One of the definition of irony I found in Google, that was attributed to Oxford languages is:

“A literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character’s words or actions are clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.”

Also known as “dramatic irony,” this isn’t exactly the same as Alanis Morissette once sang about. but it is sort of related. And it is something that feels very interesting to me. Because while I feel this way when I am looking at new community talent rising… I can’t see it in myself. Which is not a great marketing strategy.

Influencer life

I have been something of an influencer for years, and what I have always done in that role is not to market myself, but to market some “thing”. For example, when I was applying to be a Dollywood Insider a few years ago (the program is now defunct), the them of my application video was: “I know I am not the product, the park is”.

As a former Microsoft MVP, I knew the focus was always going to be on products. I come second.

One of the reasons that definitely of irony resonates is because I as a character in the marketing/influencing process, try not to realize that I too am a product.

Imposter Syndrome

While I generally hate this term, it is more that there are multiple things going on when I don’t feel like I am worthy of what I have achieved. The is defined (again by Oxford languages, which Google keeps quoting,) 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.”

The fact is, I think most every influencer is somewhat of an imposter. I didn’t make the product, nor the concepts, nor really anything other than showcasing some “thing” in the world that I find interesting. In technology, I try to teach people how to use a relational database properly, so they get good data quality.

I certainly have nothing to do with how Dollywood operates, nor the rides they have. I just post pictures and videos about it to help people figure out how to make the best of a vacation.

In these cases, I know I am in many ways an actual imposter, and I am cool with it. While I think my achievements are legit, I don’t necessarily feel I deserve my success, because there are far smarter people in computer and roller coasters. I have only had one original computing idea in my life. (It was a way to move back and forth in time with a date dimension, and it has not caught on, though when searching for the link, I see PowerBI uses something similar…)

So yeah, while I know am not the best in the world, I suppose I feel less like an imposter and more average. Part of it may be humility, which is always fun to write about because it sounds like I am trying to downplay myself to get praise, but it isn’t. I am not trying to say I am not quite good at some things. Just that I don’t feel like any of it is brag-worthy…and marketing is a lot of saying “my _______is better than yours, so buy mine.”

Is there a point?

The main reason for this episode is just to say why I keep doing things that I hope people will read/watch/etc. Part of the inspiration comes from a day I was finally getting out after a surgery recovery. (There is a point, and I will get to it!)

I am not the most fit person. Amongst people my size, maybe, but certainly not for more average sized folks. Which is to say, life has all taken a wear and tear on my body, and that, coupled with a congenital hip defect, has led to some rough times (and an orthopedic surgeon I see more than a lot of people in the SQL community.)

Well, a few years ago, maybe even 10 at this point, I had just barely recovered from a hip replacement, and I was finally ready to go hiking. It was just a few miles round trip, over a pretty basic trail. As I am just about to this waterfall, I am struggling..hard. And you could see it on my face, I know I wasn’t trying to hide it. But I wasn’t giving up…

There was a group was coming the opposite direction, and one of the group members said… “this is tough, but if he can do it…” I never knew if that was meant as a complement or a dig, but they didn’t know my place in life, and I assume they made it back because I didn’t have to step over any corpses on the way back.

But that is what I bring to the table. My speaking and writing career, and my continual evangelism of writing can be summed up like that “If Louis can do it, you can too.”

I am recording a new podcast

I recorded the 8th episode just before I am editing this (it is the same topic, and some of the same stories.) This is the first time I am admitting publicly that a podcast is in the works, even though 8 episodes are in the proverbial can (aka a folder in Dropbox named “Ready”.)

Not one. Why haven’t I published one yet? Because I am afraid I put this out into the ether in case it bombs and no one listens except a friend or two with pity listens. Then I get sued by Disney for using Mickey Mouse’s likeness and their copyright on the word “tuple.” This all happening when I have not mentioned that delightful mouse.

Wild delusions aside, the podcast recording sessions are getting close to the end of the 11 I promised myself I would do. And now I have to really start thinking about the thing I love to do for others, but HATE to do for myself. Marketing.

I have pretty much only worked in marketing for 30 years

Which has been very interesting. Other than attempts to keep my name active in the community, most of my work has been in support of other people’s marketing efforts. It is a great place to be, because your work merely tells people how their work is going. The data you work with is not critical in the way medical records or such is, but it is critical to the business knowing what is and is not working. And when you find some insight into how to make the process better, cool.

I did, fora few years, play (what I call) a face character in marketing.

Without going too deep into specifics, a face character’s face is seen/used for marketing, as opposed to just their work. Like at a theme park, if you can see their faces and they can talk to you, that is a face character. When you can hide back behind the scenes you can do things but not be known.

It was really interesting taking my hobby of marketing myself through blogs, sessions and posts; and expanding it to a larger brand. It was a wonderful experience, and I learned a lot about myself and how to do what I am back to doing as a hobby.

Am I the face now?

As I post this, it is the first time I have told anyone that I am starting a podcast. Even that makes me nervous. What makes me more nervous is that I am doing it alone. I am not just a face character, I am THE face character. And thinking back to the irony part that started this blog off… I have to never let the “Louis” character know what the real me is planning.

Because it means… I have to market myself. Me, the real me, the person who loves data quality more than theme parks, of which he spends over a month each year.

And if I can tell another secret…if I had to choose between roller coasters and data quality, I would choose a stream of perfectly formatted data that represents what happened in the business, by the customer, and reflects that with exacting permission.

Thank goodness I won’t have to actually make that decision, but the work it would save me would be worth it!

What is the worst that could happen?

Whether I like the Imposter Syndrome name… I am still not sure it doesn’t often fit me pretty directly. And I will need to work hard to press past it to do what I have planned.

Plans for a few silly commercials, videos to spread the word on Instagram, Tik Tok, and LinkedIn; I have to break through and do it. If you are reading this blog right now, frankly I am amazed I didn’t change my mind about posting it. And as much fun as these episodes have been to record, I still think “why would anyone listen to me?”

Once I realize the worst thing that happens is nothing…no one sees it, no one reads it, and no one listens. Which is no worse than if I didn’t press publish. So why not let go of the anguish and just press schedule for an episode?