Many entrepreneurs dream of that moment when they know they\u2019ve really \u201cmade it.\u201d That might look like turning a profit for the first time, or seeing how their product or service changes the lives of customers. It should feel like a moment of pride and celebration, but one multimillionaire serial entrepreneur admits it felt quite the opposite for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first time I made real money, I cried in a parking lot,\u201d Emily Lyons<\/a> wrote in a LinkedIn<\/a> post<\/a> this week. \u201cNot because I was happy. Because I was terrified I\u2019d lose it.\u201d<\/p>\n Lyons, the founder and CEO of Femme Fatale Media Group and Lyons Elite, said this moment was so scary for her because she had grown up watching her parents fight about money. They had even been evicted from their home, and counted coins to take the subway.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat kind of stress doesn\u2019t leave your body,\u201d Lyons wrote. \u201cIt just waits.\u201d<\/p>\n Lyons founded Femme Fatale, a leading North American event-staffing and marketing agency headquartered in Toronto in 2009. She started the company at age 23 with just $80, a cracked laptop, and a vision to revolutionize event staffing. The company has grown to become a multimillion-dollar agency with a network of more than 20,000 event professionals serving clients like L\u2019Or\u00e9al, Red Bull<\/a>, Sony<\/a>, and Grey Goose as well as other Fortune 500 companies. She was also recently named<\/a> Entrepreneur of the Year at the CanadianSME Small Business Awards.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t have investors or a safety net,\u201d Lyons said in a statement. \u201cI had a dream, and I was stubborn enough to keep going.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Lyons also launched luxury dating service Lyons Elite, which was recognized three years in a row as the best matchmaking service in Canada by the Consumer Choice Awards. She also launched True Glue, a clean fake-lashes beauty brand in 2014, and founded the Julia Lyons Foundation, a charity supporting people with cystic fibrosis, inspired by the loss of her sister, Julia, to the disease.\u00a0<\/p>\n Imposter syndrome<\/p>\n Despite her success, Lyons said when her business finally took off and there were \u201ccommas in my bank account instead of panic, she \u201cdidn\u2019t feel rich.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMoney didn\u2019t fix the fear,\u201d she wrote. \u201cIt just exposed it.\u201d<\/p>\n She references the old adage of \u201cmore money, more problems,\u201d saying \u201cwealth doesn\u2019t erase your problems. It magnifies them.\u201d<\/p>\n That anxiety encouraged Lyons to reframe her newfound wealth, though. She said she had to learn \u201cearning it wasn\u2019t a fluke,\u201d and that she \u201cdeserved to keep\u201d the money she had earned.\u00a0<\/p>\n She learned \u201csuccess wasn\u2019t something that would be taken away the second I stopped looking,\u201d she wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n This case study illustrates one of the innate challenges in being an entrepreneur or successful business person: imposter syndrome, or the psychological phenomenon of persistent self-doubt and the feeling of being a fraud despite evidence of competence and success.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTurns out you can have everything you ever wanted and still not feel like enough,\u201d Lyons wrote. \u201cThat\u2019s the part they don\u2019t put in the success stories.\u201d<\/p>\n A study<\/a> by Cambridge International City Montessori School, Lucknow published in January provides evidence that especially women transitioning from traditional employment to entrepreneurship often face imposter syndrome, but that cognitive restructuring, mentorship, networking, and social support can help.<\/p>\n Many other successful female entrepreneurs have said they\u2019ve experienced imposter syndrome. Katrina Lake, founder and CEO of Stitch Fix, said<\/a> that not having female role models growing up contributed to feelings of imposter syndrome despite her company\u2019s $120 million IPO in 2017. Writer and researcher Ali Kriegsman argued, though, imposter syndrome doesn\u2019t have to be a weakness for women business owners to solve on their own\u2014but there are resources to help.<\/p>\n \u201cSuccess doesn\u2019t heal you,\u201d Lyons wrote. \u201cIt just gives you the resources to finally start.\u201d\n<\/p>\n