Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

Stop doubting, start doing.

Do you doubt your creative abilities? Do your feelings and fears stop you from moving forward?

Most of us feel at one time or another that we aren’t as capable as others and fear we’ll be exposed as a fraud.

Imposter syndrome was first described in 1978 by psychologists Suzanne Imes and Pauline Rose Clance to define this term in high-achieving professional women. But imposter syndrome is not gender inclusive. Imposter syndrome is common in most of us (up to seventy percent) in many lines of work, not just the creative. Since social media has overtaken our lives, imposter syndrome is on the rise, according to Elizabeth Lombardo, Ph. D (known as Dr. E), psychologist and author of Better Than Perfect: 7 Strategies to Crush Your Inner Critic and Create a Life You Love, and her most recent book, Get Out of the Red Zone: Transform Your Stress and Optimize True Success.

Here’s an example of how I worked through imposter syndrome, followed by notes about what I learned, why you should dream big, and not let imposter syndrome hijack your dreams.

On October 2, 2018, five months before I began to feel the effects of a diagnosis that I’d learned was a rare, life-threatening cancer, I pitched an essay along with a one-minute video to Sony Alpha Female. I applied to its annual grant program for photographers. Winners would receive grant money, a camera, a lens, and more. My story, Women in Seafood, would photograph and film women working in the seafood industry in the US, using a combination of photography and video. I wasn’t working as a photographer or filmmaker, but I wanted to.

*

Dear Alpha Female,

As a cookbook author and photographer, I aim to help people make healthier choices about the seafood they eat by telling stories with my photography.

One of the most significant challenges in my career is overcoming the fear of failure and overcoming imposter syndrome—it’s what holds me back even though I strive for the extraordinary. I want to stand out, not just show up. One of the other challenges I face is I don’t have the resources to hire a sitter/or board my eight-month-old puppy to travel to photograph my story, Women in Seafood, one that would significantly impact the lives of many people around the world. Lastly, I don’t have the resources to hire an editor or mentor for collaboration.

Suppose Sony allowed me to be an Alpha Female. In that case, I’d like to photograph not just the seafood we should be eating but also learn how to do portrait photography to photograph women in seafood—chefs, scientists, fishers, farmers—and the food they are sourcing, growing, and harvesting. I want to learn landscape photography and videography to strengthen and inform their stories—to tell a bigger story. This deep, creative work would take my career to the next level.

I believe it’s essential to show how important, valuable, resilient, and strong women are and will be for our future. To tell stories through photographs about how women create an impact in fisheries and how they are working to preserve and protect our fisheries and oceans. 

I want my stories and photographs to be more than a styled, finished recipe though that’s important too. My series, Women in Seafood, would feature women around the United States who work to support our oceans and fisheries, feed communities, create economic value, and cook in the home or restaurant. These stories would show diversity and inclusiveness. This photography/film series would empower present and future generations. I want women to know they can and deserve to be seen and heard. To me, this is dreaming big.

In ten years, I want to be able to mentor young women to dream big. I want to speak using my passion and my evolving, extraordinary photography. I want to say I asked for help, and with the help from Sony Alpha Female, I was able to follow my passion and pursue my dreams.

Thank you for your time, consideration, and the opportunity to express my dreams. Thank you for the chance to be a part of a powerful movement for women.

Sincerely,

Maureen C. Berry

*

I wasn’t an award recipient.

But I was proud of my submission, even though I suspected it was amateurish. Writing the pitch letter and recording the video helped clarify my goals, show me what was holding me back, and boost my self-esteem.

Though it wasn’t until after I watched the winning submissions (video clips on YouTube) that I realized something else—I was totally out of my league in skill and design. However, I would’ve never known just how out of my league I was until I tried. Still today, I remember how terrified I was to submit, but not submitting was scarier.

How would I ever know if I could achieve something if I didn’t try?

But beyond that, since my cancer diagnosis in early 2019 (I’m still NED; that’s no evidence of disease if you didn’t know), my goals have shifted to painting and writing, something I can do without a collaborator or the need for extra financial resources. Not that I won’t return to that film dream or something similar, but if I pursue that dream, I know I need to develop my skills further. Submitting that application taught me that.

Since cancer gave me a second lease on life, imposter syndrome is not on my radar. That’s not saying I don’t feel like a fraud. Sometimes I do. But life is short and unpredictable.

Cancer taught me to be fearless in the face of uncertainty.

I don’t wish cancer on anyone. I wouldn’t want any illness to be the facilitator to overcoming imposter syndrome, but sometimes it is.

Whenever you start to talk yourself out of something that scares you, whether that’s finishing or starting a book, learning to paint, submitting an essay, pitching a grant, starting a business, losing ten pounds, etc., it’s important to remember two things:

We learn to crawl before we walk, and you must be willing to fail to succeed.

Stay curious. Stay safe. Make an Impact.

---