Defeating Imposter Syndrome in CRE!

As Green Day once said, “I walk alone, I walk alone”! My name is Russel Ogbor and I’m a sophomore in the Real Estate Finance & Development program at UTSA. I wanted to take my 2nd year to the next level by diving deeper into the industry and start paving my path to success now. So, I decided to get my Texas Real Estate License to open opportunities for myself. This opened the doors for becoming an officer for UTSA's The Real Estate Society , a job position with REOC San Antonio, and a summer internship with CBRE! Through it all, I feel like an imposter and stranger in my efforts.

Forbes defines Imposter Syndrome as a “feeling of doubt about your work accomplishments or, despite success, a feeling that you are not good enough”. It’s this psychological attack on the mind as it settles and creeps in to knock you down with no true merit. For me, it creeps up in a variety of different settings in my day-to-day life. ?

In real estate, NETWORKING is key! I can’t stress that importance more! And yet, I feel incompetent in this department. Our REFD program offers various events with the emphasis with networking such as roundtables or volunteer opportunities with real estate organizations in San Antonio. I find myself missing these opportunities or when I go, feeling like I’m never asking the right questions with industry professionals or truly taking advantage of my time with them. I walk into the room feeling like a stranger and leave more distant, not salvaging a connection I could’ve made. It sucks! It makes me get in my head of my abilities of succeeding in this industry since networking is a component to success.

As mentioned before, I work at REOC San Antonio as an intern. As proud as I am for this position, I can’t help, but to find myself feeling obsolete. Let me explain, imagine swimming in the deep blue sea in the middle of the gulf to then find yourself surrounded by sharks! This is the constant imagery that creeps in during my shifts. These professionals have been in the game longer than I’ve been alive and I know I’m just beginning, but it’s intimidating! They are about their business and won’t settle for being average so I can only imagine the standard they must expect out of me each and every day. I’ll sit in meetings with these brokers and start to think, are they judging me for being this young, do they think I’m not equipped, but more importantly, are they right about their assumptions?

The worst of my imposter syndrome comes from my perception that my peers have of me in my degree program. I was brought on to become an officer for the Real Estate Society by an upperclassman, Yobana Castillo , who saw promise and potential. She kept reiterating that “we need to find you a good internship” and statements along those lines since all the officers had one (CBRE, Equity, REMAX, and City of San Antonio). Hearing this started to bring on the psychological attacks of not feeling “on par” with the rest and feeling like I’m always trying to catch up to meet their standards.

To my surprise, I was able to gain a 世邦魏理仕 internship for this upcoming summer. While everyone was proud of me, I started to feel regret. It didn’t feel as if I deserved this or should have this!? I looked at their achievements and thought, “they should be in this internship”. I got to a low in my thought process where I was challenging if I applied for this internship because I want to grow my knowledge, experience, and expertise in commercial real estate or was I only applying because others were saying this was best for you not realizing the importance myself? ?

One conversation helped truly take on this Imposter syndrome I’ve been feeling recently. I met up with David Robinson Jr. as we addressed the development projects, he has going on right now. A question I asked was how to deal with the stress and pressure of being a young student of the game. He got around to explaining that using your twenties as foundation building years it crucial to get to the futures we most seek for ourselves. Stop focusing on others and give yourself enough credit and respect for getting yourself where you are today.

He recommended a book called “The Defining Decade” and it has started to put my life into perspective. I was so afraid of not being able to live up to expectations and becoming a failure. Then, I read this quote from the book, "Contrary to what we see and hear, reaching your potential isn’t even something that usually happens in your twenties—it happens in your thirties or forties or fifties".

It helped me reassure that it's ok to fail and not know everything now, because we begin to discover that there's only way to go after failure: UP. Eventually, I'll get to the future I most seek for myself, but it's not a rush to the finish so I shouldn't fear taking my time. So, as I grow in real estate and in life, I will learn to grow past the shackles of Imposter Syndrome that wants to bring you down and build the pathway forward one step at a time feeling worthy in my abilities!

Sources:

Pham, Erik. “Council Post: How to Identify Imposter Syndrome and Deal with It in the Workplace.” Forbes, April 4, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2023/04/03/how-to-identify-imposter-syndrome-and-deal-with-it-in-the-workplace/?sh=5bec3cea4264.

Jay, May. “The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter.” The Defining Decade: Why your twenties matter. Accessed April 12, 2024. https://www.tarkashastra.co.in/Materials/The Defining Decade-Why your twenties matter and how to make the most of them now.pdf.