How to (Actually) Boost Your Confidence as an Online Culinary Solopreneur
What’s the secret to being truly confident in your business?
We’re diving into that big question and more in this week’s episode! Lately, I’ve been in so many conversations with culinary solopreneurs who tell me that there’s something they know they need to do, but their lack of confidence is holding them back from doing it.
In this episode, I’m sharing my framework for how to overcome your lack of confidence and move forward, despite not feeling like you have it all figured out. Because let’s be honest: no one has it all figured out!
With this framework, you’ll be able to tackle anything that’s ahead of you, big or small. And, you can even use this approach to help your students overcome their lack of confidence too.
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LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE
Listen to my interview with Jillian Leslie in Episode 48
Say hello to Cynthia on Instagram → @culinarycynthia!
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Cynthia Samanian: It's totally okay to not feel confident in an area of your business. That doesn't make you weak. That doesn't mean you don't have what it takes. It actually has nothing to do with your ability to succeed.
Hi, friends. It's so good to be back here with another episode. Full disclosure, if I sound a little different, it's because I am recovering from a nasty cold. So that's what's going on here. The good news is that no one else in our home is sick. I am seriously knocking on wood right now as I say that. I've told some people that I've talked to in the last week or so, that I will gladly take one for the team and be the sick one in the family if it means that everyone else gets to stay healthy, because let's face it even as moms when we get sick, we just keep charging on.
So with that, one thing I wanted to share is that these solo episodes are pretty much real time. I used to prerecord a lot of these episodes in the past, and a lot of podcasters out there do that. It's a really efficient way to create a bunch of episodes. Sometimes people will do like three or four in one day.
I've decided not to do that. At least with the solo episodes, I really enjoy choosing topics that are highly relevant based on what's happening around me in this very moment. Things move so quickly, especially in the online space, so a thought or an idea that I had many months ago just might not be as relevant today.
So with that real time aspect comes hiccups like getting sick and not feeling a hundred percent, but we are just going to roll with it.
And thank goodness for editing because you better believe that I will be cutting out all of the coughs in this episode. I know that there are going to be many, so let's not waste any more time. Let's get right into today's show.
Now, in this episode, I want to talk all about confidence. Yes, confidence. Specifically, how you can become more confident in your online business as a culinary solopreneur. And we're also gonna wrap things up by talking about something that might even be more powerful than having confidence.
Now, aside from the fact that everyone wants to be confident in their business. Here is why I'm also excited to talk about this topic. It's actually not just about you. What we're going to cover can actually be used in the way that you teach and interact with your clients and students because there's a very good chance that your ideal student also struggles with a lack of confidence.
They may be terrified to use a chef's knife, or perhaps they're super intimidated when it comes to mastering an advanced cake decorating technique. Or they could just be totally freaked out by the idea of hosting a dinner party.
So what if you could help your students and clients overcome their fears and build confidence too? That's pretty amazing, right?
Well, confidence is top of mind for me. As I mentioned, the topic that I choose on this podcast is very much inspired by the conversations I'm having. And I've had a lot of calls with students who mention that they're just not confident in fill in the blank. And it's one of those things that now when I'm in conversation, I can't help but, uh, have my ears perk up when I hear the word confident or confidence. And I'm telling you, practically every conversation I have, this comes up.
It could be not feeling confident in recording a video. Or not feeling confident writing emails that feel authentic or setting up your class tech.
Let me begin by saying this. It's totally okay to not feel confident in an area of your business. That doesn't make you weak. That doesn't mean you don't have what it takes. It actually has nothing to do with your ability to succeed. It's okay to acknowledge that there's something you have to learn or that you have to work on. No one has it all figured out. Really, no one does.
But then, what do you do when you lack the confidence to do something you know you need to do in your business?
I usually see people go down the path of procrastination. They'll just ignore it. They'll skip it. They'll move onto something that just feels easier and more comfortable.
For example, I've talked to a lot of people who know they need an email list in their business, but they don't know how to begin and they're not confident in navigating how to do it. So they just don't do it, even though they know it's important.
What ends up happening is that we avoid the things that make us uncomfortable. It's totally normal. Our brains are wired to protect us from dangerous things that threaten our safety. Now, of course, we're just talking about email lists here, but you get the idea.
So what's the problem with just focusing on the things that you're confident doing? You'll hit a plateau. You're gonna limit yourself big time, and I mean you, your business, and most importantly, your ability to help and impact others, which by the way, is why many of you are doing what you're doing. You want to change people's lives through food.
For instance, let's say that you need to grow your audience and you know that one of the most effective ways to do that is to pitch podcasts to be a guest. You know that this is going to get you in front of your ideal audience. It's going to help you build a relationship with them. By the way, this is a seriously underused strategy. We'll file this away for another episode. But you know you need to do this. You know you need to pitch podcasts, and you've heard other people tell you this before, other coaches, other people you follow.
So maybe you bought a mini course, or maybe you go download a freebie to help you get started with how to reach out to podcasts. You download the PDFs, you read them, you scan the workbooks, but you don't actually implement what you learn.
You don't reach out to any podcasts. Why? Because you don't feel confident. You have those negative voices in your head creeping in, asking you, well, "what should you say? What if you say the wrong thing? What if the people who listen don't like you?"
You've got all of these non-productive thoughts just floating around in your head and you listen to them. So you close the PDF and you decide you'll do it "later" when you're ready. If I had a dime for every single time someone told me that they would work on something when they were ready, I probably wouldn't be doing this podcast.
Okay. This idea of being ready more often than not has nothing to do with being ready. It is a nice way of saying, I'm procrastinating. We know that when you save something for later, most likely it's not happening.
So if we keep running with this example, you continue to struggle growing your audience. It's hard for you to sell things because you don't have an audience to sell it to. And you know in the back of your mind that the whole podcast pitching thing is actually what you should be doing. This is the perfect example of knowing that something is right for you and your business, but your lack of confidence is holding you back.
You know that something will help you reach your goals, but you don't do it because you don't have the experience of doing it before.
Are you dizzy yet? Because I am. Right? It's kind of like the chicken and egg dilemma. How will you take the leap if you don't feel confident when confidence comes from experience?
Now we're going to get into that, but first I've gotta step in with a little caveat. For some of you, the resistance you're feeling towards a project or a task could stem from something that has nothing to do with confidence or a lack of confidence.
It could just be that it's out of alignment for you. It doesn't align with you, your vision, your mission, your values. I talked about my own experience with this back in Episode 78, so if you haven't listened to that, definitely add it to your playlist.
Misalignment is not what we are talking about. We do not wanna confuse misalignment with lack of confidence to move forward. So today is about knowing that something is right for you, but feeling some sort of resistance to doing it.
So when you recognize that you're not feeling confident about something, probably because it's new and it's scary. Again, totally normal. There are some things that you can do to overcome it, because remember what we don't wanna do, is just shy away and avoid doing the thing that we know is actually going to move the needle in our business and allow us to create a bigger impact.
First, let's get on the same page about what confidence actually is. So Oxford Dictionary defines confidence as a feeling of self-assurance arising from one's appreciation of one's own abilities or qualities.
Did you catch that? Abilities. Think about all the things you are able to do in the kitchen today. What are your culinary abilities? Maybe you can make a perfect pie crust every time. Or you've veganized your favorite shepherd's pie recipe. Or maybe you can meal prep for the week with your eyes closed.
Were you born with the ability to do those things? Of course not. But you started somewhere. You probably failed a few times, or a lot, and you learned from those failures, and that helped you improve the next time around as you practiced, you got better and with each pie crust, you built your confidence.
In the same way you built confidence in the kitchen, confidence in your business comes from having experience in your business. It doesn't come from reading a book. It doesn't come from watching tutorials. And it doesn't come from listening to this podcast.
Confidence comes from doing.
Now, I'm not going to give you generic advice to just " put yourself out there or try new things". I know this is super vague and pretty frustrating advice. It doesn't really help, especially if you're already feeling nervous and you're feeling uncomfortable as you're trying something new.
Instead, I want to walk you through my Confidence cycle . It's a model I've shared in some of my trainings, and I think it's gonna help you think about confidence in a more practical way.
Okay, so imagine a clock. This is our Confidence Cycle . So at the top, at 12 o'clock is where it begins. The first step here is to take imperfect action on a very small thing.
The next stage of the cycle, say 3 o'clock , is to gather feedback. When you take action, there is a response and that is feedback. The third stage at 6 o'clock is to use that feedback to make improvements for a quick win. And the final stage at 9 o'clock is to build your confidence through that quick win. And it is a cycle. So when you feel more confident, you are more likely to take imperfect action. You'll collect information and feedback, and you'll use that to create another quick win, which will give you more confidence.
So let's go through an example. Let's say that you really want to teach online. A lot of my students come to me wanting to create a recorded course, but they're intimidated by the tech or they just don't feel comfortable being on video yet.
Rather than think of teaching online as this big, massive thing to figure out all at once. Ask yourself these two questions, and this by the way, applies to any example, anything that you're going through where you want to build more confidence.
The first question is, what area am I most nervous or concerned about?
And the second question is, how can I take one small imperfect step related to this area?
And when I say imperfect, it is rough. It's not pretty, but it's good enough. In fact, I did an interview with Jillian Leslie. She is an entrepreneur who talks a lot about how you should strive for B minus work. Check out Episode 48. I highly recommend it. I'll put it in the show notes. And if you are a perfectionist, if you are someone who is always shooting for a hundred percent, A++, you'll wanna listen to the episode because it will change the way you think of this as it relates to entrepreneurship.
When you have a business, especially in the online space, you can learn so much more by putting things out there faster and not waiting for them to be completely perfect. Now, this doesn't apply to everything in your work. If you are working on a cookbook, well, yes, you have to make sure that everything cover to cover is your best 100%.
But when it comes to a lot of the tasks that you do in your business, many of you just aren't doing them because you're scared of it not being a hundred percent.
So let's keep going with this example, and let's say that you tell me you're most concerned about not being able to create and edit high quality videos for your course. And so that's the reason why you just don't feel confident in moving forward. My question to you is what small imperfect step could you take to move forward related to creating and editing a high quality video?
Well, if you have a camera, you could test out recording a five minute video of yourself in your kitchen, and then try editing it using the same software you would for your course.
That's what we mean by taking imperfect action. We're not waiting until you have the course scripted and the pressure is on, and you're creating the whole thing all at once. No, just start testing it out. Now, the only thing it costs you is time, but no one will see that video. It's just for you to record and to play within an editing tool.
So that's our imperfect action at 12 o'clock.
Once you do that, you are inevitably going to learn something. You're going to learn about your camera settings. You're going to learn about your editing software. And you're also going to know what you don't know and what you actually need to learn. This is the value of gathering feedback after you take imperfect action. You already have learned so much more after playing with your camera and editing that video than you would thinking about it and playing the hypothetical scenarios in your mind.
Seriously, the time solopreneurs spend thinking through decisions and playing the what if game is mind boggling when oftentimes they could overcome those hurdles by just doing the thing.
So back to our example, after you've learned some of the things through this imperfect action, you'll make some adjustments, you'll make some fixes. Perhaps you'll figure out a new setting, or you'll realize that you need to adjust your backdrop or your background in a different way.
When you implement what you've learned, you will achieve a quick win, and that's at six o'clock. Quick wins, even if they're tiny, are really, really important in building your confidence. It's these wins that keep us going again and again in the cycle . We go around and around taking imperfect action, learning from the feedback, applying that to get a quick win, and building our confidence every time. So on our little Confidence Cycle , if you think of it like a clock, nine o'clock is where we start building our confidence.
So again, at the top, it's take imperfect action. At three o'clock, gather feedback. Then achieve a quick win at the bottom of the cycle . after we achieve that quick win, we move right back to the top of the cycle as we've built our confidence.
If you keep going through those cycles, just a few times, recording and editing a course video is not going to feel as terrifying and as daunting as it may seem right now. Through experience, you are building your confidence.
Again, think back to your first time doing something in the kitchen that was intimidating at first. You eventually figured it out through trial and error and ultimately experience. To sum it up, if you want to be more confident in your business, you need to take imperfect action, even if it's teeny, teeny tiny steps.
And as I was working on this episode, I started to think about how I am in my business. And it's interesting because I consider myself to be pretty confident when it comes to trying new things in my business. I really love the challenge of figuring things out for the first time and trying things that haven't been done before.
That is my happy place. But what I've realized, especially as I've thought about this more, is that more than confidence, what has served me the most in my business is conviction.
I have a very strongly held belief that I'll just be able to figure things out. Now, that doesn't mean I know everything, but I believe that I'll be able to get the information to learn what I need to know. It could be setting up a video studio in my office, or planning my business strategy for the year, whatever it is, I have just conditioned myself to believe that "yeah, I can figure it out". If I don't know how, which most of the time I don't know how to do those things, I'll find someone to teach me.
I've worked with people in my program who also just have this conviction that they can figure it out, that they will be able to do it, and let me tell you, it is no surprise that those are the students who just see better results. They see better results faster than other students who just carry a lot of doubt and resistance with them. It's like they have this weight that's holding them down from moving forward. They can look at the same curriculum, they can attend the same coaching call, but it's the student that takes imperfect action. Who puts themselves in an uncomfortable situation. They're the ones who experience the most growth.
One of the things that I do believe is that as you build your confidence, especially in a new area like online business, I think you will start to approach things with a stronger level of conviction. It's a muscle that takes time to develop and I also feel like it's fueled by the successes you've had. If you have a track record of being able to show up and create great things, then it only makes sense that you'll have a stronger belief in yourself to be able to do that going forward.
But no matter what, whether you feel like you have no confidence right now, or if you feel like you are starting to build it up, I do believe that taking imperfect action no matter where you are in your business, is the key.
It's what I do every day. I'm always putting things out there before they're 100% baked, and it has helped me move faster, learn more and create better experiences for the people in my program and for all of you here listening.
Now, I will share that if you're looking for support in this area, if you're looking for that extra boost to help you move forward, this is where working with a coach or joining a really hands-on program can be helpful. The right program is not just gonna teach you the fundamentals of fill in the blank. It could be, you know, marketing or sales or whatnot, but it's actually gonna teach you how to learn and how to apply what you've learned. How to push forward and take that imperfect action. I can tell my students day in and day out, here's what you should do, but if they don't actually do it, it doesn't matter.
That's why in The Online Jumpstart, I have a recipe for success that I share with everyone inside it, and one of the core ingredients is taking imperfect action. It's something that my students reference while they're in the program and when they graduate, they talk about how that was one of the biggest breakthroughs because no matter what they're working on, they can actually use that Confidence Cycle in helping them move forward.
I hope this episode lit a fire inside of you. I hope it inspired you to look at the things in your business that you know, you know, you know, are gonna help you succeed. And instead of getting in your own way, define a small step you can take.
What is that little piece of imperfect action that can help you gather feedback, apply it to get a quick win, and start to develop more confidence in that area. So if you enjoyed this episode, if there was something that really resonated with you and you wanna chat about it more, go ahead and send me a DM on Instagram @culinarycynthia.
I'd love to hear from you, and also, please don't forget to leave a rating and review wherever you're tuning in, especially if you are listening on Apple Podcasts. It's so, so helpful in growing our show and allowing us to impact more culinary business owners like you.
Thanks so much for listening to this episode and I'll be back here next week hopefully feeling and sounding much better. Talk soon.
