Dr. Shadé Zahrai

And I had to overcompensate because I didn't feel like I belonged.

I tried to drop it after the first class.

But in any case, I kept with it.

Never felt like I belonged.

I was able to do really well.

I got fantastic grades at the end, got a job in a top tier commercial law firm.

But that feeling of this is not me, this is not for me, stuck with me.

And I was trying to fake it till I made it.

So I was becoming someone different.

I was speaking differently.

I was showing up differently, trying to sound smart and credible, using big fancy words to fit in what I now know

is that that can backfire.

Studies have been found that when you use unnecessarily complex language where you're trying to be perceived as more credible and competent, it does the opposite and it undermines your credibility and your competence.

Simplicity.

It's all about simplicity, but I didn't know that.

So I carried that through banking.

I was so full of anxiety.

I'd literally hide behind my cubicle so people couldn't give me work because if they didn't know I was there...

I wouldn't basically be given it.

Then I moved into banking and finance, convinced that if I moved into a different industry, I could start fresh, reinvent myself, leave the doubt behind.