Jen Coken

I sat on my own book for a year. Then my name went up in Times Square, forty feet tall, and I finally understood why. It wasn't about urgent or important. It was one question I'd been using for years, just never turned on myself.

The women I work with are not struggling because they lack confidence. They are struggling because they are running two versions of themselves simultaneously. One version for work: polished, measured, careful. The real one: waiting somewhere in a locked room down the hall. I have watched this pattern walk into my office wearing a hundred different job titles. This is not imposter syndrome the way most people describe it. It is something more specific. And more expensive.

Hiding your sharpest instincts at work just to look "professional" is exhausting. For many women, this double persona is a survival strategy built to navigate a system that wasn’t designed for them. But fronting is costing you your power, impact, and money. You don’t need another generic mid-year review, you need to stop splitting your assets.