The Hardest Part of Sharing Your Knowledge Isn’t the Knowledge
If you’ve ever thought ‘who am I to share this?’ or felt that nagging voice telling you that you’re not qualified enough, experienced enough, or established enough to put your knowledge out there – you’re not alone. Research shows that around 68% of veterinarians experience imposter syndrome, with younger vets, particularly women working in the UK, most likely to struggle with it (Kogan et al., 2020). I wanted to understand this better, so I asked five coaches who work with veterinary professionals for their insights and advice.
Most of us are already doing the thing we’re terrified to admit we’re good at. You’re teaching colleagues. Explaining procedures. Mentoring newer team members. Supporting people who come to you with questions. That’s expertise. But somewhere between doing it in your practice and imagining doing it publicly, we decide we’re not qualified or experienced enough. At PeerVet, we recognise that expertise isn’t just about letters after your name. It’s about being able to take what you’ve learned in practice and translate that into something useful for other veterinary professionals.
Nervousness doesn’t mean you’re not capable. It means your brain has noticed you’re doing something new.
Your Brain Is Being Overprotective, Not Incompetent
When you feel nervous about sharing your knowledge publicly, it’s not actually telling you that you’re not ready. Sarah Schofield, a veterinary coach who works with vets on confidence and wellbeing, explains it this way: “People often assume the feeling of nervousness means they aren’t capable or prepared enough. It’s actually simpler than that. All it means is your brain has detected you are doing something new.” Your brain’s job is to keep you safe, but it can be overprotective about unfamiliar situations.
Most importantly, action creates confidence. It doesn’t always work the other way around. “The brain learns from experience,” Sarah notes, “so by feeling nervous and doing it anyway, you are giving your brain evidence that the situation is safe rather than threatening.”
Confidence builds like a muscle at the gym.
Ali Mann, an alignment coach and veterinary nurse, agrees. Confidence isn’t something you either have or you don’t. It’s something you develop by doing the slightly scary thing repeatedly. Confidence builds like a muscle at the gym. It develops over time. The way to develop it is to work outside your comfort zone, which yes, brings discomfort, but that’s completely normal.
That Thing You Find ‘Obvious’ Is Actually Expertise
When you become skilled at something and use that skill regularly, it stops feeling impressive; it just feels normal. That’s when most people underestimate their expertise. Helen Mason, a leadership coach who works with veterinary professionals, puts it clearly: “Expertise tends to feel invisible precisely because it’s become automatic. The things you find obvious are often exactly the things someone two steps behind you would pay for.”
Think of learning to drive. When you’ve been driving for years, it doesn’t feel like a big deal. But as a learner, you needed someone experienced to help you. Helen points out: “You don’t need to be the world authority, just one chapter ahead of the learner. Most useful teaching happens there.” The test of your expertise isn’t whether you know everything about a topic, it’s whether you know more than the person you’re helping.
To recognise your own expertise, ask yourself these questions:
- What do people consistently come to you for help with?
- What feels easy or obvious to you now?
- What do you know today that you didn’t know when you first started your role?
The things you find obvious are often exactly the things someone two steps behind you would pay for.
Keep track of the evidence: the colleagues who come back to you, the “can you just explain this” moments, the thank-yous. That’s data your inner critic conveniently ignores.
Sarah recommends keeping a “proof folder” where you note down positive feedback, messages, and situations where your input helped someone. Your brain focuses on negatives, so this folder gives it concrete evidence that your knowledge, support, and teaching have had a positive impact.
Name the Real Fear, Not the Made-Up One
Self-doubt often disguises itself as a competence problem, but that’s rarely what’s actually going on. Helen suggests: “Name the actual fear. It’s rarely ‘I don’t know my stuff’ and more often ‘what if I’m judged?’ or ‘what if someone more senior thinks I’m overstepping?’ If you can call that what it is rather than dress it up as a knowledge gap, you’re already ahead.”
Rather than leaping straight from leading a team meeting to delivering a keynote at a conference, widen your circle gradually. Start where you already have permission, then expand to slightly bigger audiences. Ali agrees. Her advice is to start smaller than you think you should. If the thought of a wide audience feels overwhelming, record CPD content where it’s just you and a camera, or write a few social posts. Teach a small group at your practice before launching something bigger. Ali suggests making small promises to yourself and keeping them. For example, ‘I said I’d post on Tuesday, and I did.’ Confidence is partly just a track record you’ve watched yourself build.
What if I’m judged?
This is where something like PeerVet becomes useful. It’s a platform built specifically for a community of veterinary professionals who are already here to learn from each other, who get it, who aren’t judging. You’re not facing down a random internet audience. You’re talking to people in your profession who chose to be there.
Both Helen and Sarah suggest reframing self-judgment to usefulness. When you move from ‘Will they think I’m good enough?’ to ‘Will this be useful?’, the spotlight shifts to your contribution. You’re not proving you’re the smartest person on the topic. You’re just offering information that might help someone else.
Question What You’re Actually Telling Yourself
Orly Simkin, a leadership and team coach, draws attention to the assumptions we believe about ourselves that are holding people back. It’s important to question this:
- How true is that assumption?
- How helpful is it?
- What would be more helpful?
- What would be more liberating?
If you’re wondering whether you can produce some formal training, create content, or launch something, ask yourself if what you’re assuming is stopping you. Is that assumption actually true? Often it isn’t. By raising awareness of these assumptions, people find they can let go of their negative self-talk and back themselves more.
The words you say to yourself matter more than you might think.
Instead of
‘I’m worried I might say the wrong thing,’
try
‘I’ve spoken on this topic numerous times in practice. I know what I’m talking about.’
Rather than
‘I don’t feel ready to do this,’
reframe it as
‘Only by doing this will I learn to feel ready.’
Stop Waiting to Feel Ready
One of the biggest myths about confidence is that you need to feel ready before you take action. Jenny Guyat, a career coach who works specifically with veterinary professionals, challenges this directly: “Do it before you feel ready. You’ll never feel 100% ready. So take action while your knees are still knocking. Trust in the process. Believe in yourself. Be willing to take the leap and for it to be imperfect.”
Jenny speaks from her own experience. She was challenged by a mentor to prepare a launch webinar in three weeks when she wanted six months. She said yes despite feeling faint at the prospect. “Without that deadline and that push, my coaching practice would likely still be a load of ideas in a folder,” she reflects. If you don’t have a mentor yet, ask for one. Everyone has to start somewhere.
You’ll never feel 100% ready
Helen also offers a useful reframe on the voice telling you that you need more qualifications, more experience, or more establishment. “More often than not, this voice is your inner critic in a very respectable disguise. It sounds so reasonable, ‘of course I should get one more certificate first’, that we never think of questioning it.” The truth? There’s no arrival point. The people you admire felt unready too; they just acted before they felt ready, and the readiness caught up.
The through-line in all of this is the same: the gap between knowing something and being willing to share it isn’t about competence. It’s about taking action despite the nervousness, questioning the assumptions that hold you back, and building evidence that it’s actually fine. Everyone has to start somewhere.
Key Points: A Quick Reference
- Nervousness isn’t a sign you’re not ready; it’s your brain detecting something new. Work with it, not against it.
- Reframe from ‘putting yourself out there’ to ‘being useful.’ Focus on contribution, not performance.
- What feels obvious to you is expertise to someone else. You only need to be one chapter ahead of the learner.
- The real fear is rarely about competence; it’s usually about judgment or overstepping. Name it.
- Start smaller than you think. Record content, write posts, teach small groups. Build gradually.
- Confidence builds through action and repetition, like a muscle. It doesn’t come first.
- Keep a ‘proof folder’ of positive feedback and evidence of your impact. Your brain ignores the good stuff.
- Question your assumptions. Is what’s stopping you actually true? Is it actually helpful?
- Stop waiting to feel 100% ready. Action creates confidence, readiness catches up.
- Your qualifications don’t determine your value. Your story, experience, and how you show up do.
- Build small promises to yourself and keep them. That track record builds confidence.
Ready to Share? We’ve Built PeerVet for This
If this article has sparked something, a course idea, a tutorial you’ve been meaning to create, a guide you wish existed, PeerVet is designed to help you make it happen without all the barriers.
If you’ve been thinking about sharing what you know, this is where you already have permission. We’d love to have you on board!
Become a PeerVet Creator
Thank you to the contributors!
Orly Simkin
Orly is a Leadership and Team Coach at V. O. Professional. Orly works with new & emerging leaders and vet teams transitioning through change. She supports people to find clarity, realign with their values and feel joy in their work. Book an informal chat by visiting www.vo-pro.co.uk or connect with her on LinkedIn.
Sarah Schofield
Sarah is a vet, certified coach and founder of Positivity In Practice, a coaching business supporting veterinary professionals with confidence, self-trust and sustainable wellbeing through applied neuroscience and AI coaching. She offers a practical self-paced membership to help people quieten their self-doubt, trust their judgement and feel more in control. You can find out more on her website here or on LinkedIn.
Jenny Guyat
Jenny helps veterinary professionals design careers that truly fit them, so they can move forward with confidence and purpose, without burning out, losing themselves or leaving the profession they love. She also runs an off grid floating eco-retreat Lilypod on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon, reconnecting people to nature and rest, while unplugging from the digital world. To work with Jenny you can visit her website here or connect with her on LinkedIn. If you fancy a relaxing break away you can check out Lilypod here.
Ali Mann
Ali is an alignment and clarity coach as well as a Veterinary Nurse. She helps others to achieve alignment so that they can move forwards with clarity. You can find her on Instagram @alison_mann_coaching or LinkedIn.
Helen Mason
Helen is a leadership and executive coach who works with women leaders, working parents and teams. After 18 years in corporate marketing in veterinary businesses, she retrained as a coach and now helps people lead with more confidence and less self-doubt, often as one recovering people-pleaser to another. You can find her at www.helenmasoncoaching.co.uk and on LinkedIn.
References
Kogan, L.R., Royal, K.D., Shepherd, M. and Shelton, L. (2020) ‘Veterinarians and impostor syndrome: an exploratory study’, Veterinary Record, 187(5), p. 161. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32571984/ (Accessed: 6 June 2026).
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