Attire Accessories - Mar/Apr 2020 (Issue 81)

90 WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ? Louise Prance looks at the dreaded imposter syndrome, and how to turn a negative emotion into a positive business experience Imposter syndrome – hand’s up who’s felt it? At the start of a new job, employing new staff, opening a new retail store; whatever your huge career moments there’s often a little voice in your head that yells rather unhelpful things such as ‘you’re not good enough’, ‘they know more than you’, ‘you’re going to fail’, and ‘why are you here?’ And it’s at those times when you feel like you’re the only person in the room that has ever felt this way, right? Well, let me tell you, you’re wrong. But don’t just take it from me. On my recent trip to Top Drawer I was lucky enough to attend a talk by Holly Tucker, MBE. Founder of Not On The High Street and Holly & Co, it’s safe to say Holly knows a thing or two about business. And, when asked about the dreaded imposter syndrome, Holly summed it up quite nicely: we all get it, we should all acknowledge it, but rather than be bogged down by it, we should use it to our advantage and harness those feelings to make us do better, and to make us grow. The feeling of not being good enough, or that you’re destined to fail, is common, and understandable. When we invest so much of ourselves into a passion project, be it a new job or a retail opening, it’s perfectly reasonable that our brain would throw us a curveball and an equal measure of self-doubt to go alongside our excitement at our new venture. However, rather than letting this doubt eat away at our self-confidence, and chip away at the enthusiasm with which we are throwing into the project, we should grab the imposter syndrome full force, and, as Holly says, look at it more positively and break it down. By addressing the feeling head on and learning from it – that is acknowledging it’s OK to feel overwhelmed in what could be deemed as a scary situation – you are able to accept it but not be bogged down by it.