Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Aileen Passariello McAleer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Aileen , 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.
Imposter syndrome does not go away! The key is to acknowledge the feeling and move through the fear. The brain tries to make sense of the world and at moments that it finds itself in a stressful and uncertain situation, the brain naturally begins to catastrophize to keep the body safe. But if you do not push through these moments of intense fear, you are preventing yourself from those key life opportunities where growth happens. The best strategy that I have uncovered is to acknowledge the feeling and then use self talk to counter the argument and tell yourself that you do belong. The other helpful advice is to realize that everyone has the same fears the difference is between people either pushing through the fear or letting it win.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Constantly be growing your network because your network is your net worth. The individuals you develop relationships with are your future mentors, job opportunities, clients, and friendships. By choosing who you want in your network you are taking control of your destiny of the direction you want to move in.
2. Never be afraid of asking questions; people like individuals that are genuinely interested in learning about what they do or like doing and people like to share. Asking questions is also a great way for making new connections and establishing strong relationships. It is also a great way of surrounding yourself with really smart people that you can always call on when you have a question that you need their insight on.
3. Being a life learner, always have something that you are working towards not only because it looks good but because it feels good to learn new things. Its not about the accomplishment but the experience in the journey, the people you meet, the skills you learn, the insight you gain. When you are a life learner you are more elastic in your ideas versus static, you are curious to learn about different point of views versus being stuck on your ideas alone. Life is a lot more interesting when you decide to open yourself up to new ideas, new experiences, new learnings.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
I had dreams of being a successful business woman in my 20s but little did I know the struggle I would face in my 30s. By 30 I had had a successful career at IBM as an Account Executive and had gotten my MBA. I was beginning to work with a local startup when I got pregnant. The first big challenge I had to face was how to move forward once I became a mother. I was completely unprepared for the very strong desire to raise my kids unwilling to go back to work. With a strong desire to continue developing as a professional and also being a full-time parent raising kids completely in Spanish, I decided that the best option was to launch my own company. I grew MamaLingua for the next 10 years, completely bootstrapped. I wanted to help families raise bilingual children by providing them with a bilingual digital platform. After a successful effort in building MamaLingua, launching it and exiting, I decided it was time to continue building on that dream of becoming a successful business woman although I did not expect the challenge I would face of going back into the workforce. Although to many, it may seem like I did something bold and brave, to the work force its not inline with many traditional roles. And so it was up to me to begin building my network, reaching out to my current network while also providing value to fellow first time entrepreneurs and launching my own consulting company. This strategy continues to give me opportunities for growth, builds my confidence in my ability, and continues to provide referral opportunities as I continue to grow as a professional. I believe that one day, this strategy will provide an opportunity back into the workforce but in the meantime I am enjoying providing valuable insights, connections, and mentorship to small businesses and entrepreneurs.
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Aileen Passariello McAleer
