.webp)
The latest episode of Presales Podcast featured a powerful conversation with Hannah Bloking and Allison Macalik, co-founders of 4 Under 3, who specialize in helping teams address imposter syndrome. Hosted by Jack Cochran and Matthew James, the episode explored why imposter syndrome affects nearly everyone in pre-sales and what we can do about it.
Listen to the full episode now!
What Is Imposter Syndrome?
Before diving into strategies, it's important to understand what we're actually dealing with. The textbook definition describes imposter syndrome as "the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills."
But here's what makes this particularly interesting: experts are increasingly calling it "imposter phenomenon" instead of "imposter syndrome." As Jack pointed out in the conversation, "syndrome has an implication that there's something wrong that needs to be fixed. Phenomenon is just, this is the thing that happens."
This reframing is crucial. You're not broken. You're experiencing something that affects the vast majority of people at various points in their careers.
The Universal Experience No One Talks About
One of the most striking revelations from the conversation was just how universal imposter syndrome really is. Allison shared a story about a man who attended one of their workshops after 30 years in his career: "He messaged us after on LinkedIn and he was like, I did not know first of all, anyone else felt like this. And second of all, this had a name."
What's more, Hannah and Allison initially thought this was primarily a challenge for women in male-dominated fields. They discovered they were wrong. "We realized that both of us had this really vested interest in this topic," Hannah explained. "And as we became leaders in our own teams, we could tell that it was something that was impacting really talented, highly skilled people in our teams."
The phenomenon crosses all boundaries of gender, experience level, and industry position.
Why Presales Professionals Are Particularly Vulnerable
As Jack observed during the conversation, there's something about the nature of presales work that makes imposter syndrome particularly prevalent. Presales professionals are regularly asked to be experts on topics they're still learning, to project confidence they might not feel, and to deliver under high-pressure circumstances.
Hannah captured this perfectly: "Demos are hard to give well. And it takes a long time to feel confident walking up and giving demos, whether it's in a customer meeting, like a smaller group, or you're up on a big stage at a conference. No matter how much experience you have, no matter how advanced you are on a particular topic, there's going to be something in your brain that is like, am I a fraud for even standing up here?"
And here's the kicker: the hardest demos to give? Internal ones to your own team. When presenting to colleagues and leadership, the imposter voice gets even louder because the stakes feel higher.
The Lighthouse Speaker: A Powerful Reframe
One of the most practical techniques Allison shared is the concept of being a "lighthouse speaker" instead of a "spotlight speaker."
She explained this through a real example from her team: "I try to tell my team all the time, think about different ways that it works and shows up for you. So an example is one of the women on my team, this client was just grilling her and she didn't know some of the answers. I was like, think about it this way. She went and got the answers later and came back. And I was like, this isn't about Eleanor. You are sitting here in this seat. So they are going to grill this person, but it could be any of us at that moment."
The lighthouse speaker mindset shifts your focus from being under scrutiny to being someone who lights the way for others. Matthew added an interesting dimension to this: "When you're there, when you're in front of the people, when you're speaking, that's your lighthouse moment. But in my head, it's almost like everything that leads up to that, that's your spotlight moment. Because only you can walk into that meeting with the preparation that you yourself are getting to uniquely bring."
Name Your Imposter
Another technique that emerged from the conversation was the practice of naming your imposter voice. Allison's imposter is named Todd.
"Whenever I'm feeling like I can't do something or like last week I was presenting to our ELT and I was like, zip it, Todd. Like you got this," she explained. By externalizing that negative voice and giving it a name, you create distance between yourself and those unhelpful thoughts.
Why Companies Keep Coming Back
Hannah and Allison mentioned that many of their workshop clients are repeat customers. The reason? These conversations need to happen regularly, not just once.
"Especially in pre-sales, a lot of our customers are in the sales or pre-sales community," Hannah explained. "What we kind of realized is that there's still that need to really dig into the part of your brain to fully embrace some of these types of frameworks. And of course, every company is invested in making sure their people are empowered with frameworks and methodologies that help them navigate very ambiguous things that we navigate every single day."
In other words, addressing imposter syndrome helps people actually use and benefit from the other training and enablement they receive. Several companies have even created internal Slack channels where team members can share when they're struggling with imposter feelings and receive support from colleagues.
Two Action Items to Start Today
The hosts asked Hannah and Allison for one thing listeners should take away from the episode. Their answers provide a perfect starting point:
From Allison: "Find a way that resonates with you to put the feelings of imposter outside of your body. Whether that is thinking of it as a lighthouse speaker, whether that's naming it, whether that is talking about it to a friend, like get it out. That should be your only action today. And then make that repetitive. Just get it out because it doesn't represent who you are."
From Hannah: "Identify who that one person is going to be for you that you can talk to when you're feeling like an imposter and have that person hold you accountable that it's just your imposter talking. And actually for me, I have somebody in my team that reports to me that is that person for me. Find those people. It's really going to make all the difference. People that you trust and people that are there as your supporters."
The Bottom Line
Imposter syndrome isn't something that needs to be "cured" because you're not broken. It's a common human experience that can be managed, especially when we stop suffering in silence and start talking about it.
For pre-sales professionals who regularly face high-stakes presentations, demanding customers, and the pressure to be instant experts, these strategies aren't just nice-to-haves. They're essential tools for sustainable success and wellbeing.
As Hannah emphasized, "SEs are not going to go anywhere, AI is not going to replace them." But to continue thriving in an evolving landscape, pre-sales professionals need to address the internal challenges as much as the external ones.
The good news? You're not alone, and there are practical strategies that can help. Whether it's becoming a lighthouse speaker, naming your imposter, or finding your accountability person, the key is to start the conversation and keep it going.
Want to learn more about imposter syndrome workshops for your team? Connect with Hannah Bloking and Allison Macalik on LinkedIn or visit 4under3.io. You can also reach them at info@4under3.io.
Join the Presales Collective Slack community at presalescollective.com/slack to stay updated on future episodes, and follow the PSC LinkedIn page for upcoming shows.
