Hello Queen,

There is a rumor going around about someone we know…

She’s relatively new to the city but, some of us have known her for a very long time. Everyone from Webster’s Dictionary to Harvard Business Review have described her as an internal experience of believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be. Her name is Imposter Syndrome.

While “she” may not sound familiar, you would be surprised to know that she is actually quite well-known. You see, the concept of imposter syndrome sits at the crux of so many women as we attempt to successfully navigate through life. The irony is that we often spend years studying our craft and/or obtaining the necessary advanced degrees but, yet we still feel this unspoken competition within even our best selves. As hard as we work, we still subscribe to this feeling of inadequacy when in fact, we are enough. We’ve always been ENOUGH. God created us with every tool, with every innate capacity, drive, ambition to live beyond our destiny and our wildest imagination. I know life comes at us fast and we go through seasons that weather the faith we thought existed inside of us. At some point, self- doubt creeps in and failed relationships begin to tamper our resilience and our ability to love ourselves. The years of striving to accomplish our annual vision boards start to falter the less our magazine cut outs look like reality. Trust me, I know.

But, life doesn’t owe us perfection. Life will not always present us an easy plight. Seeking the road less traveled sounds great in business but, it can feel lonely when it means you’re the single mom in a PTA meeting filled with married ones. Yet, we owe it to ourselves! To ourselves, our truest selves, we owe this life of fulfillment. You see, I’m convinced that we stop believing in our magic and in our fiercest abilities once we begin to dance to the beat of someone’s else’s drum. It’s only natural at that point to feel like a fraud because we are if we aren’t living in our God given authenticity. Manifestations and affirmations are powerful but, not if we don’t put in the work. Strong quotes and funny memes are inspiring but, not if they are creating envy or weighing us down with false pretenses of who and how we should be.

So, in this next season, I challenge you.

Be you. Be your bold self. Your fearless self. Your powerful self. Your true self. I know that sounds daunting. I know you’re worried about the friendships you may lose or the professional facade you’ve maintained for so long. You have heard it before but, I’ll say it again; this is YOUR BOOK, YOUR STORY! You deserve to turn the pages both emotionally and mentally. The weight of the world’s expectations of us is heavy enough. After all, it is how we got to the point of feeling like an imposter to begin with.

Carpe Diem!

JJ Davis

J. Joy Davis is the Female Founder of THE FIRM MANAGEMENT, a company with a capacity for management, creative production and brand strategy that is best suited for women who dare to live as large as they dream.

She has spent over a decade working with multi-location entrepreneurs, investors, luxury retailers and Fortune 500 companies including but, not limited to NBA, WNBA, Marriott, Michael Kors, BCBG, Max Azria, Tory Burch as well as nonprofits and charitable foundations on the Business Development, Corporate Sales and Relationship Management sides of the table. Joy has developed a keen business sense as to how to connect the right people with the right resources to move the needle in the right places.

With a love for academia and a heart for empowering young power players, she is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte where she teaches Business Communication courses for Belk College of Business. She is currently working on what she is manifesting to be her first best-seller while praying for a publisher who is AS obsessed about the plights of the high achieving woman as she is! Her greatest joy is being a mother to her teenage son, Nolan. Thus, Joy believes that while success is a powerful antidote, it is authenticity where God shines the brightest.

Follow Joy: @thefirmwins

This article was originally published in the CEOMOM Magazine Spring 2021 Issue.