Maur een Zappa l a Keynote Speaker At The PPAI Expo 2023 To Tackle Imposter Syndrome Maureen Zappala, a former NASA engineer who studies imposter syndrome, previews her presentation and how this mindset might seep into promo. by Jonny Auping Among the many speakers and education opportunities at The PPAI Expo Conference, set for January 9 at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, will be a presentation byMaureen Zappala, a former NASA engineer who studies and teaches audiences about imposter syndrome, will discuss how it manifests and strategies to combat it. As a preview of her presentation, Zappala, who also spoke at this year’s PPAI Women’s Leadership Conference, sat down with PPAI Media to talk about imposter syndrome and how it might affect people in the promotional products industry. PPAI Media: Your story involves working for NASA as an engineer, and you suffered from imposter syndrome that you ultimately overcame. Being a public speaker now, that’s a job that many people are terrified of. Was there a new phase of it in this new chapter of your life? Maureen Zappala: Absolutely. It’s a cold reality; you don’t actually ever overcome it. It doesn’t go away. But it does morph. It does change. And you can learn ways to manage it. You can arrest it in the moment to make the path a little easier. I loved working at NASA. It was my dream job. But every day felt like today’s the day they’re going to figure out I don’t know what the heck I’m doing. It wasn’t until years later that I realized that was normal, I wasn’t the only one who struggled with it, and it had a name and solution. I’ve done a lot of research to understand strategies to overcome it. I wish I knew then what I know now. I had a great career at NASA, but I think it would have been even better. Now, I’m a speaker. Imposter syndrome is more about doubt, not necessarily about terror. Because I still feel terror. I still get scared when I talk to an audience. Do I doubt my skills as a speaker? Sometimes yes. I could look at a speaker and say ‘Wow, they’re so much better or more polished.’ I have to wrestle with those thoughts. I have to convince myself that I still know what I’m talking about. I still bring to the table worth and value. PPAI Media: At The PPAI Expo, many of the people work for large companies, but there will also be people there that work for much smaller companies with less resources. Do you ever see a trend where the existence of large companies creates an imposter syndrome with smaller companies who may become less ambitious with the clients they pursue? Zappala: I met many members of the Association at the WLC. Loved them. Loved the camaraderie. There are legitimate reasons for people to feel like imposters, like they don’t belong. Big company or small company, the solution is the same: to center yourself, take inventory of your skills, your abilities, your history, your 74 | DECEMBER 2022 | CONNECT
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzU4OQ==