Author: Fawn D. Martin, MBA, PMP, Chief Administrative Officer, First Harvest Credit Union

Have you ever felt imposter syndrome and, if so, how did you navigate your way through it and manage self-doubt?

I have had my bouts of self-doubt, questioning my belonging at the ‘table’ that I was seated at.  Sometimes these feelings were because others at the table did not look like me, or they may have appeared more confident, or my insecurity. There are a few techniques I apply when going through self-doubt including mirroring how a confident Fawn would show up, reflecting on prior times these feelings existed and how I successfully navigated through those feelings, and lastly, I use the mirror that is kept on my desk to give myself pep talks. My challenges with imposter syndrome have significantly reduced, not eliminated but has decreased. Recognizing the importance of what you are feeding your mind is critical, it is a form of self-care that I am more mindful to practice.  

As a mentor, what do you look for in a mentee and/or what do you look for in a mentee before committing to the relationship?

I look for a younger me in my mentee; do we share similar characteristics, insecurities, drive, fears, etc. There are the mentee/mentor relationships that are intentionally formed and there are those that are formed organically, in both scenarios having commonalities is important to me.

What’s your rule/philosophy about work on vacation or on days off?

When on vacation or taking time off, my out of office is always turned on which sets the expectation that I am not available or availability is limited. I generally still check my emails when out of the office for my personal sanity; it reduces the feeling of being overwhelmed when returning to the office especially if it is for an extended period.  Limiting the time that is used to check emails is important, I limit it to twice a day. The tone is set with my team that if anything critical arises to call my mobile phone; working while away is for my sanity not anyone else’s.  When on vacation I do not participate in meetings, however if taking a day off and the meeting is time sensitive then I will likely attend and make it clear that any non-urgent follow-ups will be addressed when I am back in the office.

What’s the best POWER event you’ve attended and why?

POWER has hosted so many impactful events, my most memorable was on the topic of “Your Brand” facilitated by Lorina Marshall-Blake in November 2023.  Brands are created in the mind and then acted out, which spoke directly to what I expressed earlier regarding being careful about what you feed your mind. We are the CEO of our life, controlling how we want to show up and being consistent with that. Lorina shared that our brand should be authentic, powerful, consistent, valuable, and visible. It is never too late to hit the reset button in every aspect of your life, in 2023 I intentionally hit the reset button, the nuggets shared during that program continue to be impactful in helping me with this transformation. When we hear brand, we often think about the external which is important, Lorina’s brand is her hats and Lindsay Johnston, President of POWER, to me her external brand is her red lipstick; however, both women are more than their external brand, they are women of integrity and passionate about what they do which is inner driven. That program and other POWER programs are foundational in my empowerment toolkit.

Favorite quote?

My favorite quote is by Robin Williams “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.”  People tend to take other’s actions personally, give grace when someone does something that may seem out of character for them or is not the kindest towards you; giving grace is important. We see someone smiling or laughing, we assume that they are okay which that may not be their reality, go beyond the surface and do a wellness check on them anyway.  Giving grace and kindness to each other goes a long way, you may never know the impact that your kind words or actions has (text, email, or verbal / nonverbal) but do it anyway because I guarantee you that it may be the lifeline that he or she needed at that time to help them through a challenging time.