From Imposter to Impactor: Sharing My Leadership Journey on The Big Talk Podcast

When I started my practice, the thought of one day becoming an industry leader—let alone an inspirational figure to women in dentistry — never crossed my mind. But life has a way of leading you down paths you never expected, all the while teaching you invaluable lessons that shape who you are.

Recently, I had the privilege of being a guest for the second time on The Big Talk Podcast with Tricia Brouk, and it gave me the chance to reflect on my journey from fearful imposter to sought-after leader within the dental space. 

Lessons to Take Away from The Big Talk Podcast

I’ve learned a lot of important lessons along the way, and I thought I could share some of them here to inspire you to keep working hard, dreaming big, and embracing the success you deserve.

Own Your Passion

You may not believe it, but there was a time when I was so afraid to host a webinar that I had to keep a bucket on standby off camera. (Yeah, it was that bad.) While there was more than one reason behind my lack of confidence, a huge part of it stemmed from the imposter syndrome I felt as a woman in dentistry. Despite being an expert in my field, I simply doubted that anyone cared to hear what I had to say. ‘Cause let’s be real—root canals aren’t exactly a sexy topic!

But over time, I discovered that when you own your passion and excitement for something, it makes other people excited, too. So, the more energy and enthusiasm I brought to the table, the more my audience responded—and the more confident I became. Now, I no longer worry about whether people value endo, because I believe in my ability to show them why it’s valuable!

The lesson here is that if you want to let go of your fear, you have to first let go of your limiting beliefs—whether about your topic or yourself. Once you do, you’ll discover a whole new level of confidence that people can’t help but be drawn to and inspired by.

Find Good Mentors

Few who find success get to where they are alone, and that has certainly been the case for me. When Confucius said “If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room,” he was speaking straight FACTS. The only way we can grow as individuals is by surrounding ourselves with people who can teach us, guide us, and challenge us in ways that expand our sense of self. In other words, we have to find ourselves some good, quality mentors.

Now, I’ve had some incredible mentors throughout my life, but Tricia Brouk of The Big Talk Podcast is without a doubt one of the most impactful. As I already mentioned, I used to be terrified of public speaking. But what I didn’t say is that Tricia is largely responsible for helping me overcome those fears and build my sense of confidence.

Tricia and I started working together back in 2021 to help me prepare for a Tedx talk on the modern day root canal and the importance of giving teeth a chance. Not only did she help me train for the talk in a practical sense—like making me give my speech in an Indian accent as a memorization exercise—but she also transformed the way I saw myself. With her guidance and support, I went from timid endodontist to powerhouse speaker, simply by giving myself permission to be myself. 

Yes, you can accomplish a lot on your own. But with an expert there to guide and inspire you, there’s truly no limit to what you can do!

Live With Intention

Another important lesson that came out of my guest spot on The Big Talk Podcast is that life is too short to spend it doing things that don’t matter to you. Yet that’s often exactly what we end up doing! We say we don’t have space in our schedule for this or that but then somehow find the time to doom scroll on Instagram or micromanage the day-to-day of our business. The hard truth is that to accomplish our goals, we have to be honest with ourselves about what we want, how badly we want it, and what we’re actually willing to do to achieve it.

I had to come to terms with this reality when I was preparing for my Tedx talk. Between running my practice, running my online business, taking care of my kids, and traveling from Charlotte, NC to New York City every weekend, my life was bursting at the seams. If I wanted to crush my talk without letting my other responsibilities fall to the wayside, that meant I had to start getting really freaking serious about how I was spending my time and energy.

So, that’s exactly what I did. By hyper focusing on the things that were important to me, I began to identify areas where I could “trim the fat,” so to speak. And once I did, it was incredible how much easier it became to manage everything. What’s more, that intentionality started to carry over into other aspects of my life, like the way I wanted to show up, the people I wanted to be around, and the person I wanted to be.

You can do anything, but you can’t do everything—so you damn well better make sure you’re living every day with purpose!

Develop Self-Awareness

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in becoming a leader that I shared with Tricia on The Big Talk Podcast is the importance of developing self-awareness. Taking a good hard look at yourself is a tough pill to swallow (I’m talking GIANT, with no water to wash it down), but it’s also incredibly rewarding. 

Earlier in my leadership journey, my level of self-awareness was far from where I wanted it to be, and it impacted the way I ran my business. I wasn’t yet conscious of my anxiety and how it affected the people around me. But once I gained the courage to take a look in the mirror and accept the person I was, it gave me the opportunity to let go of the things that no longer served me and pivot my energy from the shadows to the light. And the more I did this, the more my frequencies shifted toward a higher vibration.

When you learn to not only acknowledge but embrace the good and not so good parts of yourself, you gain autonomy over how you show up in the world—and the power to create the life you’ve always dreamed of.

Maintain a Solid Support System

An often-talked-about truth that has proven painfully accurate during my leadership journey is that the more successful you become, the smaller your circle shrinks. Whether you’re ready or not, you start to discover who your true friends are—and who was never really with you in the first place.

As painful as it is to lose the people you thought you could trust, it’s ultimately one of the best things that could happen to you. Because in the space they leave behind, you can build a whole new support system made up of the people who are in it for the long haul—the ones who will love you, support you, and encourage you through even the most challenging times. And trust me, there will be a lot! The more successful you become, the more unsolicited feedback and negative criticism you receive.

So, one last lesson from my time on The Big Talk Podcast is to choose your new circle wisely. Surround yourself with people who pour into you so that you have the energy to pour back into them—and the world!

Transform Your Leadership and Heal Your Practice

What good is lived experience if you don’t share what you’ve learned with others? That’s why I’ve developed Heal Your Practice, a course to help dental providers and practice owners build leadership skills and a practice they love so they can go to work excited and return home fulfilled.

Join the waitlist today so you’ll be the first to know when the course becomes available!

– Sonia