#Ladyboss

Yesterday I felt like a #Girlboss (or #Ladyboss, if we want to be a bit more flattering).

A few weeks ago I was asked to step in for a presenter at a seminar for an industry group meeting. Did it take a few people saying "no" for them to end up with me? Obviously. I nailed it, though. Not to toot my own horn, but people were engaged, they laughed at my jokes, and I networked like a champ. This isn't why I felt like a #Ladyboss, though. (Is the hashtag getting annoying? Too bad.)

I declared the day a success because I stepped far outside of my comfort zone and did something I felt completely unsuited for.

At 24 years old I am the baby in any professional environment. Like that one time a CEO said to me, "I didn't realize we hired high school students for this." I think he meant it as a joke, but still. I was 22 and a full time employee and had been working for this particular client for several years. I don't think anyone can say they feel completely comfortable teaching people who are older and more experienced than they are, but I was way beyond uncomfortable.

Speaking of experience. I keep reminding myself that I do, in fact, have some. I started interning with an events company when I was a junior at university and continued with them for nearly four years. I have attended seminars, planned my own events, received a MA in an almost-related subject, worked in a number of engaging and challenging positions, and I am smart. At least, that is what I chanted as I prepared to take the stage. What is it with underestimating our skills and talents? It is a female thing, a millennial thing, a new-to-the-workforce thing? Whatever it is, I am constantly reminding myself that I am smart and have something to offer.

You Is Smart, You Is Kind, You Is Important GIF from Smart GIFs

Then there is the small, inconsequential fact that I no longer work in the industry I was presenting on. I was asked for a bio and made it very clear that I no longer worked in the industry. Maybe it was desperation or maybe I actually convinced the coordinator that my degree and current job were relevant to the topic. Which they are. (Again with the self-doubt!) I had to be reminded by several different people, who graciously talked me up and encouraged me during the two weeks I prepped for this event, that all of my experience fed into what I was going to talk about.

As I was practicing my bit for the 89th time, discussing the importance of networking and learning from people with different experiences, it hit me. That is literally what I am doing. I am sharing a different perspective, my perspective, that hopefully helped these industry professionals think about something a little differently. My perspective as a young person, my perspective as someone who has experience in the industry, my perspective as someone now outside the industry ... all of those things add up to a unique and different way of thinking about a topic that has been written about and presented on time and time again.

And while I hope the audience learned a thing or two, I can confidently say I learned a lot more than they did. Isn't that cool?

So that is why I felt like a #Ladyboss yesterday. Well, and because I didn't trip or run out of the room crying.