“Who Gave Me a Seat at This Table?” — A Love Letter to Imposter Syndrome

Raise your hand if you've ever walked into a room, looked around, and thought, “Did someone make a mistake? Should I be here? Is this a weird HR prank?” Yeah, same. Welcome to the highly exclusive, utterly exhausting club of women dealing with imposter syndrome — where confidence is optional, overthinking is unlimited, and the dress code is “please don’t notice I’m panicking.”

Here’s the kicker: imposter syndrome doesn’t care how smart you are. Or how many degrees you have. Or how many actual human beings you’ve helped, led, healed, coached, raised, built, or saved from certain professional disaster. Nope. It still whispers that somehow, you just got lucky, or worse — that any minute now, someone’s going to pull back the curtain and yell “GOTCHA! We meant to hire someone else.”

And let’s be honest — it’s not just a mindset issue. It’s also a side effect of operating in systems that weren’t exactly built with women (especially moms, creatives, BIPOC women, neurodivergent women, or, you know… real women) in mind. So no, you’re not crazy. And yes, you’re still qualified — even on the days you feel like you're just playing dress-up in your “CEO-ish” blazer. The real flex? Doing the thing anyway. Speaking up anyway. Charging your worth anyway. Because confidence doesn’t always come first — sometimes it shows up after you’ve already made the bold move.

So if you’re waiting to feel “ready” before you start that business, take the mic, ask for the raise, launch the thing — don’t. Go do it scared. Go do it while shaking. And then text your friend and say, “Okay I did it, I think I’m going to throw up.” You’re not an imposter. You’re just growing into the version of yourself who already knew she could.