The Empress Has No Clothes by Joyce M. Roche with Alexander Kopelman effectively outlines Roche’s personal battle with the imposter syndrome. According to the pioneer in imposter syndrome research Dr. Pauline Chance, imposter syndrome ( feeling like a fraud despite gaining great success) is highly complex, and through her clinical experience those who suffer from it tend to be very successful. So was the case with Roche, the first female African-American Vice President of Avon Products.
Some readers may recognize themselves within the first person narratives by successful women as they explain in detail their own struggles. The value of these narratives is that they are accompanied by a reflection, or food for thought and further exploration. This book is designed for early or mid-career women, but women of all ages and walks of life will find wisdom in the insights and game plans presented in order to cope with and overcome self- doubt and insecurity.
Roche said the pivotal event that led her to write the book included the e-mails and letters she received in response to an editorial she wrote. “The pivot point that led to the writing of this book was the emails and letters that I received from people who read a letter I wrote to myself in a book called “What I know Now, Letters to my Younger Self” where I described the self-doubt that had plagued me most of my professional career and robbed me of embracing the joy of my success. I realized that I had hit a nerve with many people who were experiencing similar feelings and they wanted to understand it better. They asked me to write more about my struggle with impostor syndrome and the ways that I had learned to quiet the voice of self-doubt.”
Roche envisioned her book would make a powerful impact on her readers. “I believe readers of my book will see themselves in many of the impostor situations I describe and will quickly see that they are not alone with these feelings. In addition, they will learn that comfort does come and that you can learn to quiet the voice of self-doubt and feel the full joy of your accomplishments,” she said.
The book conveys a variety of key messages for readers to ponder. “First I hope to convey to the reader that they are not alone in struggling with the self-doubt that is called impostor syndrome, that many highly successful people deal with this. Next, that as they learn to understand the situations that trigger these feelings they can learn to manage the feelings. In addition, once they take an objective look at their abilities, their accomplishments and experience they will begin to internally validate themselves and quickly quiet that voice of self doubt. And finally that once they fully embrace their authentic self they will feel the joy of their success,” she said.