Melinda French Gates: How I Overcame Imposter Syndrome

Even the most prominent business figures have felt imposter syndrome.

Philanthropist Melinda French Gates sat down with Jay Shetty on the “On Purpose” podcast this week to talk about her career and personal life, namely moments where she’s had to find grace and embrace a sense of imperfections while on her journey.

Related: Melinda French Gates Resigns as Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

French Gates recalled her time running the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and admitted that she “felt like an imposter for the first 10 years” and never felt qualified to “speak credibly” about the foundation’s work because she wasn’t professionally trained in global health policy or medicine.

However, one specific incident brought her to an epiphany that changed the way she approached her work and her role.

“Someone actually inside the Foundation who was working for me at the time came to me and wanted me to speak out on something and I said ‘No, no, I don’t feel like I know enough,'” French Gates explained. “And this woman said to me ‘Are you kidding? Just look at all the traveling you have done … all the knowledge you’ve amassed?'”

She said that the employee gave her a multitude of examples of how she was qualified — from the different communities she’s visited to the doctors and scientists she’s worked with, all the while amassing years of direct experience in the field.

Related: Melinda French Gates Reveals Her Next Move After Leaving Gates Foundation

“I could speak on behalf of so many of these women that I’d met and who’d invited me into their homes or shown me the tough circumstances of their lives,” French Gates explained. “If they’ve spoken to me, I need to speak their truths into the world … I do know enough. I’ll never know everything, no one will ever know everything on the history of the Earth, but I know enough to know what I know deeply at a core level and to speak those truths.”

French Gates formally resigned as Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in May, noting that under the terms of her departure, she would still have an additional $12.5 billion to spend on philanthropic work moving forward.

“This is not a decision I came to lightly,” she wrote in a statement on X at the time. “The time is right for me to move forward into the next chapter of my philanthropy.”

Days later, she announced that she would be donating $1 billion over the next two years to organizations advocating for women.

Melinda French Gates’ net worth as of Thursday afternoon was an estimated $13.4 billion.