.png)
Power Your Research w/ Dr. Sheena Howard
Welcome to Power Your Research w/ Dr. Sheena Howard, hosted by professor, author, TEDx speaker, ghostwriter, and academic brand expert Dr. Sheena Howard. On this podcast, you'll hear how to build a big brand, build a community, and leave a legacy, as well as the many failures and lessons Dr. Howard is learning on her path from building a 6-figure business to $1M in net worth.
Power Your Research w/ Dr. Sheena Howard
Proving Yourself
Taking inspiration from the struggles of even the most successful individuals, such as Beyonce, we explore the frustrations and the reality of constantly being asked to prove oneself.
Follow Dr. Sheena Howards' socials:
@drsheenahoward | Power Your Research
Even Beyonce has to prove herself.
Speaker 1:Even Beyonce still has to prove herself before she can get certain opportunities.
Speaker 1:People still doubt her. 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.
Speaker 1:When do you stop having to prove yourself? And this is an important topic for those of us building a brand, because as you build a brand and you climb up the ladder of success, you're going to get more and more opportunities, and as you climb up the ladder, each opportunity will be new, and while you'll reach great levels of success, there is always another level and there will always be a new opportunity or something new that will be presented to you as long as you keep doing the work, and one of the things that I think is really important is understanding that you will likely always have to be proving yourself, and this could sound like something that is really tiring, but it is a fact and I learned this lesson from another creative entrepreneur that I had a conversation with, because someone a little while ago presented me with a new opportunity and it was an amazing opportunity and, because of the work that I put in, when I get opportunities, I sort of expect to get those opportunities because I've been doing the work. So when they presented me with this opportunity, they said that I had to take one step before actually getting the opportunity and really that step was proving myself. So, for example and this is just this is another example A couple of years ago, when I met my booking agent for my speaking engagements, he told me that I had to do an interview on a podcast to see how the interview did and to see how well I spoke before I could be selected as a speaker for the booking agency, and that was a way to vet and to prove myself. So, even though I had done a TED Talk and numerous speeches and I have a PhD and all of this stuff, all of that mattered to get my foot in the door. But this was a new thing for me and a new opportunity, and so there had to be a metric to prove myself.
Speaker 1: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. This could be annoying, especially when you feel like you've already proven yourself, especially when you feel like you've already done the hard work. That's the reason why the person is coming to you for the opportunity. You know it's like.
Speaker 1:Now you're telling me I have to do more work to get the opportunity that you presented to me, and I was sharing this frustration with another creative entrepreneur. She gave me an example that really brought me back to my center and she said even Beyonce has to prove herself. Even Beyonce still has to prove herself before she can get certain opportunities. People still doubt her, people still criticize and have negative things to say about her, and so that really brought me back to center and reminded me, as I climb up this journey of success and as I do better and better, there's going to be new opportunities. And yes, I'm still going to have to do the work of convincing people, and so I think it's super important to reframe what that looks like for you so it doesn't become like toxic, so it doesn't turn into imposter syndrome or you having more self-doubt or those types of things.
Speaker 1:I think for me, going forward to just know that I'm going to be presented with new, amazing opportunities and vetting, improving myself, is part of the process. Do I like it? No, I want people to just give me opportunities because of the work that I've already put in and that's it. But it does not work that way, and I think that, since things do not work this way, being prepared and having someone or something to show that you need to stay centered and understanding that people are still going to want to see receipts, so to speak, before blessing you with opportunities, is important, and so I hope somebody finds value in this, because there's a balance between imposter syndrome and self-doubt and then operating out in the world, having to prove yourself over and over and over again. But it's part of climbing that ladder to get the things that you want. So I hope this helps somebody out there. Again, my name is Dr Sheena Howard. I'm the founder of Power, your Research, you.