We recently connected with Stoney Keeley and have shared our conversation below.
Stoney, 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.
It was a process, and in short, I just worked my way through it. In a sense, I just ignored that voice in the back of my head telling me “you don’t belong here,” and pushed through. Eventually, your body of work speaks for itself, and it led me to bigger opportunities. Through that, I like to think I earned the respect of people who are currently where I want to be in the future. People see that, and that respect is what finally made that little naysaying voice in the back of my head shut up.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I founded a digital media company back in 2013, SoBros Network. We write, we podcast, we shoot videos – all of that stuff that the internet lumps together as “content.” It is creative expression at its purest, and we tend to have a lot of fun around here.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
For me, those three qualities would be work ethic, time management, and organizational skills. There’s no replacing work ethic – it’s a matter of simply doing what you set your mind to. For me, I love doing what I do, so it’s never really felt like work, and maybe that’s the key to unlocking your work ethic that no one really says out loud – you have to love what you’re doing first and foremost. Organizational skills can be as simple as making a list of all you want to do. That takes practice! I never realized how hard it is for most people to sit down and make a to-do list until I started recommending it to my friends and family who were stressing out about the overwhelming amount of work they had to do. And, time management is crucial – if you’re not careful, an hour can slip away from you pretty easily. So, it’s important to set aside time specifically for your work and stick to it (this also helps with work-life balance, but I’m trying to keep things succinct here and not give you a novel to read).
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
You have to just take a break. There’s no way around it – I get to that point sometimes, and plodding through regardless has never worked out well for me. It just prolongs the overwhelming feeling. At times, sure, you should just roll up your sleeves and work your way through it. But, your work will suffer when you’re not feeling at your best, and that’s when you need to identify it and take some time to yourself…not only to rest, but to also deeply reflect upon your feelings, write in a journal, process these things, and clear your head. We’re all conditioned to grind grind grind, but that mindset is harmful. Listen to what your mind and body are telling you – there’s no shame in taking a break when you feel overwhelmed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sobrosnetwork.com/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaf3Ohgx0D0XRmLLTZu4nqA
