Imposter Syndrome is Real

I know I’m going all Nike here, but just do it is my mantra; it used to be my password with a series of numbers and/or symbols. It’s the saying in my head that has kept me going in times of doubt and insecurity when I questioned if I should continue pursuing development. It’s odd when you realize in life just doing it or building the thing or asking for what you want — ends up with the outcome you desire.

In late 2014, my co-founder Eileen Carey and I just did by embarking on building Glassbreakers: a peer mentorship community for women in the workforce. Our mission is to empower women to break through the glass ceiling together. As of January 7th, 2015 on the Glassbreakers’ product side (my role in both development and product design), we stand at:

• 1500+ Beta sign ups (with no paid advertising, marketing or PR)
• 650 22-question user surveys completed
• 30 in-person + 2 Google Hangout user experience research tests
• 67 passing RSpec tests
• 2514 lines of code
• 44 Glassbreaker matches
• 1 failed YCombinator interview
• On track for Beta launch in January

Throughout this process, I’ve been profoundly impacted by the 30 in-person user experience research tests; this testing has not only guided the team through making the product more relevant and on point for our targeted users, but it also displayed the successes and challenges women face on a daily basis at work. After only 10 tests, two reccurring themes emerged:

• Women in their 20's and early 30's are incredibly talented, accomplished and smart, but often doubt their abilities. Imposter syndrome is a real thing.
• Women at 35+ want to learn how to become better leaders and managers, so they can create environments for women in their early 20's and 30's to be successful. They want to combat the barriers they experienced when starting their careers.

During another part of the UX test, women needed to identify skills that interested them and then list skills they could teach someone else.

• Women listed several skills they were interested in learning.
• Women tended to only choose one or none for skills they could teach someone else.

Later, when we asked them, “What do you have to offer in a peer mentorship relationship?” they usually responded with, “I’ve never thought about that before.” After a couple minutes, we could easily brainstorm numerous skills!

Glassbreakers is built on the idea of peer mentorship. A bit like online dating, women can sign on and get matched with women based on an algorithm built from LinkedIn API data and user input. Through our research, offline matching and personal experience, we found that women benefit more from speaking to someone a year or so ahead of where she is in her career than someone ten years ahead who might not understand the current workplace context.

When I began coding, I experienced about a year of imposter syndrome without knowing what it was or how long this wave of feelings would continue. I was on all male software engineering teams (with some really great men!), but I couldn’t have the same conversations with them as with other lady coders. After a long catch up with a friend I met at Boulder’s Women Who Code, I learned about her experience with imposter syndrome and finally could put together what was going on and how to overcome it. Now, I’m building the Glassbreakers product from the ground up, laying out the architecture, building an algorithm, working with an amazing designer and pursuing a problem that I’m 100% passionate about.

Addressing and conquering imposter syndrome is a small piece of Glassbreakers’ larger vision for empowering women to break through the glass ceiling together. It was a subject about which I wanted to be honest and public.

Here are two action items next time you feel like an imposter:

• Find a peer mentor and discuss what’s holding you back from feeling like you’re succeeding.
• Learn how to funnel your energy. Instead of worrying if your coworkers are going to find out if you’re not really supposed to be there, focus, work hard and prove it to yourself first.

Just do it.