Jule Kim is the Founder of Advice Actually and an executive coach specializing in overcoming imposter syndrome, particularly among high-performing individuals such as CEOs and aspiring executives. With her career starting in photography and transitioning after a self-realization journey, Jule offers an empathetic perspective shaped by her experiences growing up as a Korean American in Alabama. She is also a certified International Coach Federation (ICF) coach and one of the first to be certified by Dr. Valerie Young, a leading expert in imposter syndrome.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [07:47]Jule Kim shares how imposter syndrome can affect even top-level executives
- [10:39] Insight into the powerful connection between marketing and personal development
- [12:15] Jule Kim’s journey from photographer to imposter syndrome coach
- [14:43] The surprising cultural factors contributing to imposter syndrome
- [18:34] Jule highlights three core elements that define true imposter syndrome
- [24:01] How does explaining away success contribute to feeling like a fraud?
- [28:56] The key difference between perfectionism and the pursuit of excellence
In this episode…
Have you ever felt like an imposter, doubting your achievements and fearing you’ll be exposed as a fraud? In this gripping episode, the guest delves into the pervasive issue of imposter syndrome, a feeling many high-achieving professionals know all too well. How can understanding and addressing this syndrome transform your professional and personal life?
Jule Kim, an executive coach specializing in imposter syndrome, shares her journey from feeling like an outsider in her photography career to mastering her own imposter syndrome. Through her deeply personal narrative, she reveals how cultural backgrounds can exacerbate these feelings, particularly among Asian Americans and other minority racial groups. Jule’s expertise is not just theoretical; she is a certified imposter syndrome coach under the tutelage of the very experts who coined the term. Her insights into how personal development intertwines with professional growth offer listeners a unique perspective on overcoming self-doubt and thriving in their careers.
In this episode of the Timeless Marketing Podcast, join our host, Brian Kurtz, with Jule Kim, Founder of Advice Actually, as they talk about understanding and overcoming imposter syndrome. Jule discusses the importance of recognizing and addressing these feelings, providing practical advice and strategies for listeners to implement in their own lives. The conversation also touches on the cultural dimensions of imposter syndrome and the importance of self-acknowledgement and confidence.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Quotable Moments:
- “Imposter syndrome hit me like a truck. I ended up not making any money for two freaking years.”
- “We will do anything to avoid being exposed or being discovered.”
- “If you say you don’t experience imposter syndrome, you’re lying. Everybody has experienced it in their life.”
- “Imposter syndrome isn’t just doubting yourself; it’s feeling like a fraud and fearing discovery.”
- “The only people who don’t feel imposter syndrome are narcissists.”
Action Steps:
- Differentiate between striving for perfection and pursuing excellence.
- Focus on improvement while accepting current achievements as sufficient, which helps alleviate the pressure associated with imposter syndrome’s perfectionistic tendencies.
- Take ownership of your success without deflection.
- Acknowledging your achievements fosters genuine confidence and counters the downplaying characteristic of imposter syndrome.
- Understand and identify your imposter syndrome type.
- Recognizing specific behaviors and thought patterns allows for targeted strategies to combat imposter syndrome effectively.
- Embrace humility without diminishing your worth.
- Balancing a realistic view of your capabilities with acknowledgment of others’ contributions creates a healthy professional self-image.
- Actively unlearn cultural or familial narratives that contribute to imposter syndrome.
- Shifting beyond limiting beliefs that arise from one’s background enables personal and professional growth without the weight of imposed expectations.
Sponsor for this episode…
This episode is brought to you by Titans Xcelerator.
Titans Xcelerator is a private mentorship program for direct response marketers.
It is one of the most giving communities and serves as the de facto board of advisors and marketing insurance policy for over 250 of the best and brightest direct response marketers, copywriters, media buyers, marketing agencies, senior executives, anyone in direct response marketing, who is committed to growing and scaling their business.
And you don’t need to spend 10s of 1000s of dollars either.
Titans Xcelerator is 1/10 of the price of most groups of its kind.
And with a private membership, you’ll receive access to the full presentation from today’s episode, along with the Q&A and discussion that followed.
As an added bonus, you’ll receive access to a vault filled with many more private calls just like this one.
The bottom line: you don’t have to grow your business alone.
If you want to see how Titans Xcelerator can help you grow and scale your specific business, go to BrianKurtz.net/help
Episode Transcript
Intro 0:03
Welcome to the Timeless Marketing Podcast with Brian Kurtz, your connection to insights from some of the top direct response marketing minds on the planet.
Brian Kurtz 0:15
Hey, it’s Brian Kurtz here, host of the Timeless Marketing Podcast. Today’s episode is a clip from one of the two-hour calls inside Titans Xcelerator, my private mentorship program for direct response marketers. Before we get to that, I have one question for you. Do you have a marketing insurance policy? If you don’t, you need one. And that’s why I created Titans Xcelerator, which is one of the most giving communities and serves as the de facto board of advisors and marketing insurance policy for over 250 of the best and brightest direct response marketers, copywriters, media buyers, marketing agencies, senior executives, anyone in direct response marketing, who is committed to growing and scaling their business, the bottom line, you don’t have to grow your business alone. And you don’t need to spend 10s of 1000s of dollars either.
Titans Xcelerator is 1/10 of the price of most groups of its kind. I know because I hosted a group that was over $20,000 a year. If you want to see how Titans Xcelerator can help you grow and scale your specific business, go to briankurtz.net/help. That’s B-R-I-A-N Kurtz [dot] net [slash] help. And with a private membership, you’ll receive access to the full presentation from today’s episode, along with the Q&A and discussion that followed. As an added bonus, you’ll receive access to a vault filled with many more private calls just like this one. Again, if you want to see if Titans Xcelerators are fit for you with no obligation. Go to Briankurtz.net/help. That’s B-R-I-A-N Kurtz [dot] net [slash] help. And feel free to email me directly. I respond to every email with questions about this episode. Or just to say hi, brian@briankurtz.net.
Now onto today’s episode. Hey, Jule, how are you? I’m good, just coughing up along here, but so happy to be here. So if you do it, just do it off. If the lung comes up, do it off screen, because it’ll be disgusting. No, I’m kidding. I’ll keep that in mind. Yeah. But Jule, Jule, first time I’ve ever spoken to you, but we have communicated a lot through email. When she joined Titans Xcelerator, I was impressed with all the dialog that we had in email, and she put herself forward to discuss a topic that actually came up in the profit. I mentioned this in my email and in my Facebook post for today’s call. It came up during the profit partnering call yesterday, believe it or not, which is the concept of imposter syndrome, which, if anybody has not experienced imposter syndrome on this call, you’re lying. You’re lying, because everybody has experienced imposter syndrome in their life. And I said, and she was not tentative, but she said, You know, I don’t know if this is appropriate or not.
And, you know, and she was being polite, which was good, but I really, I thought it was so powerful that she stepped forward on a topic like this, because, you know, I believe that, and I’ve talked about this in the past, that there’s a very thin line between marketing and and and personal development. You know, you know, you know, if you don’t think Tony Robbins has something to do with marketing, then you’re not paying attention. And if you don’t think everything we talk about in Titans Xcelerator has nothing to do with personal development and the person behind we talked about it already today when Teresa said to David, you know, it’s the individual in your group. How do they relate to them? With breakthrough advertising, how do you relate to them? So I just believe that we have room in Xcelerator for, you know, personal improvement and lifestyle topics because everything relates because I believe marketing isn’t the only thing.
It isn’t everything, it’s the only thing. But saying that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t incorporate all of the personal development and lifestyle things, because, you know, marketing is just part of how we live. We’re always marketing ourselves. We’re always selling ourselves. We’re always selling products and services, but we’re also selling who we are and what we want to represent in the world. So. So it ties in perfectly with Jule. And I’m so pleased that you’re going to do this. I want you to give a little background. You gave some background in the Facebook group about yourself, but give a quick background of why you’re an executive coach. I see that in your description on your in your square but talk about how you came to being, we’ll say an expert in imposter syndrome, and why you were so keen on sharing this with the group today.
Jule Kim 5:33
Yeah, thank you, Brian. So like a lot of people who get into the fields they get into, especially in the mental health or wellness space is because I myself suffered from imposter syndrome. So before I was a coach, I was a photographer. And if some of you might be aware, in Asian culture, going into a creative pursuit is really not encouraged. You know, I think overall, across the world, culturally, most people are aware, and they have a perception that going into a creative field is probably not going to earn you as much money, and is going to be a lot harder. But in Asian cultures, in particular, it’s even more discouraged. And so I come from a very like tech analytical background.
I left my job at Amazon. It was sort of like a rage quit. I then decided, okay, I’m gonna start my photography business, and I ran into imposter syndrome like it hit me like a truck. I ended up not making any money for two freaking years. And so today, when I work with the people I do, whether they’re business owners or people in corporate, I can see those signs. And personally, I’m Korean. I grew up in Alabama. I didn’t know that even just how my life started out was sowing the seeds for imposter syndrome, just feeling like you never belong in general. So in the US people of color will experience imposter syndrome like a lot higher. So that’s a little bit about me.