Building Confidence as a Female in the Automotive Industry: How I Battled My Doubts

I have and continue to work with fantastic male colleagues, so please note this isn't a blog designed to tear anyone down. However, as many women experience, it can be daunting and difficult to navigate male populated companies and industries.

Why? Because we want our colleagues to know we can deliver on our promises and have a valuable, expert opinion. We've also tackled a lot of misogyny over the years and continue to do so. Plus, it really hasn't been that long in the grand scheme of things that it became socially acceptable for women to work and chase a career. In fact, it's still a hot topic today about what value a woman brings - but that's not for this blog.

As someone who has worked in the automotive and EV charging industry for almost eight years, I've experienced my own set of struggles building my confidence and presenting myself as an authority figure. I've also witnessed some of that misogyny I mentioned earlier on, and it has really set me back. However, I've got up, dusted myself off and now I'm on an upward trajectory to my own success.

And, don't get me wrong, I'm not a total expert. Although I have almost eight years of industry experience, I know I have so much left to learn. In fact, it's funny that, as you get older, you realise exactly what it is that you don't know. Though there are things I do know really well, which help me build strength and confident in whatever I'm doing.

So, in this blog, I want to give you the tools to improve your confidence, whether you are female in a male populated industry, male with a need to stand out amongst some strong characters or gender expansive looking to pave the way in your sector.

How I built confidence in my career - and things you can try too

I'm sorry to say it, but confidence doesn't develop in your sleep. You have to take proactive steps to improve your confidence levels. You also need to listen and trust yourself - but before you scoff and think it won't happen, have a little faith. With some well needed self care and hard work, you will get there.

Some simple things you can do to boost confidence include:

Saying affirmations I actually believed

I heard you sigh! Sure, affirmations are at the top of every confidence building list, but there is a reason for this. As much as you might hate the thought of some cheesy affirmations, they do actually work.

Step 1: The key to choosing affirmations are starting with ones you believe. For some people, affirmations come naturally. Whereas, there are others that have a lower self-esteem and who may not believe in themselves as much as they can. Start with something obvious, like a skill you know you have. For example:

“I am great at critical thinking”

These statement-based affirmations are a good way to start, particularly if you have a lower self-esteem or are more critical of yourself and your actions. Hold onto this critical part, because there's actually a lot of power in it!

Step 2: You might practice changing the affirmations to an observation or feedback you have been given. Remember, all these affirmations are designed for your personal use - so don't worry about what opinions others might have about these. You're not presenting these to everyone you've ever met, you're literally just putting these into your mind. Some feedback-based affirmations might look like:

“I am great at sales enablement because my colleagues praise my work and see the value I bring.”

Sometimes having a tangible reason there helps to break out of the “but I'm not good at anything” mindset. We want to avoid this at all costs, because the longer you believe, the more time you are wasting in an unproductive mindset. I should say though, no-one expects you to break this mindset overnight, it does take time. You just need to be a bit more forgiving towards yourself.

Step 3: Once you feel comfortable with the affirmations you have set, you can choose something more adventurous. These might be emotional manifestations, internalised observations or more daring statements. I'm now at the stage of reciting these frequently because I know my worth, but it took me a long time to acknowledge it. You can try affirmations like this example:

“I am strong and capable, and I know my strengths and I work with my weaknesses”

Another reminder though, affirmations are not something you can just deliver overnight. You'll need to practice and practice before you fully trust in yourself and believe your capabilities. My growth mindset journey started in 2020, where I started a self-care community to help push myself and others through. Fast forward to 2025, as I write this blog, and you'll see just how much self love and discovery I had to go through.

Strengthening my industry knowledge and proactively learning new skills

Although I latch onto the same role (product marketing) and industry (automotive and EV charging), many people choose to prioritise one or the other.

After doing the same job for five years, I realised what my skills were and those that I lacked or could research more on. In 2022, I would have said my strengths and weaknesses looked like this:

My recognised strengths	My recognised weaknesses
Product information retention	Lack of SEO knowledge
Technical product translation	Lack of broader marketing scope
Project management	Thought-leadership experience
Messaging and content differentiation	More diverse content creation
Copywriting and proofreading	Customer experience focus

So, as well as doing training and personal development, I decided to get some real world experience to aid my recognised weakness and strengthen them. There is some proof in the pudding, I now have a strong understanding and experience of many of these. Though I've also realised that some of my more creative skills, such as video editing, is lacking.

Whichever you choose, start to build up your knowledge and expertise. You can do this through things like:

• Reading articles and industry news

• Following key figures on LinkedIn (you can follow or connect with me too!)

• Attending free or cheap webinars and events

• Join alliances or associations that provide content and training 

The more you immerse yourself and learn, the more you comfortable you'll feel in your role and/or industry. You can leverage the skills or information you have learnt and apply it elsewhere. For example, the SEO writing skills I have adopted have helped me to create this blog with proper search engine optimisation in mind.

Practice your new skills in your role 

Your job and employer should always allow you to put your relevant expertise into practice, so it's worth exploring that where you can. For example, if you can see a value add opportunity that's likely to drive revenue or enhance brand reputation, voice it.

There's a typical saying in the workplace "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and "there's no need to reinvent the wheel." However, these sayings can be dangerous, particularly if it makes you complacent in the work you do - overtime, your value add might diminish. Through training and conferences, you might learn of new tactics or tools to trial that don't reinvent the unbroken wheel, but that do help the wheel roll smoother and gain a little more pace, giving you a head start or even poll position. Yes, I had to throw an automotive reference in here. No, I'm not sorry for doing it.

You can always take new methods or theories away to test, where it is safe to do so, and see if there are tangible results you can measure. If you're unsure about trialling it at work first, try it personally. For example, does trying a different hook encourage more engagement on social media, or is there data online that proves some of the theories and assumptions you have.

Trying new things shows initiative. And, if it doesn't work, either try it again or evaluate why.

You don't need someone else's permission (consider with caution)

I'll be real with you all - this one is the most recent one I learnt (in 2025). You don't need permission. Of course, there are instances you do, so for the people who take things literally (this includes me), please err on the side of caution.

I'll give you some examples of this and how it drives confidence naturally:

1. You want to progress in your career - you don't need permission from your boss to do so

2. You want to learn a new skill - you don't need permission from others to validate this

3. You want to try a different approach - you don't need permission to explore this

4. You want to develop your skills - you don't need permission to do this

5. You want to be the best in your field - you don't need permission

In fact, the only person holding you back from doing this is yourself. Now, I know there are times when finances stand in your way (this happened to me a lot in the earlier days), but there are online resources free to use. You can also make a plan when you save money to work towards a new skill or project.

Heck, you can even ask your work if they would consider paying for a training course - the worst they will say is no. And if they say no, build a business case for it. If they keep saying no, find a free course or have a coffee with someone who shares some knowledge.

Knowing my value and where information is transactional

After almost eight years of experience as a product marketer in the automotive and EV charging industry, I know I have a viewpoint that is valuable. What I also know on reflection was that my viewpoint was valuable on day one.

When you have ideas or thoughts, people are naturally interested in them. So, use that as your power. Perhaps you're desperate to learn more about how a consumer behaves or what someone else's perspective on a problem is.

Why not use the experience and insights you have as a transaction? I should state, this should NEVER be sharing company information or trade secrets. However, you can talk about your lived experiences within an industry or some behaviour and trends you see across things like social media and general buyer behaviours. You might even offer to teach someone a learned skill in return for their insights or experience. There's a chance you will build and grow professional relationships which might even turn into friendships.

When I first started Belinda Automotive, I knew who I wanted to follow and engage with on socials, and I even had a plan on who I wanted to spark a conversation with. These friendships and relationships are for the benefit of both or all parties, meaning we can lean on each other for support and encouragement!

Want more content on building confidence?

If you're starting out on your confidence journey, I won't overwhelm you with information. However, I do continue to share insights on my LinkedIn profile, so pop me a follow or a connection request and we can start a conversation.

Find me on LinkedIn here!