Power Your Research w/ Dr. Sheena Howard

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome and Mastering Social Media

• Dr. Sheena Howard

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Are you struggling with imposter syndrome, undervaluing your time, or hesitant to increase your prices for speaking engagements? Discover how to break free from these mindset barriers and unlock your full potential in our latest episode. 

In addition, we tackle the often intimidating world of social media, explaining why it's an essential tool for building your brand and reaching your audience. Understand how to overcome your fears and prioritize your mission over personal discomfort. Armed with practical advice, including insights from one-on-one coaching and free masterclasses, you’ll be ready to embrace social media and boost your visibility. By the end of this episode, you'll have actionable steps to elevate your academic career and create a significant impact beyond the ivory tower.

Follow Dr. Sheena Howards' socials:
@drsheenahoward | Power Your Research

Speaker 1:

It's interesting when you don't charge what you're worth for speaking engagements, you get confused and think that you don't even like doing that work. But really it's just you're not getting paid what you deserve. I don't want my work to be stuck behind an academic paywall. I want to leave a legacy, I want to reach my potential and I want to change lives. This podcast, power your Research, is my attempt to help the smartest people in the world do that very thing. My hope is that you use the lessons I share to make more money than what your higher ed job can ever pay you. I've done it, my clients have done it and so can you. My hope is that you'll apply what you learn here and one day join the Power your Research program, where you can work with me one-on-one, dr Sheena Howard, here founder of Power your Research, an academic branding company where I help academics and educators increase their visibility, authority and income without the expense of a publicist.

Speaker 1:

The topic of this video is PhDs and mindset issues. So the first place that I start in the Power your Research program which is also the first place we start in the book, mindset matters, because any strategy or tactic is not going to work if you don't address some critical mindset issues that we all have, particularly those with PhDs or highly educated people. We tend to have some themes or patterns around mindset issues that I pull out and address in the first step of the Power, your Research program. So this happens through, you know, just addressing some of those consistent mindset issues that 99.9% of the academics that come to me have, but it also goes into some unique and custom mindset issues that the individual may have that I am working with. But some of the staples. There are four staples around mindset issues that I see repeatedly and recurringly. So that's things like imposter syndrome just not feeling like you're good enough, not feeling like you're deserving, even feeling like, even though you have a PhD, you need some extra credential or certificate. The inability of us PhD PhDs to value our time. Then there's the difficulty we have in increasing our price and charging what we're worth. And then the fourth mindset issue that I see repeatedly is just fear of social media. And obviously, if you want to build your visibility and presence, you can't fear being on social media, because in today's world, social media is the major place you'll be building your presence and visibility. And so I'm just going to go a little deeper into all four of those areas to go over what I'm seeing with my academics, what I've experienced and how I've overcome these mindset issues to really move along in my journey and build my businesses and help other people build their brands.

Speaker 1:

So back to the first one, which was imposter syndrome really just not feeling deserving, not feeling that we should be in rooms that are, you know, that give us authority and credibility. Feeling like we need another certificate or some other credential to do the work that we want to do out in the world. And in my experience, the educational system is the place that makes us feel that we constantly need external validation, because, after all, you get a degree because of a grade that someone else gave you, so it's all about making someone else happy, having someone else stamp and validate your work, and so we don't get to practice in the system internal validation. Well, what happens if somebody doesn't like our work? What happens if someone tells us our work is not good? Or what happens if someone doesn't believe in us? And that is where, for my PhDs, we have to really relearn how to validate ourselves even when people might not believe in us or give us an A plus on our work Because, when you think about it, building your brand is so different than getting a degree, because when you enter into a program, you know the exact courses you have to take to get the result.

Speaker 1:

Building a brand is not that, it's not one plus one equals two. There's a lot of trial and error, there's a lot of failing along the way, which is why I try to give you a plan that works and you can cut out the fluff and you know the steps to take. But still, within that there's failing and in that failing you have to understand that just because you failed this test doesn't mean you still didn't win, because in failing along the way in terms of building your brand, you learn something to get to the next step. This is the complete opposite of how you get through a PhD program or a master's degree or an undergraduate degree. So the first recurring mindset issue is imposter syndrome. Those are my thoughts on it.

Speaker 1:

We go deep into this in the academic branding book. But also it requires a sounding board, it requires coaching. That's the reason I do the work I do. The next one is valuing our time. For those of you that have PhDs, one of the ways to get tenure is to just keep doing presentations and not get paid for them. Right, we go to conferences not to get paid, but to present our work in front of our peers so that we can get tenure, so that we can get people citing our work, so that we can get a line on our CV. But that's not the way the real world works and that's not how you build a brand.

Speaker 1:

Building a brand means you charge for that work. A lot of us PhDs, interestingly enough, when we go out here in the real world to do speaking engagements and things like that, we are scared to ask for even $3,500 for a one hour talk. We're literally scared. Meanwhile, people that are doing public appearances for the same work, who don't even have PhDs, not even master's degrees, are charging $10,000. I saw someone's website the other day. He said it was $100,000 for him to just appear somewhere for an hour and yet the vast majority of people with PhDs are scared to ask for even more than $500 to go travel somewhere to speak for one hour. We need to value not only our time but the work that we're putting in. That is, it comes down to a mindset issue. It comes down to an unlearning and a relearning, because the worst thing you can do is build a brand without getting paid for it. That's when you experience burnout. It's interesting when you don't charge what you're worth for speaking engagements, you get confused and think that you don't even like doing that work. But really it's just you're not getting paid what you deserve. I can tell you that once you get paid what you deserve one, you give better presentations. Two, you can invest more in the presentation and deliver better, more high quality work.

Speaker 1:

I pay for a service when I do speaking engagements to give the audience a survey so that they can give me feedback. To give the audience a survey so that they can give me feedback. Hey, everyone, real quick. I don't run any ads on this podcast, so I have to rely on word of mouth. If this podcast has helped you in any way, please share it with a friend and follow me, dr Sheena Howard, on LinkedIn, where I give more free content on building your brand as an academic. If you tell me you came to my LinkedIn from the podcast, I'll make sure I accept your request.

Speaker 1:

A lot of my academics are just showing up giving speaking engagements and you're not getting audience feedback. You don't even know how the speech that you did impacted your audience. And the crazy thing is the way that I do the surveys. The audience fills out the survey and then those are new leads for more speaking engagements. A lot of my academics want more speaking engagements. Well, this is the way that you do it, but you can't invest in tools like that when you're out here charging so little to nothing for the work and the value that you deliver.

Speaker 1:

The next is, I think we're on to increasing your price, but I kind of just touched on that in that last point. Not just speaking engagements, consulting right. You need to increase your price on anything you're invoicing for Most 99.9% of my academics. When we jump on our first call and we talk about, hey, how much did you charge for your last consulting thing you did, or whatever paid service, you are vastly undervaluing yourself. A lot of times we set prices based on our self-esteem, not based on what people will actually pay us.

Speaker 1:

And again back to point number one imposter syndrome. A lot of us PhDs are dealing with imposter syndrome, so the price that we're giving people is nowhere in the ballpark in terms of what we should be charging people for us having a PhD. There's nothing else for us to prove. We already did the work. Even if your PhD is in a field other than what you are monetizing, you still have something that most people in the world don't have. I know if you have a PhD a lot of your friends are PhDs and it seems like a lot of people have PhDs but you're still a very unique small part of the population. I need you to remember that.

Speaker 1:

And then the last one. This is a biggie. I can't tell you how many academics jump on a call with me and the first thing they say we're going over their goals and their strategy. They say I don't want to be on social media. I don't like social media. If you don't want to be on social media, then you don't want to grow a brand. It is as simple as that.

Speaker 1:

And there's a difference between not wanting to be on social media and being willing to get out of your comfort zone so that you can reach your goals. I don't necessarily want to be on social media and being willing to get out of your comfort zone so that you can reach your goals. I don't necessarily want to be on social media either. I'd rather show up to conferences and events and just talk to people and build my brand that way. That's not the way the world works. In the world that we live in today, it doesn't matter if you want. It doesn't matter. Your feelings about being on social media don't matter. What matters is you know what your purpose is. You want your work to be out there, not behind an academic paywall, and you want to help people see, understand and engage with your work so that you can change someone's life.

Speaker 1:

And if your fear of social media is stronger than your purpose, then you have a problem. There is no world in which we live where you can build a brand and monetize your work and just not at least pick one platform to be on to reach your people, because your people are on these apps. That's a big one and that's one that I work with my clients on, and it's a normal fear and concern. I'm not saying it's not valid. We just need to put the pieces in place for your purpose and message and mission and legacy to always be more important than the fear that you have, because I don't care what platform or tool it is. If it's a platform or tool that's going to help me get leverage for my ideas, then I'm going to be on it, using it, regardless of any fears or feelings I have about it. Right, because results are about facts, not feelings. So those are the four mindset issues that I see most with my PhDs. Those are the ones that we address in the academic branding book and again, the four that we covered in this video are imposter syndrome, valuing your time, increasing your price and fearing social media.

Speaker 1:

So you have a couple of options to further engage with me or to further help yourself, build your brand and build a big platform. If you want to work with me one-on-one and get a free call, you'll see the link to jump on a 30-minute call. I'll coach you through the process. On that call, you can come and take notes and ask questions, share your dreams. The other thing is I do have a free Power your Research Masterclass, which will go through some of the mistakes that I see my academics making and how you can adjust and fix those mistakes going forward. So you have a number of different ways to help me help you, and I'm looking forward to doing that. So you have a number of different ways to help me help you, and I'm looking forward to doing that If you have any questions, I am happy to answer them, either live or circle back and answer your questions. You.