Fake It Till You Make It

If there’s any business advice I can give, especially to those early in their careers, it’s to fake it till you make it. This was advice I received from a mentor early on in my career, and I took it to heart. It was most definitely instrumental in helping me get ahead.

The best way I can demonstrate the value of faking it till you make it – in an ethical and honest way – is by giving you two concrete examples of how I’ve done just that.

Speaking Engagements?

At the outset of my career in my early 20s, I immediately saw the value in serving as a speaker, particularly at industry conferences. In order to create those opportunities, I had to position myself as a thought leader.

The first step I took was to apply to speak at a small conference for a local women's group, knowing that I could pull from my college experiences studying communications and public speaking. While I was working in the biotech and healthcare industry, I saw this as an easier way to get my foot in the door and add “speaker” to my resume.

I was accepted to present a workshop on Pursuing Your Passion and Building Your Personal Brand for that conference. Afterwards, I shared about speaking at the event on social media and started a personal website with a page for speaking engagements. I framed the language on the page as if this was old hat for me – “Lilly is a sought after speaker.” I also listed the topics I could speak on, showing that I was prepared for more opportunities.

Once I put myself out there, requests started to snowball, but it was on me to get the ball rolling. I had to confidently step into that first speaking opportunity and combat the imposter syndrome that came along with it.?

I faked it till I made it, and now I am regularly asked to speak at conferences with people 20 and 30 years my senior. This brings me to my next example…

Age Illusion

Our society associates age with credibility. “The older you are the smarter you are,” people think. Sure, wisdom often does come with age, but I firmly believe being “young” doesn't make you any less valuable or credible.

Once again, I identified this conundrum early in my career and took steps to mitigate people knowing my actual age. A simple way to do that was removing the year of graduation from my LinkedIn profile and resume. This helped take?age out of the equation, so I could be evaluated?based on the actual skills and experience I brought to the table.

Another way that I worked around age bias was writing in my bio that I had been an advocate for “nearly a decade.” This wasn't a lie. It was re-framing the truth.

In high school, I started an anti-bullying program and was an advocate for the underdog. I transitioned to patient advocacy when I diagnosed with multiple autoimmune diseases. I had been an advocate for nearly a decade.. It was all valid advocacy experience, regardless of whether it was in a professional setting.

I genuinely believe that these small tweaks made a difference in the way I was perceived. I always got the sense that appearing closer to 30 than 20 lended itself to higher credibility.

When I finally turned 30, I “came clean” in a LinkedIn post. This was my most popular post of all time by the way with over 1,000 engagements and over 100,000 impressions! The message that people bring value no matter what their age really seemed to resonate.?

It’s Your Story to Tell

I am a strong advocate for framing your own narrative rather than letting society create one for you. Faking it till you make it is about placing value on your skills, talents, and experiences and boldly sharing them with the world. You are capable of achieving big things, and if you believe that, others will follow suit.

Do you have any experiences faking it till you made it? Leave a comment to keep this conversation going.