Summary

The theory behind the Confidence Kit is that people have trouble sending the right signals during big moments in their life, such as a job interview (inspired in part by Amy Cuddy’s book Presence). They experience nerves, anxiety, adrenaline, sweat, etc.—conditions that may make them unable to project their best selves under pressure.

We want to help people be their most confident when it counts, whether that be before an interview for your dream job, a championship game, a career-defining presentation, or whatever big life event you are about to face.

What’s inside the Confidence Kit:

  • Kind bar
  • Lavender essential oils
  • The Pocket Confidence Book
  • Pen
  • Hand wipe
  • Soft towel
  • “Lucky star”
  • Reusable tin container

User Journey

Hannah has struggled with interviews in the past. She starts to doubt herself when she sits down in the waiting room. She begins to sweat and stutter when she meets her interviewer, and though she knows she is prepared and qualified, she has failed to get a job. When her interviewers offer her feedback, they consistently say she lacks confidence, struggles to articulate her experiences, and she visibly draws a blank when asked to come up with creative solutions to problems.

Hannah needs a nudge to allow her to project the confidence she has deep down.

Knowing that Hannah has struggled in the past, Hannah’s roommate Carly buys her a Confidence Kit ”Strut Your Stuff” edition and leaves it in her room the morning before her next big interview. Hannah opens it and first pulls out The Pocket Confidence Book. She starts going through the exercises—first the deep breathing, then the power pose, then the positive affirmations. She writes down “I am a badass and I will nail this interview!” She reaches in the kit to grab something else—she finds the Kind bar and is grateful for it because she forgot to eat breakfast. She smells the essential oils and feels instantly calmer. Then she finds the hand towels to wipe off her clammy hands. Finally, she puts the “lucky star” in her pocket.

But the real confidence booster was that her friend believes in her so much to make the gesture to buy it.

Creative Process

We chose to create the Confidence Kit after we saw the results of our survey, which indicated that people want to feel comfortable and confident before big moments in their lives. Most people said they struggle in interview-like situations with issues related to confidence. Confidence, calmness under pressure, articulating experiences, and creativity were the four qualities people cited most often as challenges they face when projecting themselves in an interview. As a result, we see an opportunity to create a product that helps people feel confident as they gear up for stressful or nerve-wracking situations.

We chose to add specific items to the kit also based on feedback from the survey—people said they often get sweaty palms before an interview, so we added hand wipes. In addition, some people said they liked to have a sweet treat or smell something nice before an interview, so we added a snack and a vial of essential oils. We also found that people want to be pumped up before an interview, so we created a custom Pocket Confidence Book featuring exercises on mindfulness, instructions on power posing, inspirational quotes, and a space to journal.

Confidence Kit packaging:

The Pocket Confidence Book: