Feeling like a fraud
When Stephanie left her frontend developer job in a marketing agency, she joined Cloudflight with a clear vision. She wanted to learn Java and improve her backend knowledge in general. It was a tough start, but thanks to her strong personal determination and help from expert colleagues, she quickly became a very valuable team member, and everyone was really happy having her in the project. Regrettably, even after years of being in the company, Stephanie could not shake the feeling that she does not deserve the place she has.
Imposter syndrome is defined as doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud. For Stephanie this meant that she could not sleep well nights before she had to speak publicly. When she was holding a workshop, she was constantly afraid that somebody will jump in and say that everything she said was wrong. She constantly felt that she is not good enough. This feeling was getting stronger, despite her undeniable achievements.
Overcoming her doubts
As the imposter syndrome started to take toll on her mental health, Stephanie decided to try a psychological consultation that is offered by Cloudflight, as an important mental health benefit to all our employees. Together with a professional psychologist, she created scenarios that helped her remove her fears and over several sessions she gradually worked on improving her confidence. She also got a lot of support from her colleagues, when she shared her feelings in the team.
Despite her doubts, Stephanie has been an invaluable team member. As an experienced software developer, she uses her skills to deliver an amazing and accessible platform in a project for University of Vienna. She has a massive impact on all the users by, among other things, making sure that the platform is fully compliant, can be accessed by all browsers, works seamlessly with assisted technology and that all the parts work well together. Thank you for opening up and stay awesome, Stephanie!