Meet Umberto Molinatti (he/him) And Sariel Snowings (they/them)

 

We recently connected with Umberto Molinatti (he/him) And Sariel Snowings (they/them) and have shared our conversation below.

Umberto Molinatti (he/him) and Sariel Snowings (they/them), so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

Given that I (Umberto) work in academia, imposter syndrome is always a present concern and something I’ve needed to learn how to handle. It comes with the territory of being in a field where you keep meeting brilliant people and, when you’re starting out, you are at the bottom of this chain.
I think that the best way to deal with imposter syndrome is to understand just how widespread it is, if the likes of Albert Einstein can feel like they’ve tricked everyone then it’s only natural that the rest of us have this feeling from time to time. Once you realize that, you need to look at the list of what you’ve achieved and where you’ve gotten and recognize that it would be extremely unlikely for all this to be by chance and, even if you were an impostor, you’d have to be very skilled at it to have gotten that far.
Of course, imposter syndrome has a nasty habit of returning from time to time but the best medicine in that case is paying attention to the little moments of gratitude from your colleagues or asking for feedback, more often than not, you’ll find that there was nothing to worry about.
On the other hand, I (Sariel), as someone working in the art and entertainment industry, also deal with imposter syndrome more often than not, whether is due to my own self-criticism, high expectations or being surrounded by incredibly talented people I admire. This is something most people experience, no matter their path. My advice is: learn to honour the compliments you receive from others instead of dismissing them (otherwise you’re basically just saying “that person is wrong and doesn’t know what they’re talking about!” and usually that’s not true). So try to accept that information as it comes. Also, like Umberto said, remember to look back on your past achievements, regardless of how small they might feel to you! Check out where you were then and where you are now. There’s always a long path ahead, but that doesn’t mean you’ve come a long way already.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

The project we’re working on together is a podcast called “So You Think You Can Rule Persia” where we rate and review all the kings of Persia from Deioces and Yazdegerd the Third. Basically, we talk about these kings and then give them some points based on a more or less serious scale to find out who’s the most interesting of them all.
The reason why we chose this specific topic is that ancient Iran is always seen as the “bad guy” in ancient history, whether they’re fighting the Greeks like in “300” or dueling with the Romans for over half a millennium, they’re always the “other” and their perspective is never seen. With this project, the idea is to give a fuller picture of what was going on at the time and allow people to understand where the image may have been distorted by a Western perspective.
Another fun element of the format is that we’re not a lecture-style podcast which might seem intimidating to someone just approaching the subject but we have a teacher/student dynamic where one of us knows the history while the other stands in for the audience and can bridge that gap.
We both do this for the fun of it and because it’s a great excuse to keep in touch and engage in one of our favourite activities: learning something new. And if we get people excited about ancient Iranian history in the process, well, that’s great news!

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?

The most important quality overall is probably curiosity because that is the source from which all good ideas spring. Our podcast project started through a chain of little interesting things: from research into medieval universities, to a study of medieval Islamic literature, to why is Iran’s culture so influential.
The next one is planning because you need to know where you’ll be going to get the job done. Before the project was even announced, we worked on the research for half a year before deciding to go ahead with it to make sure that this wasn’t just a passing fancy but something that we could dedicate several years of our free time to and enjoy the process.
Lastly, we have cooperation. Because in the podcasting and outreach world we met many people who were more than happy to help us out in our journey and brought us to the point we are now. This is true for pretty much any field where accumulating the greatest number of experiences will inevitably lead to a greater richness in one’s work.

What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?

I (Umberto) believe that there is great virtue in aiming to be well-rounded with a broad interest in what the world has to offer. Of course, certain situations require us to focus on our strengths to achieve excellence but we would never be able to find those areas without casting a wide net. Basically everything can be interesting or engaging if we look at it at the appropriate level of detail for us: you may be interested in the minutiae of post-Seleucid Iranian coinage or simply think dinosaurs are cool but both are paths worthy of being pursued at the level that suits us best.
And this can be seen from a more practical point of view or from more of an ideal one; an unusual skill is what lets us stand out among a crowd of potential applicants for a position but it’s also a virtue in itself as the world is a fascinating place and we should do all that we can to take in its beauty.
The podcast project is an example of this for me where his casual interest in improving an aspect of a videogame I was playing, eventually brought to an educational project spanning multiple years that has the helpful side effect of helping me improve my teaching style in the classroom.
All I (Sariel) have to add to what my colleague has so eloquently shared is that, in my experience, the decision has often come down not to practicality or reason, but rather to who I am and what I need to live happily. Sometimes specialising in a singular craft or skill is much more beneficial, other times a well-rounded body of knowledge will make you just the right person at just the right time for just the right project. Both paths have their advantages and drawbacks. In the end, you can’t predict which one will serve you best in the future. However, I’ve come to realise we cannot easily change who we are, which in my case is someone with many interests and passions whose curiosity and focus shifts quite often and grows bored easily when forced to keep their attention on one single interest. For me, being a well-rounded individual is what works best, not necessarily because it’s been the easiest or even most advantageous path, but because it’s how I’m wired. It’s what feels natural to me and what is kindest to my mental health and well-being. So, sometimes the decision isn’t truly a decision of what’s best in the grand scheme of things, but of what’s best for you.

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Sariel Snowings

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