One of Ireland’s top beauty influencers, Aimee Connolly, has revealed that she suffers from imposter syndrome.
Research has found that 40% of workers in Ireland suffer from imposter syndrome but for women the figure was even higher - with 45% suffering from it.
Despite setting up Sculpted by Aimee - an award winning cosmetic business that tens of thousands of women rely on - Ms Connolly says she still wonders “from time to time” about her abilities.
“I was part of an award - the EY Entrepreneur of the Year - and when the nominations for that came out, the first real time when I felt imposter syndrome was when it went to print,” she recalled in conversation with The Hard Shoulder.
“And I was like, ‘Oh God, I don’t think my business has done enough. I don’t think I’ve done enough. I don’t think I’m worthy of being here.’
“And there’s no real rationale as to why that comes. I think it’s a compliment in terms of who you’re up against because you really admire them.
“But then it’s also probably a lack of belief in what you personally have done to date or what the company has done to date.
“And really ironically, I ended up going on to win that category!”
She added that she thought the condition got worse the more successful she became:
“As the business grows, I am facing challenges in my life that I have never had experience with at other companies, so in fact it gets bigger… in terms of how you’re feeling and how scared you might be,” she continued.
“Whereas at the start I didn’t think anything through and I was like, ‘This will be grand.’
“Then the challenges just kind of come where you start to think longer term and plan for the bigger events - that’s when it really kicks in I think.”
However, she believes it can sometime be advantageous and makes her more determined to prove herself wrong:
“Sometimes those inner thoughts do help to push you on or help your mindset to go, ‘Actually, I am going to show them that I deserve to be there in the running’... So it can actually sometimes work in your favour and I definitely think I’m someone like that.
“If someone tells me, ‘No you can’t do it’, I’ll be like, ‘Great, I can’t wait for the chance to show you that I can do it.”
“It definitely can work.”
Main image: Aimee Connolly
