EP 165: What if you're already qualified - but still don't feel it

You’ve done the work.
You’ve trained, mentored, guided, supported, healed.
And still, you hesitate.

Behind the credentials, behind the results…
There’s that quiet doubt whispering,
“Am I really ready for this next level?”
“Who am I to charge more, lead more, be seen more?”

This episode is your reminder that you are not unqualified...
You are simply carrying old stories your body hasn’t released yet.

Inside, we unpack:

Why imposter syndrome isn’t just a mindset problem - it’s a nervous system pattern

The five hidden emotional blocks keeping you from owning your power

How scarcity, fear of rejection, and dysregulation show up as resistance

The identity reframe that will shift how you price, lead, and show up in your business

Why Ascension begins not when you prove your worth, but when you believe it’s safe to hold

Because you don’t need another certification.
You need to feel safe being who you already are.

Reflection questions:

Where am I still chasing external permission instead of anchoring into inner truth?

What story am I ready to release about what I need to “have” before I’m worthy?

If I truly owned my power, how would I show up differently this week?

💸 Ascension Academy Waitlist Now Open

If this episode spoke to the part of you that’s ready to rise, join the waitlist for Ascension Academy.
This is where we do the deep nervous system work to integrate your identity with the next level of leadership, income, and self-trust you’re ready to hold.

Join the Waitlist here > https://jessicaread.com/academy

Transcript

0:01

Welcome to Resource with Jessica Reed. This is the podcast for visionary entrepreneurs who are here to build a thriving business and luminous life, fully resourced from the inside out. Here we unlock the magic of inner alignment, emotional mastery, and energetic strategies, so you can lead with clarity, confidence, and ease. This is your space to shed what no longer serves you, embody your highest potential, and expand into the next evolution of your business and soul's work. You are meant for more, and it all starts here.

Jessica Read: 0:47

It is a wild how many brilliant women I know are still waiting to feel qualified. Even though they've done all the trainings that they really need. They are getting results already with clients. They are already impacting lives, but underneath all of the certifications and all of the diplomas and all of the success. There is still that quiet fear. What if someone calls me out? What if they find out I'm not enough? And I know that feeling and I know it deeply because it was me For years. I was absolutely terrified that somebody would call me a fraud. So I kept enrolling in more programs, more certifications I was adding to my qualifications list. And a part of that was coming from a desire to learn all of these things that I was so fascinated with. I was really absorbing as much information as I possibly could. But another part of that was me doing these things, making these choices, gaining these qualifications. To fill a hole within me that actually could only be filled with self-belief. So I would tell myself that adding to these qualifications was for growth. And like I said, a part of it was, but being truly, deeply honest with myself and with you, because I'm so sure that so many of you are sitting in this. In fact, I literally heard it in a conversation in my dms the other day. That a part of this is also for you to be proving and it might might be proving something to yourself, and that's what it was for me. It was really proving that I was qualified, that I was worthy, that I was smart, know all of the stories I had to prove. But for some of you, and like in this conversation that I was having in my dms the other day, it is also about proving to others because someone has made a comment about what you are doing because someone that you admire has gone and gotten X, Y, Z qualifications. I want to remind you as you enter into your own experience as a coach, as a healer, as a service-based entrepreneur, that whatever. It is that you are bringing, that people are coming to you for, yes, there is a part that is coming for the skill that you offer, but the reason why they're coming to you in particular is for you and for your energy and for your core beliefs and your values and the way that you stand up and show that with integrity, the connection that they have felt with you. There is not one person who hasn't said to me. I am coming to you because I read your story. I listened to this podcast episode and it resonated. They're not just Googling, oh Mr. Business Mentor in Australia. They're hearing even on a conversation I had with a brand new one-on-one client the other day. She says, I'm hearing that you are someone who is going to help mentor from a space without sacrificing. You are gonna do it differently. You're not just gonna give me a cookie cutter step by step. So she's listened. She's, gotten to know my core values and she's gotten to know what I'm all about. And she has decided from that, from getting to know me and, what I stand for, that I'm the person for her. So if you are proving you are filling a hole. That no certificate is going to close for you, and I really want you to hear that. I, even had this conversation in my mastermind a couple of weeks ago, actually. I've had it twi three times in that container. Jess, I'm thinking about doing this qualification. What do you think now my one question. And I'm going to leave this question with you, and I want you to ask yourself this question before you enroll in anything, because I'm not here to tell you to do it or to don't do it. I love, I've gotten so much out of every single thing that I have learned, every qualification that I have gotten has brought me to where I am now. But I want you to ask yourself. Am I looking at enrolling in this thing? Am I feeling that pull to enroll in this thing because I have something to prove because I feel like I'm not good enough yet because I feel like I can't charge I'm, say just a life coach and until I get a deeper healing certification, I can't charge no. Some people just want life coaches and some life coaches charge. Lots. And so that desire, is it a desire to further your learning because you love what you're doing and it's coming from a space of expansion, and you can't wait to serve your clients with this next level of learning and inevitably go through your own personal development journey because of that? Or is it to fill that hole? Is it coming from a place of scarcity? From a place of I will charge when? I will be valued when I'll be taken seriously, when I will launch my offer on my membership, my high ticket coaching program when, because the thing that, excuse me, I'm choking on my pro chamber, the thing that I really needed. It was not more validation, it was actually self-belief. So if you are in that space right now and you are building something beautiful, but you are quietly wondering if you are actually allowed to claim it, then this episode is for you. And over the next few episodes, I'm really excited to share with you. We are going to be diving into different common blocks. That holds you back from charging, particularly if you are somebody who would really like to charge a higher ticket price for your services, and there is something within you. Maybe it's a story, maybe it's a fear. Maybe it's a lack of self-belief. Maybe it's lack of clarity, but there is something in you that is saying you're not ready, that no one will pay that to you, that it's too expensive. We are going to cover all of that over the next couple of weeks. So today, let's dive into the imposter syndrome that comes behind quotas and practitioners and healers who don't believe that the education that they already have, and coupled with the experience that they already have. Because let me just also jump in and say. I know that there are a lot of coaches who work without certifications, and one of the biggest imposter syndrome things that I hear in that space is that very block, and sometimes in some scenarios, it really is necessary to reflect back on who you are and what you bring into everything. What skills, what life experiences. What have you had to overcome? Now, obviously there are some methods. I would never see a hypnotherapist who didn't have a qualification, but in some spaces they're not necessary. So welcome to Resource with Jessica Reed. This is the space where we stop performing for our success, where we start building it from emotional clarity, from nervous system regulation, and deep grounded worth. And as I said in today's episode. We are going to touch on something that I'm going to teach very, deeply in my Ascension Academy, which by the way, the wait list is currently open. It will be launching in a couple of weeks. And if you are on the wait list for the Ascension Academy, you are going to receive a very juicy email in a few weeks with an$800 offer off savings off the academy. It's very exciting. So this is a conversation, as I said, I believe that many high achieving women need, whether they are willing to admit it or not, because here is the truth. I don't think that you need another qualification to start charging. I don't think that you need another qualification to prove anything. I don't think that you need another qualification to enable you to give you permission to launch your membership. To create your high ticket retreat to create your gorgeous one-on-one experience, you don't need it. For that. You have nothing to prove, but until your body feels safe, holding your power, oh, how many times do you hear me say that? I feel like I could just have that message on repeat until your body feels safe holding it. You'll keep reaching for more training, more testimonials, more justification for your prices. You're gonna stay stuck in that loop of, I'm not ready yet. So today we are going to unravel why imposter syndrome is actually a nervous system pattern. How you can be qualified and still feel unworthy. Oh, I feel that I really do in every part of my being and what as in, because I've been there and I have worked very hard, I will say, to overcome it, and occasionally it still does pop up. But do you know what stops me from, going ahead with more learning, more education? The first three years of my business, I was building my business with a brand new baby with, or really two and a half years building my business with a brand new baby with 12 different qualifications, some of which year long diplomas. They required a lot of study and because of that. I now ask myself when I go to enter into things, and I still obviously do because personal growth and that growth is, that is anchored into me. But every time I do, I come back to that question that I asked you at the very beginning, what is the energy behind this decision, behind this desire? And then we're also gonna talk about. What is really keeping you undercharging over giving or even holding back, and what it will take very importantly for you to start to feel safe to claim your value. Oh, let's drop in to this episode beginning with discussing why imposter syndrome isn't just in your head. It is a word that gets tossed around a lot. Okay. You've probably heard it, I know you've heard it. You probably use it all the time and it's tossed around like it is just a mindset issue. But I wanna tell you that it is not just about core beliefs, because those core beliefs tie into your safety, your fundamental survival. There is a part of you that believes that what is tied into your imposter syndrome is an imminent. Threat to your safety. Your subconscious brain is designed to protect your identity. So from the moment you start stretching into high ticket pricing, deeper visibility, greater authority, by the way we go really deep into all of this and self-trust in the Ascension Academy, your nervous system will start scanning for danger. And if you are still carrying the belief that success equals rejection or visibility equals judgment, I. Or that rejection of someone who is not ready for your offer yet? Is this deep personal attacks amounting to your worth? Or that charging more for your services equals abandonment to maybe, I don't know, your spiritual beliefs, your religious beliefs, your family, your or to the people that you wanna serve? And I know we've spoken about this, there was a whole episode a couple of weeks ago. About how you can't serve anyone. But I really wanna just touch on this again,'cause it's something I've actually remembered. I remembered the sensation that I used to get in my body when I was writing this, the notes for this episode. I remembered that when people first started saying to me charge more than$50 for a session. There was this part of me that was like, oh. And thought about all the people then that I wouldn't be accessible to all the people that I wouldn't be able to help. But here is the thing, and I still remember that. Ooh. And that sensation, like when someone says, choose a niche or niche, I don't know, however you pronounce it. Choose that narrow in. And I have narrowed in. I have narrowed in, but in the most money gen way possible. Bringing about 10 different things in anyway, sorry I'm giggling'cause we were talking about this we were talking about this center coaching program that I'm running at the moment as well as recently in my mastermind too. And I recorded this whole loom video showing everybody how I, niche in, the most multi-dimensional way, but it still works. Anyway, if you want that training, you've gotta get in my programs. Anyway. What I remember though was that feeling in my stomach that was like, oh, it was just like this little, almost like there was this invisible cord coming out and it was attached to all of these people. But here is the thing about all of these people, they weren't investing in me. It's not like I had a million clients at$50 an hour, or my membership, my, my$37 membership was at 2000 people. No, that wasn't the case at all. In fact, the lower ticket offers I had, the less people I came into my world. And honestly, and I shared this on Instagram the other day, I remember my coach saying to me, my mentor, saying to me, the very first time we met, she wouldn't hire me. She said, I will not hire you. I would not hire you because I'm someone who so deeply values. My growth and my health, and you are saying that you can give me this amazing result in terms of stress and anxiety and your nervous system, but you're gonna gimme that life changing result. For$50 a session, I would be thinking, what is wrong with you? And so here is what I really had to realize about that desire to serve everybody, that desire to help everybody, that desire is that. I wasn't speaking to the women who actually wanted and were ready to invest in themselves now. It took me a few years to form my offers into higher ticket offers. It took me a few years to go through and do this inner work that enabled me to feel like I could do that. And to confidently say, absolutely, it's an$1,800 a month retainer, three months minimum. That took a long time for me to be able to say, and maybe to some of you, that's not even high ticket. But to me that was my next stretch. I, so the thing is when we're coming into this next stretch, and actually if I just circle back to complete that thread. The thing that was coming out of me that wanted to help and serve everybody had to realize that everybody wasn't coming in. It's not like I was cutting off 2000 people and, saying directly, no, you are no longer having access to me. The people weren't there anyway, not at the levels that I wanted them to be. And I want you to consider that when you're worried about not helping everybody. You're not helping everybody yet anyway. And there is no way. There is just no way, and I'm just gonna say this like a big truth bomb. There is no way that you can actually help everybody because not everybody wants to be helped. Okay? So let that land, and then we'll come back to our other open thread, which is around your subconscious brain being designed to protect your identity because your nervous system starts scanning for danger. So your body is going to interpret this growth as a threat, and that's why it's even wildly capable, intuitive, impactful women. These women are shrinking when it is time to be seen. They are shrinking when they are trying to finish their sales pages. In fact, they just don't even finish them. That's why pricing makes you feel sick to your stomach. Not because you are not ready, not because you don't believe you're a salesman, although we actually cover that in my brand new 14 day audio program. She holds wealth. You can get instant access to that right now. It is amazing pricing, energetics, money, mindset, and receiving really great. But it is not because you don't you're carrying this story about not being a salesman. It is because your body hasn't actually caught up to your identity yet. So let's name, the deeper emotional patterns that I see in my world that I've also experienced myself that block women from owning their power and their pricing and their enoughness. I'm gonna share with you five hidden patterns now that are keeping you from stepping into that. And the first one is the imposter syndrome. You keep raising that bar and you keep moving the goalpost. And you've already helped people, but it still doesn't feel like enough. And so signs that this might be at play for you is that you're discounting your prices, even mid-conversation, that you struggle to own your results publicly. And that you secretly compare yourself to every woman who feels more credible. Couple of years ago, I had a, I had my first$50,000 launch, and I get to say first, which is amazing. At the time, I was working very closely with two mentors and both of whom they were. So proud of me, so excited for what I had created because you're talking to the woman who had gone from charging$50 an hour to having a$50,000 launch because she made some decisions and some changes inside and in her business structure. Now, both of these mentors asked me if they could share that win even anonymously. One asked if I'd come talk on her podcast about what changed for me and how I brought things more into alignment to be able to have a result like that. And by the way, I just wanna share as well that same offer the next year, the launch wasn't even public. I had the same launch results the next year with retention, which is amazing. But Kovac, two years ago, I didn't wanna share that publicly. I was terrified, absolutely terrified that if I said as a business mentor, and the reality is for a lot of people, they wanna see what can she actually do with business? And essentially can she help me make money? And it's something that a lot of people don't wanna talk about, and I don't often, I don't post frequently about it. Occasionally when it is in context, I will talk about the money and I'm not posting my stripe receipts. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. It's just not the way that I like to connect with people. But the reality is, as a business mentor, people do wanna know can she actually help me make money? What kind of results has she had? Or is she just saying that she can help me? And there is a difference for people who wanna see that evidence, but my coaches, my mentors were asking me, can we talk about this? Can I do a post? Can I celebrate you all my stories? And I was like no, keep it all anonymous. And then I said, I'll make sure you put in nearly,'cause it was like 49, 40 9,000 something. So it was just under 50, like just under. Okay. Enough to round up. I wouldn't even let them say$50,000 launch. I had to have them add in the word almost and then I was and that is because the imposter come through. And she was saying to me, you have no evidence that you can repeat this. No evidence at all. Now the next offer that I launched was a lower ticket offer and it was a$10,000 launch. Amazing. Completely different to the results that I was getting before, but that is the level of imposter that I was experiencing, and I'm sure so many of you can relate to that. And the other thing to look out for as well is secretly comparing yourself to every single other woman who you perceive as being more credible. I. As well. Second hidden sign is a fear of rejection, so you're linking your worth to whether or not someone says yes. And some signs for this are dreading sales calls or avoiding them completely. Have you ever had that? You get so excited. Someone messages you and they're asking about your service, and then you start either verbal diarrheaing about all the inclusions in it, or you freeze and you don't know what to say. You don't know how to keep the conversation going, so you. Ignore them accidentally and then all of a sudden you go back a week later and they're not interested or they go, they ghost you at that point. This is so common because we are scared of being rejected and as I just said, maybe overexplaining your office to make them feel more justified. Do you know what? Can I tell you something? Some people actually value the faster win. Over the time, over a million deliverables. And in some cases, particularly in say I don't know, a self-paced course, those million deliverables are probably gonna be quite weighty in terms of someone's decision. But ultimately, there are people who value the faster transformation. I am one of them. The last two times that I have, so the first time I ever did my branding in my business, the second time I did my branding, I opted for, there's two options with both. I worked with two different people's, two options. One was, okay, we work on this slowly you pay this amount, it's much smaller, and over six weeks or four weeks, whatever it was, we deliver this brand new brand, or you pay. It was more than double that. And in 48 hours we deliver the brand. I, go for that option because to me, I value my time more than money to me. I was in for, I wanted a faster result. And it's the same with your services. Just because you charge more doesn't mean you need to offer a longer container. If you can offer a faster result, if one VIP intensive day with you can give the same result as six weeks, some people are gonna want that one day. So we are not always having to add things to our offers just to justify the prices. You don't go, oh, I'm putting my price up so I better add, I don't know an extra, unlimited Voxer support. Trust me, I've been in the unlimited space and that just absolutely drains you when need boundaries in Voxer. Learnt that the hard way. Boundaries in Voxer. And the other thing that, that you could be experiencing of your fearing the rejection or fearing the failure is feeling crushed by just one. No. Letting that one no. Determine whether or not you continue to put yourself out there. Do you know how much we can learn from a no? Oh my gosh, so much. And at the beginning for me, I was having a lot of or not a lot, but in comparison to the numbers, I was converting my discovery calls at 99%. Now, as I had more calls, I'm talking about more volume. I did have to receive more nos. I still have a very high conversion rate, but I did have to receive more nos. But what that taught me, it taught me so many things about who is not ready. The kinds of words that the people who are not ready are using. How do I identify who I actually want to work with and, what the difference is between the people who are saying, oh no, I can't afford it, versus the people who are like, yep, I'm in. So the third thing to look out for the third hidden way that this can be happening for you is that you are actually projecting scarcity onto your audience. And we're actually gonna talk a lot more about this next week, but you are telling your people, you are telling yourself, sorry, that your people can't afford it. But really that's actually a protection of your money mindset, of your beliefs, of your imposter syndrome, and you just don't actually feel safe judging more. And so some signs that this is happening are that you are actually attracting freebie, seek my words, freebie seekers is and non-committal buyers. And I'm sure we've all been in that space. People. And then you form that story. People only want my free stuff. What do you actually believe? What are you projecting out to them around money? And what are you doing in terms of emotional congruence? Are you telling other people all of the time that you can't afford it? That is not the only excuse to not join a program. It's okay to say it's just not for me right now, and if someone is, in integrity, they will understand that. In fact, it's better for them. If you don't think it's for you not to come in. Maybe you hesitate to sell consistently or, maybe do you even give a call to action on your posts? Do you tell people there is a way to work with you on your posts? Maybe you are keeping your prices low to avoid feeling like you are too much. So the fourth hidden block is the lack of embodied clarity on your transformation. If you are unsure what you really do, your system won't let you charge high ticket. And so this is where you're rambling or you've got fluffy messaging that really just loops around in circles and makes no sense to anybody. You know when you're explaining and you see their eyes glaze over and you're like, oh my God, they've got no idea what I'm talking about, and neither do you in some level. How would you explain it to a 10-year-old? If you were to tell a 10-year-old what you're doing, how would you explain it? It's not, oh, I help people by giving them all of these zoom sessions of this modality and this modality. It's no, I help people to overcome X, Y, Z. I work with people who insert your very clear criteria. Or maybe you're packing too much into your office and this happens again when you're in that space of trying to prove, but also when you're unsure of what you're doing. When you are and I don't even mean though, there will be a part of you who understands the transformation that you do, facilitate, but you've probably not likely learned how to communicate that yet. And maybe just maybe because there is a part of you that is feeling underqualified, that you are avoiding selling because you don't fully believe that it will work. And the fifth hidden block is your nervous system. And when it is dysregulated, your body does not yet believe that it is safe for you to hold more. There we go. She's saying those words again, hold more signs of this, is that there may be tightness in your chest when you are naming your pricing. Maybe there is avoidance of launching, or maybe you're in these burnout cycles from overgiving just to feel worthy. So I would love to hear if any of those hidden blocks are landing for you. If you are going, oh my goodness me, this is all coming from this is why I'm having this experience. Please know it's not permanent. And you can shift it 100%. You can shift it. In fact, get on the wait list for the Ascension Academy and we will shift it. So as we start to wrap up here, I want to remind you, and I said this earlier, I'm gonna say it again. You don't need to feel more qualified. You actually need to anchor into the truth that you already are, and you need to price from the fact that you already are. And yes, eventually you go and you get more qualifications, more certifications from that space again, of expansion. Not from fear or scarcity or to fill a hole that is inside of you that says you're not qualified enough. If you are building on your skills from that space, then yes, continue to charge accordingly as well. But from here, you get to lead differently. So let's not focus on getting more qualifications. Let's focus on being more congruent, not justifying everything, but actually learning to trust where you are right now can help the people who you are meant to help. And there is a reason. There is a reason that you are where you are and there is a reason that your business is giving you what you're getting. There is a reason for that. Because the moment you stop asking, am I ready? And start asking, is this actually aligned? You are going to feel a massive shift. And this is the work that we do inside of the Ascension Academy. We are not just gonna regulate your nervous system, but we are gonna rewire your identity around visibility, wealth, energetics, and deep, self trust so that you can not only be the woman who holds high ticket offers, but we are also going to build out your high ticket offer at the end of this program as the up-leveled identity. That you are now holding. So if you are here right now and you are holding back your brilliance because you're still waiting to feel ready, let this be your permission slip. You are already qualified. You've already done the work. The only thing left to do is to own it. Ignore what everybody else is doing. Put those blinkers on. And if you're ready to go deeper, if you're ready to build a business that is regulated, clear, confident, and deeply aligned with your worth, then join and build out high ticket offers. Join the wait list for the Ascension Academy. I am really, excited to deliver this program. If you are ready to shift your money mindset and to become more congruent with your pricing energetics and receiving, which is a big, block, then you might like to check out my brand new mini course. She Holds Wealth. It is a 14 day. Audio program and it is available right now for you to jump in and grab. There is a link below. It'll take you straight there and you can access it straight away. So thank you so much for joining me today. I have loved this conversation. I cannot wait to go deeper on the things that are holding you back around high ticket pricing, around pricing congruence over the next couple of episodes with you. Because it is time for you to not only get to do, yes, you get to have the impact, and you get to do the things that you love, but you also deserve to be paid for that. And I know for some of you that is a big block. So start with She holds wealth'cause you can access that immediately. And then get yourself on the Ascension Academy wait list and I will see you next week.