Imposter Syndrome Is Not a Problem You Solve Once: It’s a Daily Practice

Having worked primarily with female founders for more than 20 years (most of those years I was a publicist), here’s what I know: If I gave a client Oprah’s email address to pitch herself, she’d hesitate. She’d say “I’m not ready yet,” or “I need to do thisone thing before I reach out to her.” That feeling of imposter syndrome would creep in, making her feel like a fraud despite her accomplishments and successes.

Three-quarters of women leaders have felt this

A 2020 study released by KPMG, Advancing the Future of Women in Business: A KPMG Women's Leadership Summit Report, showed that 75% of women leaders reported experiencing imposter syndrome at some point in their careers. Sound familiar? So when you’re in a group of four women entrepreneurs, know that three out of four have had the same feelings that you have. And maybe one of them is a liar. (If she’s not, that’s awesome. I love that for her!)

Once I learned that imposter syndrome is a shared feeling among us, I breathed a sigh of relief. It’s not that I want other people to be in a place where they’re questioning themselves, but it feels good to know that I’m not alone and suffering in silence. It helps me feel like, "Okay Lisa, you’re not broken."

According to the National Women’s Business Council's By the Numbers report (2024), women-owned businesses account for approximately 40% of all U.S. enterprises. More than a niche feeling, it’s a genuine drag on a large share of the economy.

It also shows up in the bank account. Women entrepreneurs price their work 20% to 30% below men for comparable jobs, a gap I call the self-doubt tax. It gets paid in speaking for free, in the never-sent proposal, and in the extra deliverables we didn't charge for.

So what’s the fix?

Knowing the numbers doesn't stop the feeling. Awareness and belief are two different things, and a statistic can change what you know without touching what your brain says at 6:00 a.m. before a sales call. Like most shifts, this isn’t a one-time thing: overcoming imposter syndrome is an ongoing practice.

For me, it's one of those "cobbler has no shoes moments" because I think to myself, "Lisa, you get to be better at celebrating your wins, because this is literally something you teach other women how to do."

As entrepreneurs, we’re always evolving and doing the unknown, whether that’s starting, scaling, or selling a business. No wonder we occasionally feel like a fraud! Turning that self-doubt into self-belief isn’t an ultimate destination. It’s an ongoing daily confidence practice that keeps us moving while the doubt tries to slow us down.

Confidence isn’t a trait: It’s a practice

It would be amazing if clearing imposter syndrome once and for all was as linear as clearing a hurdle. But the truth is that it’s about building a habit that lowers the volume on the negative chatter.

If you’ve ever felt inadequate, don’t let that feel like a flaw. It's actually a signal, shares Donna Rhea-Bailey, founder of nonprofit Grace to Continue. As an example, when you’re writing and reflecting on the things that you’re proud of as a founder, you’ll see concrete evidence of your success. And you can’t argue with evidence.

Emma Grede, CEO of Good American and founding partner of Skims, shared this on The Mel Robbins Podcast:

“The most important relationship you'll ever have is the relationship you have with yourself. And so you’ve got to be real careful that your biggest enemy isn't living between your two ears, right? When you start a daily practice that says I am going to speak to myself [kindly], this is going to rewire you. It's a beautiful way to think about talking to yourself in a kind and cheering and empathetic way; it’s a form of excellence with yourself.”

Every day, documenting something as simple as "Today I’m proud of myself for…" is a really good muscle to flex.

You can see who has practiced it

Every few weeks, our brand, Pearl Spark Pages, does in-store author events promoting our Female Founders Journal, a 90-day guided journal for women entrepreneurs with more than 180 prompts, reviewed by a licensed therapist. Our main activation to engage shoppers is a gold-bordered mirror lettered with "Today I’m proud of myself for…" with nearby sticky notes and markers that they can fill out and post. It’s an activity anyone walking by can participate in.

What’s interesting to see is who’s quick to grab a marker, who pauses (but thinks about it), and who avoids eye contact altogether. Children, even teenagers, are the quickest and most thoughtful participants. They’re proud of themselves for meeting new friends, surviving geography, and getting through the first week of school.

The adults are the ones who stall. What that shows me is that we really do have an inherent confidence muscle to give ourselves a well-deserved pat on the back. However, as we grow up, we start noticing the things that we didn’t do, and our confidence muscle atrophies. Every adult facing that mirror is simply out of practice at something they could do pretty effortlessly as a kid.

What a daily confidence practice actually looks like

Five minutes a day with a paper and pen is all it takes to leave you feeling confident, motivated, resilient, and empowered through your entrepreneurial journey.

Here are three easy practices to overcome imposter syndrome as an entrepreneur:

1. Write down one daily accomplishment. Licensed mental health professional Natalie Rosado shares that when you hear that internal voice that says you’re not good enough, you can combat those thoughts with your own accomplishments. She recommends writing down your successes, something you can do inside the Female Founders Journal.
2. Accept imperfection. Don’t hold yourself to near-impossible standards: Perfectionism and imposter syndrome are on opposite sides of a tug-of-war. Imperfect action at 80% beats analysis paralysis, every time. It's the pitch you send at 80% instead of the one you never send.
3. Reflect on past successes. Don’t just write down your wins and walk away. Your pages aren’t meant to be filled and forgotten. Take a few seconds to flip through previous pages and remind yourself of how awesome you truly are, and shift the negative stories you’re telling yourself on repeat.

Increasing your positive self-talk will help you continuously move in the right direction. A story I always used to tell myself is that I’m bad with numbers. I’ve carried that one since high school. But when I would log into my Shopify store and realize how quickly I can make sense of conversion rates, cost of goods sold, margins, and more, I had to let go of that narrative I’ve held for more than 20 years. It turns out that I didn’t care about giving up brain space for the Pythagorean theorem, but I can dissect monthly analytics like an absolute boss.

The five-minute journal habit that builds it

When I created the Female Founders Journal, it became the evolved version of the ‘Not-So-Humblebrag’ exercise I’d have my clients fill out during onboarding, back when I was a publicist. I specifically created the morning prompt framework, BRAGS, so that women entrepreneurs would start their day with inner confidence:

• Build confidence
• Reframe thoughts
• Affirm strengths
• Grow mindset
• Self-reflect

An example prompt is “What’s a recent compliment you received, and how did it make you feel?” When you’re thinking back on answering a question like that, you notice you stand a little taller and straighten up your shoulders.

What 90 days of this actually changes

Will creating a daily confidence practice get rid of imposter syndrome altogether? Honestly, no. What it will do is increase your resilience. You’ll need less time to bounce back. The doubt will still show up; you’ll just stop living in it for an entire week first.

As women building businesses, everything we do starts with belief. If you don’t believe you’re capable of something, you’re not going to take the actions you need to achieve that thing.

Start tonight

Make it easy. Download a free preview of the Female Founders Journal and fill in the blank:

“Today I’m proud of myself for…”

That’s it. That’s the first rep in rebuilding your inherent confidence muscle.