Paddi LeShane, Co-Founder & CEO

Several of my business colleagues and friends often share our thoughts about the topic. And we see things a bit differently. Across the board, men, women, and young professionals often agree that at some point, the phrase starts to do more harm than good.

Because the reality is that every single person who has ever taken on something meaningful has stepped into situations they didn’t fully know how to navigate, or they are unsure of what direction to take, and most of all, whether they will pull it off!

That’s not being an imposter—that’s called growth.

You just figure it out. You ask questions. You rely on experience, judgment, and instinct. You're willing to take a risk, and when you don’t know, you learn. If you “fail”, you learn.

That’s not fraud. That’s not being an imposter; that’s the willingness to lead before you feel ready.

What concerns many is when “imposter syndrome” becomes a default explanation for discomfort and lack of confidence. It can subtly chip deeper at your confidence and, over time, reinforce the idea that not knowing everything upfront is somehow a weakness.

It’s not. In fact, the best leaders I know are not the ones who walk into every room with all the answers. They’re the ones who are:

• Curious enough to ask better questions
• Determined enough to push through uncertainty
• Resilient enough to adapt when things don’t go as planned
• Open to taking a risk and maybe having to pivot.

They don’t see themselves as impostors. They see themselves as problem-solvers and critical thinkers.

I think that’s the shift we all need to take. No labeling. More risk-taking. Less second-guessing whether we “belong.” More focus on what we bring to the table—and how we build on it. Confidence doesn’t come from knowing everything. It comes from knowing you can figure anything out.

So instead of asking, “Do I belong here?” A better question might be: “What needs to get done—and how can I help move it forward?” “Who can I collaborate with to make it happen?”

That’s where real leadership lives. And in reality, isn’t that where most of us have been operating all along?

Dan Tapper, Senior Director



Doug Hardy is the Publisher, Business Manager, and Editor in Chief of CTNewsJunkie.com, becoming sole owner in March 2024 and overseeing the site’s advertising, marketing, and operations. A veteran journalist, he spent more than two decades as a reporter and editor, including at the Journal Inquirer, before joining CTNewsJunkie.com in 2011, and has also mentored young writers as a journalism instructor at Our Piece of the Pie in Hartford, helping produce the publication Echoes from the Streets.

CT News Junkie was one of the first, if not the first, purely online news site to cover the Connecticut State Capitol. Others have since started up – what is most important for you to hold your audience and make CT News Junkie an invaluable resource?

Yes! CT News Junkie will complete its 21st year of operation on May 9, making it one of the oldest independent online news sites. I'm grateful to be part of it. In my opinion, the most important aspect of covering the Capitol and General Assembly is understanding that it is a community itself. The key is being there in the building and talking to as many people as we can every day. News reporting is not stenography for partisanship. We want to be asking questions of legislators, statewide electeds, staff, lobbyists, advocates, industry leaders, and the general public as well.

Are there advantages that being strictly an online platform give you? As opposed to print publications?

The cost of operating a legacy print operation makes it nearly impossible to maintain a viable news reporting operation in 2026. Newspapers, I'm sad to say, have been so hollowed out by private equity ownership that their deadlines are extremely early and the product arrives days after our stories go up on the web. I've also seen a lot of digital outlets go under after trying to convert back to print. Digital is faster, less expensive, more accessible, and more permanent. It would be nice to be able to bring back that newspaper era, but it's gone.

Covering the State Capitol is often based more on immediacy than enterprise, but even so, are there particular stories your site really likes to cover? What are the stories that energize your reporters?

Immediacy over enterprise is a great way to put it. We need a steady flow of content to maintain and grow our audience, so we cover lots of events at the Capitol and LOB with an eye toward stories that impact large constituencies. Enterprise stories — a.k.a. deep dives or investigative pieces — require more time to produce than is realistically affordable for us as a mostly ad-supported news org. So we pick enterprise projects carefully for impact. Stories that result in solutions or clear up misinformation — at the Capitol and among the general public — are home runs for us.

Finally, a question on the public relations side. What advice would you give public relations professionals when it comes to pitching CT News Junkie on story ideas? What works, what doesn’t work?

Here are a few quick thoughts:

• Pick your event times and days carefully. Often we get competing releases about separate events all planned at the same time in multiple locations.
• Record audio/video of your event yourself so that a reporter who could not get there can listen or watch later to turn around a story.
• Keep releases short and on point, and in your email. We don't have time for long pitches, and we are even less likely to read an attachment.
• Social media posts invite chaos and won't replace earned media in a credible, independent, fact-based news publication.

Brian Flaherty, Executive Vice President

Then the press release lands, and the first paragraph reads: “XYZ Development is pleased to announce plans to advance a multi-phase initiative designed to support regional growth.”

That’s when I go digging for the bulldozer, because somewhere down in paragraph three or four is the real news, buried where nobody can find it.

(Reporters or editors call it “burying the lede,” but journalistic jargon is a topic for another day.)

Good communication doesn’t tiptoe around the point or hide behind corporate throat-clearing. It tells people plainly what’s going to change and why it matters to them. Financing structures, square footage, phases, and permitting timelines are fine supporting details, if someone is still reading your release.

We coach our clients to cut through the clutter and clear the way for the real news to make an impact.

Here’s a useful test: If a reporter calls and asks, “What’s actually happening here?” is the answer in your first sentence or your fourth paragraph? If it’s the latter, you’ve buried the bulldozer.

Nobody should have to excavate a press release to find the point. This isn’t just about writing style. It’s about respecting your audience.

In communications, as in construction, the heavy equipment belongs out front.

Lead with it.

Randi Sussman, Senior Manager, Integrated Communications

There’s no shortage of national observance days, some lighthearted, like National Puppy Day or National Ice Cream Day, and others more serious, like Suicide Prevention Awareness Day or Alzheimer’s Awareness Day. There’s also a category of days focused on recognizing professionals and the work they do every day. 

For SoNE HEALTH, that moment came with National Doctors’ Day, a nationwide observance dedicated to honoring physicians and celebrated on March 30.

In the past, SoNE HEALTH marked the day by sharing its appreciation through a letter to its physicians. This year, SoNE HEALTH and SLPR partnered to build on that foundation and broaden the reach of that recognition.

Together, we developed a focused communications plan centered around the campaign. This included drafting content to be shared with legislators, encouraging them to share messages on social media recognizing physicians for their compassion and commitment to patient care.

In collaboration with the SoNE HEALTH team, SLPR also developed social media content and drafted a letter from the President and CEO to physician members, reinforcing that appreciation directly.

To further extend the campaign, we worked together to secure a segment on Fox 61 featuring SoNE HEALTH President and CEO Lisa Trumble, and WTIC-AM Brian & Company, highlighting the important role physicians play each day and how the industry has evolved.

Overall, this collaborative approach helped transform what had traditionally been an internal acknowledgment into a broader, more visible campaign, expanding the reach of the message and elevating recognition for physicians across the region. The campaign delivered an estimated earned media value of $17,550, while coordinated social media activity and participation from legislators and partners extended the message well beyond SoNE HEALTH’s owned channels.