We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hannah Wentworth a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Hannah, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.
That is such a great question! Imposter Syndrome was such a real thing for me. When I was first starting my business and creative career, I always felt as if my gifts and talents were not as unique or understood as others were. I was always unsure of how to talk about what I wanted to do and why it was my passion. Even though I worked hard, I felt as if I didn’t deserve to be successful. When I achieved things in my education and early career, I never wanted to give myself full credit for it. Nor did I feel like I wanted people to fully celebrate me. For many years, I believed a strong narrative in my head that stopped me from moving forward in not only my life but also my career.
It all started with comparison.
I am a firm believer that every person is given their own talents. It just depends on how they decide to share them. Some people find them earlier and some find them later on. I always felt as if I had to work harder than those around me to achieve what I wanted. As a result, I would become hyper-focused on what everyone else was doing and it would cause me to stop focusing on my own work. This would cause a ripple effect in my life.
So how did I overcome it, I had to start speaking hope and life into the areas I felt the most unsure about. At first, it felt so wrong. But I had to stay focused on what I was doing and keep my eyes on my greater goals. Not what others’ goals were.
This was easier said than done sometimes. It took a ton of practice and I would be lying if some days it wasn’t a struggle.
I also had to start trusting my voice. It might be a soft quiet voice at first. Allowing others to define my goals and determine my dreams was never the answer to achieving the life I wanted. I had to learn to take the critique whether constructive or not, and allow myself to hear my voice and trust my gut when it came to making the right decisions for me.
Last but not least, I needed to keep pushing myself to step out of my own way. Proving myself wrong and allowing situations that would push me to grow past the imposter syndrome. I needed to give myself the ability to conquer my fear and disbelief. It’s never easy, but every single time I did I came back stronger and grew in my experience.
Imposter Syndrome doesn’t have to control your life. My encouragement to anyone battling with it today is to keep true to who you are, speak life into yourself, don’t let comparison steal your joy, and build and set the goals of your dreams and you will start to feel the imposter walk right out of you.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself.
Of course! Hi, I’m Hannah. I have been a photographer for the last 15 years. I originate from the beautiful Pacific Northwest and now reside in the North Houston area. I first picked up a camera when I was 15 years old. Since then, I have been honing my skills and working in a variety of photography styles. In 2017, I graduated with a fine arts in photography degree and was able to start perfecting my photographic style and creative look.
When we moved to Houston, I began specializing in the area of brand photography and social media content creation. Working in this area of photography allows me to meet and work with amazing business owners, creatives, lifestyle/business coaches, and intentional entrepreneurs. I provide them with elevated photography that represents them visually as a brand. These photographs can be used for marketing, website, and social media growth. My goal for each of my clients is to work with them to build a strong visual catalog full of photography and digital designs that will establish them as experts in their field.
I offer a variety of services: One-time brand photography sessions, team sessions, product photography, a 90-day social media design bundle, event and conference coverage, and curated social media content events.
I think what makes what I do important is that every brand and business needs to be seen visually in one way or another. I love giving my clients the ability to see their potential through my eyes, Empowering them to step into their own and show up as the experts in their field that they are. Showing up for your ideal clients will help build the business of your dreams!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Great questions. I think the three most important qualities that I found most impactful in my journey are persistence, resilience, and trust. Owning a business and developing your skills is not an easy task. It takes a ton of focus and hard work over time.
The first is persistence. There are many days when I wake up and things feel hard and uncomfortable. But as I grow and learn. A lot of what I do is about being able to keep grinding through the difficult things that present themselves. Focusing on taking the next action. Applying persistence in my life means resisting the urge to quit when things aren’t going the way I want.
Resilience is about being able to recover quickly and pivot again and again. I have trained myself when I hear the word “no” to not become discouraged and trust for a greater opportunity. I am always focusing my time on finding a client that will give a “yes” the first time. Those are the people I find understand and are ready to learn the most. Finding your resilience comes from finding your mission and staying focused on it and not allowing anything to derail you from it.
The final is trust. Trust is built one step at a time. When I first began on my creative career path, I felt unsure and inexperienced in how to make my business work. My goals required me to trust myself and what I think. If I walk through my life not trusting my ability to make the correct decisions, I will be unable to stay on track for my goals. Once I found it, I started seeing doors open and opportunities grow in ways I had never experienced.
Showing up for myself on the hard days, recovering and refocusing and pivoting quickly through those days, and being able to trust myself in all areas have revealed to me that I am a strong person, I can do the hard things that I put my mind to, I can change my direction, and start sharing what I have learned with others with confidence.
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort in improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
This question hit me in many different ways. When I first got started in my career and business, I thought that I could make it on only my strengths alone. That was all I needed to have to show up every day and my clients would just come and meet me where I was at. Some did.
However, as I matured in my ability as a business owner, I found that the areas in my life and business that I wanted to ignore or even viewed as weaknesses were hindering me from growing into my next stage of business.
As a photographer, I felt confident in my ability to create high-quality imagery for my clients. The areas I felt were not translating as easily were my client onboarding experience. It was my job to learn and grow in how to establish an elevated client workflow and implement automation for those areas that would promote the growth I desired. I needed to dive deeper into learning the business side of my art, which at the time I viewed as an area of inexperience.
Over time, the things that seemed like a weakness became a strength. I began to prove to myself that the things that look hard and feel hard at first will result in the most growth.
Now, I look at any chance to learn and grow whether paid for or free as the most rewarding choice for me and my business. So choose growth, choose change, and choose you!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sheauthentic.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/sheauthenticphoto
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/sheauthenticphoto
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-wentworth-4a6830151/
