> 

Tyler Philip Ratcliffe

Imposter syndrome is REAL for sure–it’s powerful and it will keep you locked in place afraid of moving forward. I definitely faced this early on and 2 specific things really made all the difference in overcoming it. First, I worked like a crazy person to earn it. If I felt like I was farther in my career than I deserved to be, no one was going to outwork me. I decided early on that I was going to become the hardest worker in every room I walked into.  Read More>> 

Erin Nolan

Imposter syndrome is a funny thing. When I saw this question, the familiarity and importance of talking about this subject made me excited to discuss it, but I was also immediately met with my own feelings of imposter syndrome kicking in. As someone who still deals with it frequently, I could hear- “who are you to answer this question? You haven’t won that battle!” But I’ve come to learn it’s not something that has to be defeated in order to not let it win. Read More>> 

Kikue Fiora

Let’s start by defining imposter syndrome: that inner voice that says you’re not experienced enough, prepared enough, or that you don’t belong, despite evidence to the contrary. It holds so many of us back from stepping into our full potential. We’re all familiar with that voice, especially when we’re starting something new. Read More>> 

Karrie Mitten

For years, I lived with a secret.

From the outside, everything looked great. I had the successful career, the accolades, the title, the respect of my peers. But on the inside? I constantly questioned if I really belonged in the room. Who was I to be in this position? Read More>>