Two years already?

How one opportunity and one honest conversation changed far more than just my job title.

This month marks two years since I (Pamela) joined Three Sixty Business Growth.

And honestly, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what I actually want to say about that.

Because the easy version would be talking about projects, submissions, growth and achievements.

But if I’m honest, that’s not really what sticks with me most when I look back over the last two years.

What I remember most is the interview.

And more specifically… crying in it.

Not exactly the strong, polished first impression you’re supposed to make.

I genuinely didn’t think I’d get the job

At that point in my life, my confidence had taken quite a knock.

Professionally, I’d come out of experiences and environments that had affected me far more than I probably admitted at the time.

From the outside, I could still hold conversations, speak professionally and do the work.

But internally, my confidence was low.

Really low.

I questioned myself constantly.

Whether I was good enough.
Experienced enough.
Capable enough.

And I remember sitting in that interview trying to hold it together while talking honestly about where I was at professionally and personally.

At one point, I remember saying:

“I just need someone to give me a chance.”

At the time, I was trying to move from an estimating background into bid writing.

The problem was, I couldn’t get a bid writing role because I didn’t have the experience yet… but nobody seemed willing to give me the opportunity to gain it either.

Even now, two years later, I still cringe slightly thinking about it.

Because in your head, interviews are supposed to be where you present the best, most confident version of yourself.

Not where you unexpectedly start crying halfway through and spend the rest of the interview trying to pull yourself back together while bright red and mortified.

And just to be clear, it wasn’t because Andrew was giving me a hard time or firing impossible questions at me either.

I remember coming off that call convinced I’d ruined it.

That there was absolutely no chance I’d get the job.

Completely.

But honesty turned out to matter more

Looking back now, I think that interview probably says quite a lot about Three Sixty as a business.

Because instead of expecting perfection, they saw something in honesty.

Potential.
Work ethic.
Maybe even a bit of determination underneath the nerves.

And I’ll always be grateful for that.

Because sometimes people don’t need someone to hand them everything.

Sometimes they just need someone to see something in them they can’t quite see in themselves yet.

The last two years have changed me more than I expected

Not dramatically overnight.

Quietly.

Gradually.

In the beginning, I questioned myself constantly.

Every submission.
Every client conversation.
Every difficult situation.

I worried about getting things wrong.
Saying the wrong thing.
Not knowing enough.
Not being experienced enough.

And if I’m being honest, there were moments where imposter syndrome hit quite hard.

Especially working alongside people with huge amounts of experience and technical knowledge.

But somewhere along the way, something shifted.

Not because everything suddenly became easy.

It definitely didn’t.

But because experience slowly started replacing self-doubt.

You realise you can handle pressure.
You realise you can solve problems.
You realise you know more than you give yourself credit for.

And eventually, you stop walking into every situation feeling like you need to prove you deserve to be there.

I’ve learned confidence isn’t always loud

I used to think confidence looked like having all the answers.

Now I think it’s probably something much quieter than that.

It’s staying calm when deadlines are tight.
Being honest when you don’t know something.
Having difficult conversations professionally.
Trusting your instincts.
Backing your own judgement.

And weirdly, some of the biggest growth happens in moments nobody else really sees.

The stressful days.
The difficult feedback.
The submissions that stretch you.
The moments where you have to figure things out as you go along.

That’s where confidence actually gets built.

Mostly, I just feel grateful

Grateful that somebody took a chance on me.

Grateful for the people I’ve worked with over the last two years.

Grateful for the patience, support and trust that’s been shown to me, even during moments where I probably didn’t fully trust myself yet.

And grateful that the version of me who walked into that interview two years ago crying and convinced she wasn’t enough… didn’t get to make the final decision.

Because if she had, none of this would’ve happened.

Funny how much can change when somebody finally gives you a chance.

#withyouforthejourney #businessgrowth #confidence #reflection