It's a manner of speech and writing. Someone carries themselves with a certain posture, usually unconsciously, and people tend to believe a certain set of things about them.
Karla speaks as herself, presumably as a 40something woman with lots of experience in life and has a certain writing style.
It gets interpreted by some to seem rather authoritative because it's not prefaced with comments about opinions, thoughts, etc. She's not a diffident lady who feels the need to say "I think" every time she has a thought.
It's not that you're saying you're an expert, Karla, it's just that you have a tone that makes others believe such.
It's a pain in the ass to "correct" so that others better understand that yes, sometimes you might just be talking out your ass. You're just naturally a certain kind of communicator.
But unfortunately sometimes you get read as more expert than you might be, and that could sometimes be a problem, especially to someone who doesn't take the time to read about who and where you are. Someone asks a question and you offer up your opinion on a solution. To some, they understand that this is your opinion, based on your current knowledge set. To others, they see a definitive answer to their question.
You're past the stage of a twenty-something lady who needs to struggle to assert herself and be taken seriously in her area of expertise... you're kinda the opposite of that.
Coming from someone who has had that issue herself, I'm just relating what I see.
/standard disclaimer that I might just be talking out my ass...
