Breaking the Imposter: Recent Episodes
Jermaine Ward
Breaking the Imposter came from my personal journey of Imposter Syndrome. Whether it was becoming a black belt (while I never thought of myself as athletic) or becoming a UX Designer (while I never thought I had visual skills to save my life), I managed to put them as my own personal goals and moved towards them.
Too many times we are influenced by others, or our own voice, that we are not capable of doing things. This podcast is meant to explore how people navigate success and fulfillment within their own lives. I invite you to listen, share your story, and help normalize creating our own standards for living a great life.
Today we are joined by Ryan Ing. Ryan works with Unstoppable Domains, a NYC-based Series-B startup in the blockchain space, focusing on partnerships/business development.
Ryan also brings forward a ton of experience in tech sales including working with Shopify, Oracle, and IBM. Ryan shares tons of insights in this episode around entering industries that he's passionate about, blockchain and how it weaves into our modern lives, and what it's like to work in his industry.
This episode covers:
- Adjusting to moving away from your hometown for work.
- How venture-backed startups work in the US versus Canada.
- Terminology around the venture capital and tech startup world.
- Getting involved in emerging tech spaces like blockchain and crypto.
- Coming from Ryerson (now TMU) University and feeling the need to catch up.
- Taking calculated risks and its connection to success.
- Immigrant culture and how it manifests in terms of risk-taking.
- Researching potential employers for their profitability.
- Thoughts on adding blockchain to gaming, and surrounding blockchain culture/philosophy.
- The ethics and dynamics of decentralized power structures in various contexts.
- Working in partnerships/business development versus sales.
- Ryan's brand of being inspiring to others.
- The skill of navigating workplace politics and making others look good.
- Seeing your peers doing well versus random people on the internet.
- What exactly is an imposter? What do we mean by imposter syndrome?
- Can you bite off more than you can chew with taking a promotion? When is it worth the risk?
- Our rapid fire segment - full of brilliant insights as usual!
Today we are joined by Tian Shi. Tian is a Product Designer in the startup wealth tech industry, an entrepreneur, and most importantly, someone who loves sports, health, music, and fitness! A man of many talents and interests! Tian is incredibly articulate, wise, and has a lot to share with us today. Check this episode out! This episode covers: Tian's work, interests, hobbies, and how they relate. Why Tian got into the tech industry, and into product design specifically. The Japanese concept of Ikigai, and how it inspired Tian to choose his career direction The importance of finding a creative outlet in his work How basketball played a role in Tian's personal and professional development. How music served as a creative outlet and how it combined with his sales background in his career. The tricky process of choosing between different paths when you have very different and seemingly non-overlapping interests. Choosing to dive into something potentially hectic and stressful rather than seeking out more education. The importance of active listening and empathy to develop solutions for people outside of your field of expertise. The importance of clear communication and simplifcation of complex concepts for collaboration. Being unafraid to say when you don't understanding something. The pitfalls of being too proud or too shy to speak up. Tian's personal brand. Mentorship, coaching, and self-improvement resources. How to improvise when you're learning on-the-job. Celebrating wins, staying on-track with your goals, and keeping up with an ever-changing industry. As usual, our (soon to be) award-winning rapid-fire segment!
Today we are joined by Noah Ing. Noah is a Cloud Engineer by Day, and a dancer by night - how does he do it? Turns out, programming and dance have more in common than you might think! Noah is incredibly accomplished, so easy to talk to, and most of all a kind, down-to-earth guy. Check this episode out! Noah's upbringing in dancing, and the moment that he decided to switch up his focus away from dance. What it's like being around friends and family who have accomplished so much, in the more conventional career sense. The pressures of following your passions, and realizing that perhaps you needed to think more practically. Starting and running a large dance studio at a young age, and the difficulties involved with having to navigate that. Figuring out what to do after changing career goals, including the epiphany of finding an intersection between dance and programming, despite normally never being considered. The pleasure of pursuing perfection, both intellectually and athletically. How living in another country can inspire confidence, perspective, and greater connection to your roots. Mentorship from your father, and how their support can lead to a major "Aha!" moment. The benefits of being affable and sociable in an industry normally known for its reclusiveness. The edge of having the exceptional ability to improvise. The importance of being easy to talk to, and leveraging your skills outside of what's normally expected from your career. Explaining what cloud engineering is, in Noah's words, and why it's more complex than people might think. The importance of work-life balance, and most notably, the importance of connecting with and spending time with those that you care about. The importance of tempering ambition with what really makes you happy. Avoiding the rat race. The difficulty of fast-tracking a change in career path. Learning to value and understand the growth that you have done outside of conventional career moves. And of course, our legendary rapid-fire segment.
Tune in for more information on that one, Noah has a ton of knowledge to share!
Today we are joined by Joanna Diorio (she/her). With global experience in strategy development, project management and marketing, Joanna has worked in the private and public sectors in Canada and Europe. Known for her energy and enthusiasm, Joanna is a connector and problem-solver. In 2018, Joanna experienced sxual aault while at work. A couple of years later, she founded Q+A, an organization that helps individuals who have experienced sxual harassment or assault in the workplace to use their voice. Todays episode we will be discussing: - About how the Q&A name and brand came to be. - Joanna's love for crystals and "alternative practices", and how she has expressed that through helping others. - What inspired Joanna to create Q&A, and her experiences within and passion for supporting others who have experienced trauma. - The need for safe spaces, supportive infrastructure, and feminist principles in addressing workplace s*xual violence. - The need to give a voice to those who may struggle doing it on their own. - Equity, diversity, and inclusion training, and how it helps us view and tackle behaviours and patterns that may create barriers to inclusion. - Creating a space at the table for diverse individuals in every workplace, and the importance of defining diversity beyond visible traits. - Joanna's philosophy around personal branding, and how she expresses her personality in a way that is genuine and challenges the idea of what a personal brand can be. - The difficulty of wanting to break away from people-pleasing and diminishing yourself, especially when you're not necessarily someone who wants to fit into more "traditional" workplaces. - The importance of knowing how to set boundaries for self-expression on a person-to-person basis. - Joanna's experiences and accomplishments while in a pandemic, and how it changed her perception of life. - Celebrating victories, and how it's important to structure them in our lives. - How to stay on-track through writing and self-accountability. - The 90 day north star technique - Joanna's journey in mental health, and learning to ask for help. - Our patented Rapid Fire Segment, where we discuss Joanna's strongest attributes, inspirations, supportive people, books, self-talk tribulations, celebrating wins, and some parting advice!
Vincent Ly is a commercial banker based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He work with small and medium enterprises and large cap companies to help facilitate both growth, capital and transition capital primarily.
Josh is a blockchain SME who is looking to help others understand how to apply the best practices for their businesses.
Today, we speak with Nico Barnett, an entrepreneur, product manager and so much more. We explore his recent change into the cryptospace.
An entrepreneur who founded a company that focused on legal tech solutions and the entertainment industry, Adrian walks us through how he got himself to where he is today.
Shafeez is a founder of Another Room, which is what you might want to do with the product that he works with. Join in as we speak about entrepreneurship and creating amazing experiences.
Geordie is a mentor of researchers, designers and career strategies, while being a founder of companies looking to create positive experiences in people's lives. He uses his professional knowledge as a user researcher to continue growing and helping others grow.
Today's episode we speak with Tanner about how he started in consultation and strategies for being more efficient.
Denis is a web developer who was not afraid to jump head first into the industry. We'll explore how to get it done!
In this episode, we speak with one of my mentors and amazing UX designer, Ahmad Kadhim. We explore how he navigated through entrepreneurship and design.
Not only is Jamal an excellent creative director, he is my older brother. We explore how Jamal brands himself, how he started his business, why his current work is what he feels he should be doing, and how his passions come together from one phase of life to another.
In this episode, my cousin Marc helps to explain why he is allergic to comfort and how that helps him be in a constant state of change, no matter where life takes him.
In this episode, we explore how exposing ourselves to different perspectives can help us formulate our own.