Episode 6 of Work Truths: Off the Record is live, and today I’m joined by Dr Terri Simpkin, an academic and self-described ‘chaos wrangler’!

Terri brings a brilliantly fresh perspective to the imposter phenomenon because she doesn’t just research it — she has lived experience of it too. In our conversation, we explore how imposter feelings are shaped by the wider systems around us, not just by what’s happening inside our own heads. That means looking at childhood messages, class, underrepresentation, and the ways social narratives can quietly tell us we simply ‘don’t belong’.

One of the things I found most powerful was Terri’s personal story of moving through university and a PhD while carrying the fear that she would be ‘found out’. She also explains why the word syndrome is so misleading, and why ca ...