We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Noah Dach a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Noah , 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 think the most important part about trying to overcome imposter syndrome is realizing that not only does everyone feel this way at some point in their life, but it is in doing whatever you will do that will help you overcome imposter syndrome. It’s one of those great teaching moments. The only way to overcome it is by accepting and leaning into it. I have very little doubt in my mind that every great entrepreneur, actor, artist, performer, or person who has ever brought something of their own making to reality has grappled with the idea that what they are doing isn’t good enough, is something someone else has already, or wont matter. I recently was teaching someone ski lessons and on steeper terrain or tighter hills the hardest part is making that first turn. After you make that turn, everything becomes easier, you have confidence, it feels easier and the run becomes more natural. The same is true for overcoming imposter syndrome, you just have to make that first turn.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I do many different things but a lot of my life is split into different categories; the creative/artistic side, the entrepreneurial side, and the adventurous side. The joke I have made throughout my life has been that I no longer have hobbies and I shouldn’t get interested in anything new because all of my hobbies just turn into jobs. I am a dance choreographer, an educator, a marketing professional, photographer, mixologist, entrepreneur and most recently the founder of a new dating app coming to market in 2025.
A lot of my focus today is spend on Red Flags Dating App. A new dating app that I designed and have been building for the last year. The goal of it is to build a fun and humorous dating app designed to cut through the BS of online dating and push users to create real life relationships and get off the app as quickly as possible. The idea came to me after my own personal time on dating apps but also the experiences of the people around me who were sick and tired of superficial dating apps that didn’t actually help them find a relationship. Our goal is to help people to be upfront an honest, self aware and push them to meet in person instead of collecting pen pals through online chats. I was tired of apps that capitalize on the failure of its users and are designed to keep people swiping and never actually find a partner. I wanted to create an app that could capitalize on the success of its users and not their failures.
Outside of Red Flags Dating App, I am a passionate choreographer, photographer, mixologist, traveler, and adventurer. All of which have in some way overlapped with my work life. I choreograph and teach dance for various projects and studios, I am a freelance photographer, I do mixology for events and menu design, and I have worked in the ski and outdoor industry in various capacities.
One thing I love about the way I work is I find ways of combining my interests and skills into one system. For the last 4 years I have been doing social media and content management with various clients in the outdoor, real estate, consumer product, and manufacturing industries. This has allowed me to combine my skills in photography, my work in the marketing industry, my love for travel/adventure, and my creative eye into one. I love to be able to do this and its what I work to do in every project I start or join. Every business or creative project is an opportunity to use my skillsets and engage my interests to find success.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
If I had to think of three thing that have helped me through my experience it would be the ability to understand and take feedback, the ability to learn and teach myself something new whenever I need to, and lastly to nurture my relationships.
Taking feedback is incredibly important as a creator, business professional and honestly as a person. There are in my opinion two things you need to remember when it comes to feedback. The first is to find people who you trust to give it to you. The important word there is “trust.” I didn’t say people who agree with you, who have the same perspective as you or who you necessarily like. You need perspectives outside of your own, people who don’t like what you’re making, and people who are not afraid to tell you what you need to here. When creating workin the entertainment world I have regularly invited people who I don’t agree with and who have very different aesthetics than me to give me feedback on my work. Feedback is not a place where I want peoples praise or love, its where I want honesty and a multitude of perspectives. Secondly, it is important to remember that feedback is someones opinion or view of what you have done. It is a recommendation and you do not have to do what anybody says. I have taken a lot of feedback and made changes to my work based on the wisdom and views of others. I have also however disagreed with peoples feedback and decided to keep something the way it was to both success and failure. What feedback you implement is up to you, period.
Being able and open to continued education is a must. As an entrepreneur the idea that if you want something done right you have to do it yourself is true, especially in the beginning. Hire people, get help, feedback even! but never shy away from learning something new. It will help you to accomplish your tasks, give you a new perspective on something, and supply you with a new tool for you don’t even know what yet! I learned photoshop because I needed to make posters for my companies live productions, now I use it every day for graphic design, marketing, and more for several of my businesses.
Lastly, nurture your relationships. You never know what the future holds and burning bridges just doesn’t work. Learn how to be social, learn how to connect, and actually do it. Don’t be fake and don’t tell people what they want to hear. The key is to be genuine and to make real connections. It’s hard to always put a smile on your face and be the life of the party but if you put socializing into practice, following up with people you connect with and making an active effort to connect with those around you, you will be all the better for it.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
I think everyone is different when it comes to pushing through being overwhelmed. I am by no means an expert and regularly feel the stress of being overwhelmed. I think that we have this belief that theres one trick that will work for each of us and if we do that one thing it’ll all go away but I don’t think thats true. I see it kind of like antibiotics. There are a lot of different kinds of antibiotics and you get certain ones depending on what you are sick with and also how your body reacts to it. Not everyone gets the same antibiotic for strep throat and not every antibiotic will work on every illness.
Dealing with the feeling of being overwhelmed is the same in my opinion. Sometimes I take a walk, go outside, go to the gym, or focus on something completely different then what is overwhelming me. Other times I turn on music, hunker down, focus on my work and don’t look up from my desk until it is done. Maybe that takes an hour, maybe it takes twelve. I think it completely depends on the subject matter and what you are able to do to help yourself in that moment. The trick to me is figuring out which “antibiotic” you are going to take for the issue at hand. For that I say take a breath, write it down or look at whatever it is you need to do and make a decision on what you want to try to deal with the stress, then do that. You could be wrong but at this point we all have a list of things we can do so you might as well start by trying one. Just take that pause to figure out which.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.noahdach.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noahdach/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noahdach/
- Other: https://www.redflagsdatingapp.com/
