The Systemic Problem of Imposter Syndrome and Tips for Freelancers

In this podcast, I discuss what imposter syndrome is, its effects on the individual, whether it’s actually a pathology, its systemic origins, and what we freelancers can do about it.

I interview my buddies from the Geek Girl Soup podcast and my Millennial daughter about how imposter syndrome is more of a systemic problem than an individual issue. I discuss Ruchika Tulshyan and Jodi-Ann Burey’s 2021 Harvard Business Review articles on imposter syndrome. And I share some tips for freelancers to deal with imposter syndrome.

My Geek Girl Soup buddies and I discuss topics such as overcoming feeling like a fraud as a small-business owner, feeling like you don’t belong as a Black woman in spaces traditionally held by white people, and how President Biden’s potential nominees for Supreme Justice (Black women) must be feeling in light of all the vitriol against them.

My daughter, Camille, and I discuss topics such as feeling like a fraud in the art world, the pressure artists feel to create commercial art, how there will always be haters, and the importance of surrounding yourself with truly supportive friends.

At the end, I give suggestions on what we freelancers can do to move through the worry of being called a fraud. Since freelancers don’t have a manager who can change the workplace, as Tulshyan and Burey suggest, we have to take actions on our own.

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Timestamps:

Interview with Camille 09:26

Interview with Geek Girl Soup 22:40

Comments from Facebook connections 46:45

Zoomers and imposter syndrom 50:58

Suggestions for freelancers 53:09

Links mentioned in the episode:

“Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome” - by Ruchika Tulshyan and Jodi-Ann Burey, Feb 11, 2021

"End Imposter Syndrome in Your Workplace” - By Ruchika Tulshyan and Jodi-Ann Burey, July 14, 2021

“Gen Z and Imposter Syndrome” - GenZInsight

“Generation Anxious: The rise of Imposter Syndrome amongst young people”