I'm not an expert in my podcast topic, well, at least not as much as fill in the blank from the blank podcast. I'm totally not cut out for this. I hear this all the time. New podcasters tell me this all the time they believe, just because one podcast out in the world exists that slightly resembles what they are thinking about doing, then
suddenly, they're not good enough. Yes, we're talking about imposter syndrome today, because this is something that I think most new podcasters feel at some point in their journey, whether it's in the creation stages, they're just getting started. They're starting to do some research. They're like, I think I want to call it this. And then they find out there's already three other podcasts out there named something similar to that. And then they say, I'm not good enough to do
this. I don't think I'm cut out for this. I think that everyone else that's already doing it is doing it way better than me. Well, that's what we're gonna talk about. Today, we're gonna talk about how to overcome imposter syndrome. So let's get right to it. Welcome to the profit podcast where we teach entrepreneurs how to start launch and market their podcast. I'm your host, Krystal, Proffitt, and I'm so excited that you're here.
Thanks for hanging out with me today. Because if you've been trying to figure out the world of podcasting, think of this show as the time saving shortcut you've been looking for. So let's get right to it, shall we? Okay, I'm just gonna be real upfront and honest with you today, because there are so many times that I have experienced imposter syndrome in my
life, that probably seem really silly. But I think back and I'm like, Oh, I didn't even understand what I was actually going through at the time. Because imposter syndrome wasn't something that was actually in my vocabulary. I have only recently learned the term probably within the last five years as I've stepped out of my comfort zone in many different ways. And I've tried to do things on my own outside of being just a corporate
employee. So I wanted to tell you when imposter syndrome really first entered my life, I was in eighth grade. It was the summer before my freshman year of high school. And I wanted to try out for cheerleading. Now, bear with me, okay, because I have been, I it's funny, because I say I have been, I'm no longer a cheerleader. Okay. It's not like I go and
pursue adult cheerleading classes or anything. And I don't wear my high school uniform, although it was one of the runner ups for my costume of my Halloween costume last year. But I had been a cheerleader. since I was four. I my big brother's played football, and I loved being on the field being on the sidelines. And it's probably one of the reasons why I make a great cheerleader for my friends and fellow podcasters. Because I've always
enjoyed being someone that is encouraging. So I started when I was about four, we had like a YMCA League, and oh, y'all the pictures, I'll find pictures every once in a while. And I'm just like, Oh my gosh, because I was so big. And when I say big, I was let's see, I'm trying to think of the right height requirement that I actually hit. I think I hit five foot five, when I was about 10
years old. That is not an exaggeration. I used to have to have my coach my basketball coach have my birth certificate in their back pocket because we would go to basketball tournaments, and no one believed that I was the age that I was there were like she failed like three times. Yeah, I just, I developed very early. I was super tall. So can you imagine a four or five year old cheerleader that looks like she's probably six or seven out there?
And they're like, Oh, that's cute. They let that older girl out there, you know, cheering with them. Like that's so precious. You know, I didn't even know. It wasn't even a thing to me because I was doing what I loved. I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I was watching my brothers play and my friends play football and it was just so much fun for me. I did not care if people were saying she's so much bigger and honestly no one ever said anything to me and I didn't notice until I got a
lot older. So as I was growing up because I was such a big girl. I was so tall. And let's just be honest, Mama's got a little junk in the trunk. I'm a very thick girl as well. But I've always been in athletics. So I'm like, I've got I'm solid muscle, okay, like this is, this is how my body is built. I am just straight up. I got my dad's like tree trunk buys, and I'm okay with it. Okay, because I, it made me a great bass as a cheerleader. Man, I could throw people in the air higher than anybody
else. That was actually a challenge for myself when I got into high school and all the things like we're, I'm getting ahead of myself. Okay, let's go back to the tryouts. Okay, because I have some other stories for another time of like, what it's like to throw someone in the air and then they come down and like hit you right in the face
and all the things it's a dangerous sport. I will say that it is definitely not something that's just makeup and pretty bows and all the things if you watch cheer on Netflix, yeah, that's what it's like, and actually Corsicana where they filmed that is 30 minutes from my hometown. So yes, competitive cheer is a real thing. But going back to that summer, before I was going to try out, so
let me give one more backstory. In seventh and eighth grade in middle school, I did not cheer, because in order to cheer in eighth grade, you had to be on what was the cheer squad in seventh grade. And I thought the cheer squad was dumb, because all they ever did was sit in the
bleachers. Sometimes they would stand up, sometimes they'd sit down, and there was like, 30 of them, there was 30 girls in the stands, all screaming the same thing, most of the time, they were off beat, and I was like, that just doesn't look fun to me. I want to be out on the field. I want to be the one down there, you know, screaming cheering the guys on because that's what I knew growing up in the YMCA cheer. That's what I did. We were on the sidelines, not in the stands. I
didn't sign up to be in the stands. So in seventh grade, I did not do the cheer squad. But you have to do the cheer squad in order to try out for eighth grade cheerleading. So I said, You know what, it's fine. I'll sacrifice my middle school cheer days to actually you know, like, I'll be ready for high school. So I get to my eighth grade summer, we're about to, you know, have cheer tryouts. And I was so nervous. I was so nervous, because like I said, I was tall, I was big. And I
was scared, because I am not a tumbler. So for those of you that aren't familiar with that, that's like flipping all the flips, and the tricks and all those things. I don't do that. I don't do that. And I think part of it was because I was never in gymnastics. I didn't do that. I was never interested in all the flips, because I just didn't think I could do them. Because I was so tall. I was like, Who's gonna help like, flip my legs over my head and all the things. So I never did
gymnastics. And I thought, all the other girls that did cheer in middle school had practice doing all these flips, and they started doing gymnastics to get prepared for high school. So when we get there, like we're practicing, you know, it's like me and my other girlfriends. And we're like, okay, like, you know, good luck. I can't wait to see what you do. And it's gonna be so fun. We had to go out to try out, you know, you had to wear everybody had to wear the same thing. It was like
just plain black shorts and a white t shirt. And that was it. You couldn't like you're trying not to stand out, right? They didn't want anything to do tear them like the judges from voting yes or no, based on how you looked. It should just be based on performance. And I will never forget, moments before I walked out. We did this in our the gym at our high school. I was on the basketball court. And I was so nervous that called my number. I go out there. In moments before I get
started on the chair. I said, What can you do? What can you do? And what I was asking myself is I had been freaking myself out saying, You can't tumble You can't do this. You don't have the highest jumps like I had this voice in my head telling me all these negative things that I couldn't do. repeating them over and over and over again. You can't do this. Did you see Jenny? Jenny has a higher jump than you. Did you see Kindle? Did you see how many backflips? She did in a row.
She did a standing tuck. You can't do that. I had it over and over again. But right before I got started, there was this other voice that chimed in and said what can you Do and I answered myself and I said, I can be louder than any person in here. So that's what I did. That's exactly what I did. When I went out there, I had the chair memorized, I was ready to go. And I had that nervous energy that comes from doing anything I've never tried
out before. I'd never done this. The other girls who did this in middle school, like they were ready, they knew what was happening. They knew what was coming. They knew what to expect. I knew none of that. I was like, I know, I can be so freakin loud. My goal is to make those judges almost want to hold their ears because they're like, Oh my God, this chick is so loud, we're gonna be able to hear her from three, three school districts over she's like, she's got this. So
that's exactly what I did. I tapped into what I knew I was good at and I went for it. And I made the team. Okay, like you no surprise, spoiler alert already let you know I made the team. I went on to cheer all of high school. But if I had listened to that voice that kept saying, You can't do that, as good as Ginny Kendall is like, she's
got you beat all day long. And those roundoff back handsprings, I would have just never risen to the potential that eventually became some of my happiest memories of high school. Okay, so let's stop. Like reliving high school days, let's talk about something that maybe everyone can relate to a little bit better. parenting. Oh, y'all. And this is like these stories can apply whether you're a parent or not. Okay. I will never forget being a mom for the
first time. And then handing me my son. So just for some context, I had my oldest son when I was pretty young. I was 22. I was I was 21. When I got pregnant, I was 22 when I had him, and I will never forget them handing me this little baby and saying, What am I supposed to do with this? Because I had no clue. No clue what I was doing? Absolutely none. I had read all the books. And you know, at that time, there wasn't all these things online like it was you just bought What to Expect
When You're Expecting. And apparently you're supposed to know how to be an amazing parent, just by reading that book would read the book cover to cover, right? I knew I knew what I was supposed to do. Until they handed me this little thing. And I'm like, Oh, wait, I don't really know what I'm doing. How do you? How do you change the diaper again? And we're like, okay, we're just gonna make sure he's breathing, right? Like, there were so many things coming up. Again, that voice was
saying, Well, you can't do this. That's not how your mom did it. That's not how your grandmother probably did it. You're probably doing this wrong. And he's going to be in lots of therapy, because you're a terrible mother. These were the thoughts coming into my head. I know. It's crazy. It's ludicrous. But this is exactly what happened to me when imposter syndrome started, like seeping into me as a brand new mom. But again, that other voice came up, it got louder and said, What can you do?
What can you do? So what can I do? I could stand up and walk around with his baby until it stopped crying. And you know what it did? And then like, we kind of took baby steps literally into figuring out parenting. And now you know what, he's a sixth grade young man. Like, here he is. He's gonna be 12 years old this year. And I'm like, You know what? I got this, I got this. Like, he's, he's still alive. He's still alive. And you know, going, he's super smart. And I have to attribute
that to keeping going. I didn't just give up and say, I don't know what I'm doing. I kept going, I kept taking baby steps. There's still times where that voice will come in and be like, you don't know what you're doing. And I will say, What can I do? What can you do? I think that that is one of the most important things that you have to ask yourself, stop comparing yourself to someone else stop saying, Well, I don't have as good of a business platform.
as Amy Porterfield, who's been doing this for 12 years, I don't have as good of a website as someone else because they paid someone $20,000 to design it. I don't have as big of an email list as this person over here. Because that is all they do. That is literally all they focus on. You have to ask yourself, What can I do? What can I do? Well, what am I good at? Okay, this is how you overcome imposter syndrome. What is the next best thing that I can do? How can I take that next
step? That will help me be a better podcaster be a better person, be a better host be a better guest show it for my audience in the best possible way. What is the next thing that I have to do? And I know that it sounds super simple, but it squashes imposter syndrome every single time and imposter syndrome like we're buds now, we're buds, like we we hang out all the time, what I'll do is say, Oh, yeah, well, what can I do? Because I know it's there.
I love there's an analogy in Big Magic. If you've listened to this podcast, you've probably heard me reference Big Magic before, by Elizabeth Gilbert, one of my favorite books, like, for sure top five top five books I've ever read. It's the only audio book I think I've listened to at least eight times. It is so so good. But she has this analogy
about fear. And I think that imposter syndrome is a type of fear because it's either you feeling inadequate, you're fearing your inadequacy, you're fearing your insecurities, you're fearing something. And she says, You know what, fear is always there. And instead of, you know, telling it to go away and pretending like it's not there until it comes and rears its ugly head, I invite him on the adventure, because I know he's gonna come. I know he's gonna show up when I least
expect him. I know that it's part of the journey. But what she says is, she pretends like, you know, she's going on a car trip, she's in a car ride. And it's her her creativity, and fear. And she says, me and creativity are driving, okay, we have control of the air conditioning, we have controlled the radio, you just sit in the back and shut up. And I know I totally butchered it, I'll have to find the actual thing and put it on Goodreads tell you exactly what it is or put it
from Goodreads on the website. Because it just like resonates with me. It's the same with imposter syndrome. Like recently, my podcast has gotten a lot more traction. And I've grown my email list so much more than it was then last year. And I've gotten a little bit more social clout on social media. And I've gotten asked to do some really cool things with some really strategic brands. And I'm so grateful. But you bet that imposter syndrome is
still there. It is 100% still there, it's still creeping up and saying, Yeah, but you're really not the right person to be doing that. Did you know, there's other podcast experts out there, they've been doing this longer. Okay, so you're probably not the person for that speaking opportunity, you should probably just go sit down, you're not ready. You're not good enough. And then the other voice comes in and says, Oh, yeah, well, what can you do? What can you do? Better than
anybody else? What can you do? That will help you take that next step forward? What can you do? That will make you a better podcast? COACH? What can you do to be a better mom, a better wife, a better sister, a better daughter? Like, those are the questions that I listened to. Not all the things that I can't do, or the reasons why I'm not good enough. I don't care about those. I really don't because they're always there. They're not even exciting to me anymore. When those like creep in
my head. They don't even really get my full attention. I hear them. It's like they come in and I'm like, okay, it's back. Alright, whatever. Okay, yeah, I hear you. Now move on, because we're gonna focus on what we can do. And that's what I want you to take away from this today. Because for those of you that don't know, I haven't always taught podcasting on the show. Okay, this is a rebranded podcast, there was a time when my focus was solely on sharing stories from female
entrepreneurs and how they got started. Then I wanted to shift my focus and go all in on podcasting. And I was scared. I really was I kept saying, why would anyone listen to me? I've only been podcasting for a year. There are experts out there who've been doing this for years. Like literally since the dawn of podcasting, people have been doing this and it's not me.
Why would anyone Listen to me. And then my mentor, Amy Porterfield, we've already talked about her she gave me a nugget of wisdom that I have started sharing with other people. And she said you only need a 10% edge on the people you want to teach to me say that again. You only need a 10% edge on the people that you want to talk to. So for me that meant that my 10% edge was that I understood podcasting, and how all of the technical pieces
work together. And I knew how to develop content ideas and have I created a reliable system on creating content every single week. And I could navigate some of the basic questions that people had, I will never forget, I was part of the buzzsprout. They have a free Facebook group. And I like oh, gee, like I was there. back before I even think they had, they didn't even have 2000 people. Whenever I was in their community now, I think
it's getting close to 20,000 people in there. But I remember going in, and I would just kind of sit on the sidelines. We've talked about this before, and Facebook groups or people be kind of lurkers, and they're like, just, you know, we're observing or just kind of watching to see what's going on what's happening. That's what I did in the group for a long time, until I saw a question. And I knew the answer, and I got so dang excited. I was
like, ah, I don't know the answer to that. And so I would go and give them you know, like, Hey, here's my answer. I didn't have any content to share with them, because I wasn't even doing podcasting. At that time. I was thinking about it, and saying, Can I really do this? But then once I saw that people had really basic questions that I
could help with, my confidence grew. So maybe you're in an environment where you're hanging out with people that are your ideal audience, your ideal community that you want to reach, and you're like, I just don't know that I can do this as well. Well, can you answer their questions? Can you give them a perspective that maybe they've never thought of? Can you give them like, show them away? That no one else is teaching? Can you give them stories that they've never heard before?
Yes, yes, you can. Because I can promise you, there are some other podcast experts out there that don't have a cheerleading story, like what I share with you today, okay, and they can't tell you about Jenny and Kindle having better back handsprings than you okay. They can't that story is unique to me, growing up right down the street from Corsicana, which, by the way, that was our like rival school. In high school, it was Athens, that's my hometown, and Corsicana. Like, there.
They were rival schools growing up. So I thought it was so funny. When that Netflix documentary came out. I was like, Oh, my gosh, that's like 30 minutes from my hometown. Anyway, getting getting off subject here. But do you see what I'm saying? All you need is a 10%. Edge 10 percentage. So I want you to ask yourself, what is my 10%? edge? What do I have? That is going for me? What can I do? Right? Like that? Is the question, do you need to write that on a post it and put it on
your monitor in your office? or hanging up in your bathroom and say, What can I do? Because when that imposter syndrome comes back to you, I want you to ask that question. All the other crap in your head is not serving you. Someone you know, saying, Oh, you know, you're just not as good as this person. And that podcast is probably better than yours. And did you know that they were top rated last month? Did you know that that person has a bigger email list than you? Did you know that their
website is a lot prettier than yours? Yeah, I could go on forever, forever about the imposter syndrome, little anecdotes that always happen inside my own head. So if I have them, I know you've got them too. But we got to squash those and say, What can I do? What can I do better than those people? What can I do? That represents me, because at the end of the day, no one can replicate you. You are the thing that is special, you are the thing that is going to set you apart
your show apart from everybody else's. I'll give you one more example about this because I think it's so funny that we've talked about so many different topics on this podcast from getting started marketing launch plans, like all the things and the number one comment that I always get from someone that's listened to the show is thank you so much for talking about recording in your closet, and you're surrounded by laundry. And I just laugh every time every time because it
makes me so happy because it's it's real. It's real. And just because I've moved out of the closet, I'm in my office y'all there's still laundry in my closet. Okay, there's still a ton of laundry right now I've tried to develop systems and put things in place to when I say laundry, it's clean, it's clean laundry, I don't have a closet full of dirty laundry. But I do not yet have that magical fairy that takes the clean laundry and puts it in all the places that it
needs to go. I know I have kids, I have a husband, they need to do their share, but it just hasn't happened. It hasn't happened yet. Okay, I'm working on it. It's on my Christmas list this year. I've talked to Santa about it already. I'm gonna make it happen one day. But I just want you to know that if you show up as yourself and share real stories that matter, that is what you can do. Okay, I felt like this episode was like super preachy and a little like, oh, raising hands,
hallelujah mic drops, like all the things. And I just knew that we needed to talk about this, because I wanted to share some stories of how imposter syndrome has shown up in my life, because this is what you're, if this is the thing that's holding you back from getting your podcast off the ground. You're not the only one that has this. And you just have to keep moving forward, right? What's our motto around here, keep it up. We all
have to start somewhere. You've just got to get in motion and make it happen. But that's all I have for you today. So go check out the show notes. KrystalProffitt.com/episode225, I'm gonna go find that quote from Elizabeth Gilbert and put it in there because I totally butchered it. And I want to make sure that you see what it is because it's actually it's a really good analogy. I just totally messed it up. So
Krystalproffitt.com/episode225. And again, I want you to come join us in our free Facebook group, the profit podcast online community, it's where we have great conversations about these hard things, right. imposter syndrome isn't the easiest thing to talk about. But I want you to come and share where you're stuck or where you're feeling like man, I just don't know that I'm cut out for this. Or if you have any other thoughts of how you can make your podcast better, or suggestions or how
you just stay motivated to keep going. I want you to ask those questions in our free Facebook community. So you're going to find links to all that in the show notes again, KrystalProffitt.com/episode225. And if you have not already, make sure that you subscribe to the show, and leave us a rating and a review that helps us push this podcast in front of more people. And I would just love to have so many podcasters out there have more confidence, right?
Like if this episode today really resonated with you, I invite you to take a screenshot where you're listening to this, tag me on social media. And tell me your thoughts. Tell me your number one takeaway that you had from this episode because I think that it's something we need to talk about. I think that it's something we need to encourage each other about and just to keep going. So it's perfect time to sign off with. Remember, keep it up. We all have to start somewhere.