#13: The Voice That Told Her She Wasn't Enough | Nicole Cormier

Imposter syndrome followed Nicole Cormier from a grade school classroom to the boardroom — until a breakdown on a mountain highway forced her to rewrite the story she'd been telling herself since childhood.In this conversation, the Change Management Consultant with Unleashing Leaders traces imposter syndrome back further than most people are willing to go: to a childhood on an Idaho farm where success was expected but never celebrated, through a difficult divorce that left her questioning her worth, and into a career pivot from grade school teacher to executive consultant that cracked the whole thing wide open.She walks through the moment it finally broke — a three-and-a-half-hour car ride to a leadership conference that ended in what she calls "an ugly cry," and the mentor sitting next to her who refused to let her keep telling herself the old story. Research says 70% of people experience some form of imposter syndrome, and 45% of them are women. Nicole doesn't offer a way to silence that voice. She offers something more honest: how to stop letting it win.This episode is for anyone who has ever sat at the table wondering if they deserve to be there.Pull up a chair. This is a conversation worth having.Learn more about Unleashing Leaders here.Connect with Nicole here.00:00:00 Meet Nicole Cormier 00:04:16 Reading the Room: The Psychology of Who Speaks Up 00:10:47 From Third-Grade Teacher to Change Consultant 00:21:25 What Imposter Syndrome Actually Is (Not Just "Fake It Till You Make It") 00:24:02 Raised on an Idaho Farm: Where the Voice Began 00:31:38 Worthy at the Table: Chasing Achievement Over Acceptance 00:39:36 Divorce, Single Motherhood & Starting Over 00:52:34 Full Circle: Community, Confidence & Being Proud 01:00:36 The Sun Valley Car Ride That Changed Everything 01:16:22 The Dandelion: Choosing to Be the Wish, Not the WeedIf this conversation stayed with you — follow It Stays Here on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, and leave a review. It helps more people find their way to conversations worth having.Know someone who needs to hear this? Send it to them. Some conversations are meant to find the right people.