Stepping Into Rooms You Feel Underqualified For

UNCAGED CLINICIAN
Blog

October 26, 2025

The Confidence Gap

Have you ever walked into a room and immediately felt like you didn’t belong there?

Maybe it’s a networking event, a local clinic, or a conversation with another professional — and all of a sudden, that confident version of you disappears.

You start wondering, “Who am I to be here?”

If you’ve felt that, you’re not alone. Today's edition is a collaboration between David Bayliff, Co-founder of UNCAGED CLINICIAN and Hannah DeGroot, Personal Development Coach for UNCAGED CLINICIAN.

They dive into exactly why that happens and how to overcome it.

The root of that doubt is the confidence gap: that uneasy space between feeling prepared and feeling qualified.

Hannah identifies what is known as the Hidden Confidence Gap, which frequently catches people off guard.

When you’re building your business, it’s easy to feel confident behind the scenes — setting up systems, designing your website, creating offers.

The reason is that these tasks require no interaction with people. Therefore, there is no room for comparison or imposter.

But once it’s time to actually step out and talk to people, that confidence can crumble.

“People go from feeling really confident while building the foundation of their business,” Hannah explains, “to suddenly feeling insecure again once they start putting themselves out there.”

David submits that this hidden confidence gap - feeling unqualified - creeps in because it’s a new situation we are facing.

Most physical therapists, OTs, and other clinicians were never taught how to market, connect, or communicate in an effective way.

Rather, we were taught how to implement our craft — not how to approach people.

When you’ve never been assessed, affirmed, or guided in those skills, it is going to feel foreign to us, and that stirs up uncertainty.

It is easy for many to think, “I should just know how to do this”.

No, (you) shouldn't. Know this: You’re not behind; you’re just learning a new skill set.

Confidence doesn’t come before you walk into the room — it comes by walking into the room.

Confidence isn’t something you prepare for in isolation. It’s something you build by showing up, getting reps in, and collecting real-world feedback.

The more experiences you have — even the awkward ones — the more your brain learns, “Hey, that went okay. I can do this.”

It's easy to feel underqualified because we expect ourselves to perform perfectly the first time. But confidence comes through the experience, not before it.

Then comes the voice of comparison.

You see others who seem more established, more articulate, more confident, and you start measuring your worth against theirs.

Hannah says this perfectly: “Comparison can either drain your worth or drive your motivation. The key is which one you choose.”

Instead of asking, “What makes me different from everyone else?” ask, “What do I have to offer?”
Your combination of experiences, perspective, and personality is something no one else brings to the table.

Imposter syndrome thrives when we forget our identity — when we measure our worth by what we don’t know or by who we aren’t.

A golden nugget from David is this: “Every single one of us has something to offer at just the right moment.” There was a story about an escape room where he initially felt useless while others solved every puzzle — until the group got stuck, and his observation unlocked the next clue. “It reminded me that I might not always contribute first, but I still bring value.”

And sometimes, you just need to borrow belief — the belief others have in you when you can’t yet see it yourself. Hannah calls it “borrowed belief,” a concept used in therapy: “When you’re struggling to believe something about yourself, lean on someone else’s belief in you — whether it’s a mentor, a coach, or even God.”

Sometimes, the reason you’re in the room at all is because someone invited you there — someone who saw something in you that you haven’t yet recognized.

So, what does it really mean to be qualified?

Most of us think it means “knowing everything.” But Hannah reminds us that over-preparing can backfire. “If it doesn’t go exactly the way you prepped, you start to panic,” she says. “You don’t have to know everything — just know your lane well.”

David adds, “When we feel like we have to be perfect, we’ll always feel underqualified. Go in with what you know — and remember, the people you’re talking to probably don’t know what you know.”

If you catch yourself thinking, “I don’t belong here,” ask yourself this instead: “Am I afraid to grow?”

Growth always involves discomfort — it’s a form of stress that stretches you into your next level. David suggests to give yourself five minutes of "imperfect courage.”

And to make it practical, Hannah challenges you:

“Think of the room you’ve been avoiding. The one you’ve felt underqualified to step into. Can you walk into that room in the next month?”

Every step you’ve taken — through school, through practice, through life — has prepared you for this next room. You’ve already overcome a hundred “I’m not qualified” moments. This next one is no different.

So take a breath.
Borrow belief if you need to.
And walk into that room — not because you’ve earned it, but because you’re already enough to be there.

This coming week - Wednesday, Oct 29, 2025 - you can listen to a full discussion of today's topic by Hannah and David on The UNCAGED CLINICIAN Podcast!

The Podcast can be found on iTunes and Spotify.

We don't want anyone to feel underqualified.

That is why we have created the new UNCAGED UNIVERSITY.

Our new program gives you the guidance and clarity to obtain your goals and your success.

We have eliminated time-stamps from the program.  You get to go through it at your pace.

You can even choose how much personal guidance you receive.

Why have we structured UNCAGED UNIVERSITY this way?

Because we recognize that everyone has different needs and desires when it comes to the help they are looking for.  

Want to learn more about UNCAGED UNIVERSITY? Schedule an UNCAGED UNIVERSITY Application call with us today!  OUR PROMISE TO YOU: NO HARD SELLING.

Details about UNCAGED UNIVERSITY can also be found here.

Also, be sure to check out our website for other resources!

Your Success is our success!

The UNCAGED team