How Kax Uson built authority without ever calling herself an expert
Authority without the label, but with all the impact.
"I've never really sought to have expertise,"
tells me, almost apologetically. Here's someone who's spent 20 years in tech, built multiple businesses, coaches product leaders, and regularly speaks at conferences—yet she reflexively rejects the expert label.It's a response that stops me in my tracks. Not because it's unusual (most of us do this), but because it reveals something fundamental about how we think about expertise itself.
The expert’s paradox
Kax's resistance to the expert label stems from a deeply rooted association: "I've kind of always associated expertise as you're an expert on a topic, you've spent so much time on it, and that's also what you're practicing." For her, expertise means depth and specialization - the exact opposite of her generalist approach.
But while she won't claim expertise, she readily acknowledges what people actually come to her for. "What people know me for would definitely be first and foremost product management and product leadership," she explains. "But now it's becoming more general career topics or more internal topics like 'I don't feel good about this' or 'I don't feel confident about this.'"
This is the expert’s paradox in action. The very thing that makes Kax valuable - her ability to connect dots across disciplines, to approach problems from multiple angles - is what makes her feel unworthy of the expert title. Yet it's precisely this approach that has built her real authority in the market.
The generalist's authority
What struck me most about our conversation was how Kax's generalist approach doesn't just amplify her impact - it creates a different kind of authority entirely. "I use a lot of my product management skills for everything," she explains. "Even if the conversation is with somebody who is not in product... I still end up going back to my product management toolkit and asking, 'What's the problem we're trying to solve here? What does success look like?'"
This is authority built on versatility rather than specialization. While traditional experts build their reputation on deep knowledge in one area, Kax has built hers on the ability to apply frameworks and thinking patterns across contexts. She's become the go-to person not because she knows everything about one thing, but because she can help you think through anything. It's what allows her to help product managers with strategic thinking, support career transitions, and even venture into coaching that incorporates journaling, mindfulness, and creative play.
"I would love to be an expert on change," she muses. "Be an expert on being able to find answers for hairy questions."
Tell your story
Perhaps the most revealing part of our conversation was when Kax explained how she built her authority: through storytelling. It started as a confidence hack, but became something much more powerful. "I remember if I was gonna speak in front of people, even internally, there was always this feeling of, 'What if somebody tells me I'm wrong?'"
Her solution? Lead with lived experience. "If I add a story to it, that there is a lived experience behind it, not just data, it's very hard to say you're wrong. It could be, they could say, 'I disagree' and that's fine... but it removes the judgment."
This is authority built on authenticity rather than credentials. By grounding her insights in personal experience, Kax found a way to share her knowledge without claiming to be the definitive source. She wasn't positioning herself as the authority on product management - she was establishing herself as the authority on her own experience with product management.
The market responded. People began seeking her out not for textbook answers, but for the wisdom that comes from lived experience.
The confidence catalyst
What emerged from this approach wasn't just a way to share knowledge - it was a path to genuine confidence. "That also helped me find my voice and made me also enjoy doing it more," she reflects. "Because at the end of the day, we all have our stories, we all have our learnings, everybody can learn from it or not."
This insight cuts to the heart of the quiet expert dilemma. Many of us struggle to speak publicly about our expertise because we're trying to present ourselves as the authority on a topic. But Kax's approach flips this: instead of claiming to be an expert on product management, she positions herself as an expert on her own experience with product management.
The difference is everything.
Experiment with fun
Throughout our conversation, Kax returns to a central theme: "Fun is my strategy." This isn't just about making work enjoyable—it's about building authority without the crushing weight of having to be perfect.
"If I'm doing something for fun, I find that it's hard to think about how hard it is," she explains. "Especially when you're a business, when you're coming up with new offerings, when you're putting it out there and then you get crickets. That's very frustrating, but if I'm doing it because I enjoy it, the results kind of don't matter as much anymore."
This approach has allowed her to build authority organically. Instead of calculating every move to establish credibility, she experiments, tries new things, and puts herself out there without the paralyzing fear of being wrong. The authority follows naturally from the value she provides, not from the image she's trying to project.
Reclaim your authority
What I realize from talking with Kax is that our narrow definition of expertise might be limiting our understanding of authority itself. If authority only comes from being the definitive expert in one field, then generalists like Kax—and arguably many of us—will never claim it.
But Kax has built undeniable authority through a different model:
Authority through synthesis: connecting knowledge across disciplines
Authority through facilitation: helping others navigate complexity systematically
Authority through experience: guiding others through challenges she's already faced
Authority through adaptability: demonstrating how to navigate change repeatedly
When I frame it this way, Kax absolutely has authority. She has built a thriving business, speaks at conferences, and has clients seeking her out specifically for her perspective. She's achieved everything we associate with expertise - just without ever claiming the title.
The permission we don't need
Near the end of our conversation, I ask Kax what she'd say to someone who thinks they need credentials and confidence before starting their own business. Her answer is both practical and profound:
"Credentials is always a good thing. Learn. Get the toolkit, get the skills... But it's one thing to get the credentials, it's another thing to be ready. If we're always waiting for that feeling, that's never gonna happen."
She continues: "Confidence doesn't come that way either. Confidence comes from repeating the movement over and over again and telling yourself that, 'I can do it or maybe I can't but the world did not explode in a champagne supernova just because I failed that one time.'"
The authority model
Kax's journey offers a different model for building authority—one that doesn't require claiming expertise in the traditional sense. Instead, it's about:
Starting with story: Share your experience, not your conclusions about universal truths
Embracing the generalist advantage: Your ability to connect dots across disciplines creates unique value
Making it fun: Remove the pressure by focusing on enjoyment rather than being perceived as perfect
Taking action without credentials: You don't need permission to start helping others
Perhaps most importantly, it's about recognizing that authority isn't just about what you know - it's about how you help others navigate what they don't know yet.
Kax may not call herself an expert, but she's built something more valuable: genuine authority that people actively seek out. She's doing all the things we associate with expertise - just without the label or the pressure that comes with it.
And maybe that's the point. Maybe the quiet expert's superpower isn't in claiming authority, but in building it so naturally that others recognize it before we do.
Authority without the label - but with all the impact.
Huge thanks to
for giving up her time to talk to me for this piece. Please go and check out her work here on Substack, and give her a follow on LinkedIn.What's your story? What experience do you have that could help someone else navigate their own challenges? Sometimes the expertise we need to claim isn't about what we know—it's about what we've lived through.
If you’d like to come and talk to me about your path to expertise - or whatever your journey is, I’d love to chat! Drop me a message below.
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