Out of Place

I am a 33 year old woman that is married, birthed three children, invented a product with a pending patent, and yet I still feel like the last to be picked for kickball on the playground. I dread going to networking functions, seminars, trade shows, or anything else business related. Pretty ridiculous since I'm a business owner, right? When I walk into the room, I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb. I feel like it's written on my face that I don't know what I'm talking about and don't belong. What makes the other people that are there any better than I? Why do I forget that they had to start somewhere also? And why am I so afraid to talk to people about what I do? If I don't take myself seriously, how is anyone else supposed to. They say no one will ever sell your product as well as you will. Sometimes I'm not sure that is the case. I have been contemplating whether or not to take UnderBib Baby to a trade show but still haven't pulled the trigger. There are a couple good reasons why I haven't, one being that it is very expensive. But a bigger reason is that I'm afraid to hear what people think of it. What if they don't get it? I have been told and also have read in many places that you will hear "no" a hundred times before you hear a "yes". I'm not sure I have tough enough skin for the "no".

I can accept failure. Everyone fails at

something. But I can't accept not trying. - Michael Jordan

I need to learn to walk in a room with complete confidence and be my biggest advocate. I need to sell UnderBib but also sell myself (not in that way, get your mind out of the gutter). I want to walk onto the trade show floor, and know that I belong there just as much as every other person attending. Some people are born with the ability to sell. I was not one of those people. What keeps me going...I will continue to try to improve myself and look forward to sharing my next networking experience...when it happens.