Authenticity feels harder than ever when building something from scratch. We're told to "fake it till you make it," but what if that's actually holding us back? How do you lead with genuine confidence when everything feels uncertain?

👉 Find the full playlist of episodes HERE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLO6l9CNQoSFdYrSofAAHBcTdsnpYk8iYg

Hattie Willis is the founder of GuessWorks, an entrepreneurship education company supporting thousands of founders and innovation teams across accelerators, universities, and multinational companies like DPD, Rambøll, and Lloyds Banking Group. She's also co-founder of IfWeRaise, a platform helping underestimated founders access knowledge and networks to raise capital on fairer terms, and hosts the podcast Not My First Guess. As a speaker at major events including Web Summit and Sifted Summit, Hattie advocates for human-centered leadership that embraces vulnerability and psychological safety while building innovation capability in uncertain times.

Today, expect to learn:

• Why charisma is actually competence meeting warmth, not just being impressive

• How to recognize "baby burnout" versus actual clinical burnout and what to do about each

• Why psychological safety is essential for innovation and risk-taking in teams

• The stark cultural differences between US, UK, and Nordic approaches to entrepreneurial failure

• How to move from work-life balance to work-life harmony and what that actually means

• Why soft skills become more critical as technical innovation cycles shorten

• How to overcome persistent imposter syndrome and reframe your credibility narrative

• What it means to build without a blueprint and embrace authentic leadership

• How to separate your internal narrative from reality when making decisions

• Why "I have to" versus "I get to" mindset shifts can transform your motivation... And more!

W H A T T O D O N E X T :

GUEST LINKS ~

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hattie-willis-2b47b376/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/notmyfirstguess/

WEBSITE: https://www.ifweraise.com

HOST LINKS ~

WEBSITE: https://sevenjacobs.com

SUBSTACK: https://sevenjacobs.substack.com

SOCIALS: https://sevenjacobs.com/links

SHOW LINKS ~

WEBSITE: https://sevenjacobs.com/lost-and-searching

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@lostandsearchingpodcast

ALL EPISODES (Spotify): https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/lostandsearching

ALL EPISODES (Apple): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lost-and-searching/id1771369908

Sources & Jargon Buster:

• Psychological Safety: A team climate where individuals feel safe to take risks, make mistakes, and speak up without fear of negative consequences

• Work-Life Harmony: An approach that integrates work and personal life fluidly rather than strictly separating them

• Baby Burnout: Early-stage exhaustion and overwhelm that can be addressed with rest, distinct from clinical burnout

• Innovation Culture: Organizational environment that encourages experimentation, learning from failure, and adaptive thinking

• Founder Burnout: Chronic exhaustion specific to entrepreneurs facing uncertainty, financial pressure, and constant decision-making