Meet Michelle Schneider

We recently connected with Michelle Schneider and have shared our conversation below.

Michelle , first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
I believe one of the most dangerous things to our success is the stories we tell ourselves. The mind is a powerful thing, but it’s not always our friend. As a creative, it is easy to look around and say, “That person is more talented than I am” or “That person knows more than I do.” They say comparison is the thief of joy, and it is absolutely true. I used to get caught up in comparing myself to others and believing that I wasn’t good enough—despite having a very successful career. It took me a long time to realize that the stories I was telling myself were complete BS and that doubting my talents and abilities was holding me back.

I remember having this really powerful moment of clarity when I was an Art Director at a big corporation, and it all kind of clicked for me. There were hundreds of people in this company, and as I started to observe everyone and the jobs they were doing I realized that literally everyone is winging it. Nobody has everything in life figured out. It makes me laugh, but it somehow makes me feel better. It was in that moment that I started to take the pressure off of myself. Everyone is doing the best that they can, and there is no need to compare yourself to others.

The world doesn’t need you to be exactly like someone else. The world needs you to be your authentic and unique self. I’m absolutely not claiming that I have everything figured out, but I’m definitely not worrying anymore about “not being good enough.” My focus these days is on my own goals and where I want to take my career.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I call myself a creative solopreneur because it’s hard to categorize myself in one box. I’ve been in marketing and design for over 15 years. I’ve been blessed to work in many in-house marketing departments, including professional sports, a global theatre company, and private aviation. I finally got to a point where I realized I wanted more freedom and decided that working for myself was the direction I needed to go. Of course, I made this decision right before the pandemic hit. I didn’t necessarily have any money saved to launch, so I had to work at building my own business while working full time. In 2021, I officially went out on my own, offering web design and marketing services. While I’ve found success in launching my business, I know that what I am doing today will probably look very different in a few years. I feel like I am constantly in transition, working toward the next big thing. The freedom of working for myself has given me the ability to keep exploring my passions. Because I enjoy helping others, I launched my Michelle The Creator YouTube channel, where I teach various tech tutorials on design, websites, and marketing topics. I’ve been able to grow it slowly, and that has been very exciting to experience. I want to empower people to learn new skills because that is how I got to where I am. If there was something I wanted to figure out, I would often go to YouTube to get the answer. I hope to be a resource like that for others.
An additional creative outlet is my Michelle The Creator Shop, which I am continually working on adding to. Whether it’s a funny candle or a design template, it’s another excellent way to utilize my creativity and explore alternative revenue opportunities.
If anyone wants to follow along my journey, the best way to support me is to follow me on YouTube or check out my shop.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three of the most important qualities that were impactful on my journey are Fearlessness — Life can be scary…so what. Everyone kept asking me when I was launching my business if I was scared, and I absolutely despised that question. I think when you feel so strongly about going in a particular direction there isn’t any room for being scared. Nobody accomplishes anything great by worrying about it.
Perseverance — Not everything is going to be rainbows and sunshine. But for every challenge I’ve been faced with I’ve either learned a valuable lesson or became stronger for going through it. I was chronically sick for years having many ups and downs. It would have been easier to give up on my goals and ideas but I pushed through, and I’m now doing better than ever.
Curiosity — Never. Stop. Learning. My curiosity and wanting to learn new skills is really the secret ingredient to my success. It pushes me to challenge myself and to keep raising the bar.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
In the words of Snoop Dogg, as he famously accepted his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, “I want to thank me.” Don’t get me wrong, there have been helpful people along the way, but no one is ever going to care more about your personal success than you are. One quality that I have always loved about myself that I mentioned before is my curiosity and thirst for knowledge. If there’s something I want to learn, I’ll go find the tutorial or take a course on it. If you tell me my goals are unrealistic, I’ll say “Watch me.” I’m not going to let anyone or anything stand in my way. I feel like I’m here to prove to the world that anything is possible.

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