Master of Some

By Taige Shukla

I used to root myself in the age old saying, “Jack of all trades, master of none”. But upon further reflection I realize the full meaning of the old saying, and it is just not true. While yes, I view myself as a “Jack of all trades,” I’d like to believe I’ve actually mastered quite a few of them.

Like many others, I find that I suffer from an “imposter syndrome”. Not sure what that is? Consider yourself lucky because maybe you haven’t had the chance to become familiar with it. Imposter syndrome is simply a fun way of saying self-doubt. So, because of this syndrome I have always had trouble recognizing that yeah, maybe I am pretty darn good at some of these trades!

I absolutely love to learn and grow as a person, so of course I jump at any and all opportunities to do so. While I was growing up this meant that I was the child who always had an activity lined up, whether that was an acting course, dance class, softball, or an academic club. I was always on the move, but more often than not I viewed myself as rather average at most of these activities. Now upon further reflection this was simply imposter syndrome hard at work.

Turns out I was actually an excellent dancer; I went on to become a co-captain of my college dance team (NCSU Nazaare). The same goes for acting, I now have an agent that represents me, and I have appeared in a few commercials and PSAs. As far as academics, I was fortunate enough to graduate from a top university in North Carolina (NC State, Go Wolfpack) with two degrees (Marketing & Spanish) and am now running my own business. Now softball, that is a trade that I absolutely was not a master of, but man was it fun to participate in team sports.

The love for learning and growth remains fierce in my adult life, but sadly so does imposter syndrome, and if anything, it has grown worse. Sprinkle in some perfectionism and you are in for quite the ride. I’m 100% sure that I am not alone in saying this, but I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. I’ve taught English in Spain, covered live concerts & events and did voice over work for radio stations, hosted a segment on a local tv show, worked as an account manager at an ad agency, managed several social media accounts, and I am now entering the vast world of entrepreneurship.

There she goes again, the “Jack of all trades”. This might be why I am testing out the waters of self-employment, so I have somewhere to channel all of that life experience. But alas the treacherous syndrome is lurking right underneath the surface. I find myself questioning if my current knowledge is enough to make a name for myself, have I mastered what it takes to run a marketing business. The simple answer is… there is no simple answer. Can anyone truly have every piece of knowledge there is to run a successful business?

The truth of the matter is, I will find out in due time. I will need to learn how to slay the imposter within and let the experience that I do have prevail. I’m doing that now, by typing out a few of my successes in life, achievements that I haven’t let myself acknowledge or appreciate. I’m slowly starting to recognize that this “Master of Some” has a lot to offer thanks to the many trades she has under her belt.

Taige Shukla runs Taige Media, LLC. Contact: [email protected]