Sometimes we might slip a little bit and that’s okay. It’s always about getting back on track and stopping negative self-talk. It’s important to believe in yourself and your skills.
Starting something new is scary. Learning to believe in yourself can be a critical precursor to starting a new initiative. Why is it so important to learn to believe in yourself? How can someone work on gaining these skills? In this interview series, we are talking to business leaders, authors, writers, coaches, medical professionals, teachers, to share empowering insights about “How To Learn To Believe In Yourself.” As a part of this series we had the pleasure of interviewing Elizabeth Koraca.
Elizabeth Koraca is a Career Strategist & the Host of The Speaking Up Podcast which is ranked in the top 3% of all podcasts globally. She helps business professionals improve their image, messaging, and personal branding. She coaches and trains executives to reach their full potential by using a proven step-by-step program to sharpen presentation, interview, and communication skills. Representative clients include professionals at Google, Square, Harman, Activision, JLL, and many prominent New York-based hedge funds.
Previously, Elizabeth was a TV News Anchor for Reuters, where she ran the New York US/China TV business News Desk. She has interviewed hundreds of the world’s top CEOs and investors, such as Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, Jim Rogers, and Wilbur Ross. Elizabeth is also a TV Contributor and a regular on ABC, CNN, NBC, and Fox News. Her advice has been featured in print publications New York Magazine, NASDAQ, Entrepreneur and more.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
It was my high school teacher who told me — after I’d given a presentation to my class — “Don’t quit your day job.” Her comment showed she didn’t believe in my or in my abilities. Her comment pushed me to prove her wrong and because I had such a supportive family, I went on to achieve my dreams.
I moved from Canada to the U.S. and pursued my dream of being an on-air reporter. I didn’t want to start small and work my way up, I started in New York City, in the world’s number 1 news market.
I worked my way up from camera operator and I did that until I got my big chance — an on-air reporter in the Bronx. From there I moved onto Reuters TV where I ran the US/China business TV news desk. I traveled the globe as a TV anchor, reporting from the New York Stock Exchange and interviewing top CEOs and investors.
I believed in myself and didn’t let one person’s comments derail my dreams.
What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.
My mentor, Toni Reinhold is someone I am very grateful for. She is a top editor, was the president of the News Women’s Club of New York and she took me under her wing. She recommended me for a job at Reuters and helped launch my career.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I’m not sure if this is a mistake, but early in my career at a television station where I worked we got a new news director. My introduction to him was knowing he’d be watching my broadcast.
I did my report and when I met with the news director after, he said, “you know what you’re doing, but when you’re reporting, you use one long breath and you speak in the same tone. Whether you’re reporting about the worst housing crisis or the fact that gold hit an all-time high, your tone doesn’t change. One story is a travesty and one is a celebration. Your tone should reflect that.”
It wasn’t criticism I expected to hear, but I digested his comments, took a deep breath and continued to listen. He said that for me to differentiate myself and elevate my game as an anchor I needed to believe what I was saying because that is what would make me credible and relatable to my audience.
I took his critique to heart, implemented his advice, and never forgot it. It may not be easy to hear someone give you a critique, but if they’re taking the time to help you improve, listen to the advice, learn from it and use it to help you grow.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
One exciting project I had this year was being the keynote speaker to more than 500 participants for Harman Women’s Network on International Women’s Day.
Earlier in the year I had a guest spot on ABC News LIVE and radio shows talking about setting resolutions and getting what you want.
My Speaking Up podcast, just wrapped up its 155th episode and remains ranked in the top 3% of podcasts globally. My passion and the drive behind my podcast is to help others sidestep the roadblocks I faced and be the mentor and coach I wished I’d had when she was starting out.
I’m working on several speaking engagements with several different organizations. And I’m always seeking out opportunities to continue my work as a keynote speaker. Some of the organizations I’ve presented for include: JLL, Harman/Samsung, Activision, Google, Thomson Reuters, Entrepreneur’s Organization of Los Angeles, Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business Awards Gala Dinner and multiple prominent private equity firms.
OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview. This will be intuitive to you but it will be helpful to spell this out directly. Can you help explain a few reasons why it is so important to believe in yourself? Can you share a story or give some examples?
We all go through times in our careers and lives when we begin to wonder if we’re good enough, smart enough, or worthy enough to hold the job we have or get the job we want.
Self-doubt can hit at any time. The best ways to start believing in yourself again is to stop comparing yourself to others, focus on your positives, change your inner self talk, hire a coach and create a strategy to move past self doubt and back into believing in yourself and your skills.
Self doubt is impostor syndrome rearing its ugly head. It’s up to you to change the narrative and believe in yourself.
What exactly does it mean to believe in yourself? Can I believe that I can be a great artist even though I’m not very talented? Can I believe I can be a gold medal Olympic even if I’m not athletic? Can you please explain what you mean?
Being afraid to do something but going for it anyway and knowing that you can do it. Reflecting on your past successes and know you’ve been able to complete great things in the past so you can do great things in the future. Don’t listen to people who aren’t in your corner or who may be envious.
Was there a time when you did not believe in yourself? How did this impact your choices?
When I think back to any times that I didn’t believe in myself, I think it ended up with me missing out on an opportunity. I didn’t raise my hand and speak up for myself and I should have. I know I have the skills and experience and expertise, but when self doubt creeps in, it’s sometimes difficult to remember your wins.
At what point did you realize that in order to get to the next level, it would be necessary to build up your belief in yourself? Can you share the story with us?
I realized that when I was an on-camera reporter I needed to be believable and in order to be believable to others you need to believe in yourself. When you are delivering the news you need to show a level of certainty and that certainty comes from within yourself.

What are your top 5 strategies that will help someone learn to believe in themselves? Please share a story or example for each.
1 . Remember past successes and build on those positive thoughts from those wins.
2 . No negative self-talk. It’s up to you to build yourself up and to surround yourself with people who believe in you.
3 . Don’t let impostor syndrome creep in. You deserve to be there because you’ve worked hard and you deserve it.
4 . Believing in yourself even if you’re not an expert yet. To build a portfolio or get speaking gigs, you need to do the work and build your presence.
5 . Don’t compare yourself to others. You’re unique and you can’t compare your beginning to someone else who may be at the “finish line.”
Conversely, how can one stop the negative stream of self-criticism that often accompanies us as we try to grow?
Because many of us are used to being the expert, being experienced at what we do. Then comes a time when you’re thrown into a new situation. That has the potential to rock your confidence, but it doesn’t have to.
Here are a few strategies to help you combat self-doubt and project confidence even if self-criticism creeps in. Compare yourself to your personal best (not to others). Remember you were invited to do this job or speaking engagement for a reason — people believed in your skills. Remember, you just might be your own enemy and you need to change your self thought.
Are there any misconceptions about self-confidence and believing in oneself that you would like to dispel?
Sometimes we might slip a little bit and that’s okay. It’s always about getting back on track and stopping negative self-talk. It’s important to believe in yourself and your skills.
What advice would you give to someone who is struggling with imposter syndrome?
Imposter syndrome is when you feel that you have succeeded because of sheer luck and not because of your experience and qualifications.
It’s also the fear that people will find this out, and you’ll lose what you’ve rightfully earned. Much of feeling like an imposter is self-doubt. Doing a review or a personal inventory is a great way to prove to yourself that you do deserve to be where you are.
Ok, we are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Speaking up and that it’s important to surround yourself with people who believe in you and that you believe in yourself.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them 🙂
Oprah because she is such a trailblazer. I have watched her and followed her for many years. She is a great communicator and introduced so many topics that no one was talking about. She is a good and kind person.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Website: https://www.elizabethkoraca.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethkoraca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethKoraca/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethkoraca/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/elizabethkoraca
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGl8fu0OF8KEFHKz312rl9Q
Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success.