2nd interview feeling foolish

I had what I think was a terrible second/final interview today and honestly I’m struggling with it.
For context, this wasn’t a typical application.
The role is a statewide HR/program position focused on supporting and training employees. On paper, I’m probably the least traditional candidate they interviewed.
Most of the people I’m competing against have HR backgrounds, bachelor’s degrees in HR or related fields, certifications, and years of corporate HR experience.
I don’t.

My background is operations.
I’ve spent the last 10 years in the employees and facility services industry. I started in the field and worked my way into leadership roles managing multi-site operations, workforce scheduling, compliance initiatives, vendor relationships, training programs, union and non-union employees, staffing agencies, and frontline teams.

The reason I was even considered for this role is because it serves a workforce I’ve spent my entire career working alongside. I’m bilingual, I’ve worked directly with employees for over a decade, and from what I understand, they were looking for someone who understood the realities of the workforce they are trying to support.
I was fortunate to receive strong recommendations from former employers, HR professionals, and peers who know my work. I’ve also consistently received positive feedback throughout my career, which is how I ended up being considered despite not having the traditional educational background.
I made it through the recruiter screening.
I made it through the interview with the VP.
I was told I was one of the finalists out of roughly 15 candidates.

Then came the interview with the director I would actually report to.
And that’s where I feel like everything fell apart.
I prepared for leadership questions, behavioral questions, training coordination questions, compliance questions, and questions about my experience.
Instead, I got hit with questions about scaling statewide programs, stakeholder engagement, metrics, dashboards, organizational strategy, reporting structures, and building systems from the ground up.
I could literally feel myself struggling to articulate what I know.

The frustrating part is that after the interview I sat down and mapped out an entire framework for how I would approach the program. Once I had time to think, organize my thoughts, and write things down, everything became crystal clear.
But in the interview itself, I felt like I sounded far less capable than I actually am.

I think what’s bothering me the most is that I allowed myself to believe I had a real shot.
I knew from the beginning that I was competing against people whose backgrounds were built specifically for a role like this. Meanwhile, I’ve spent my career in operations, where success is usually measured by execution, results, relationships, and solving problems not by how well you explain your thinking in a 45-minute interview.

As a woman in a male-dominated industry, every leadership opportunity I’ve received has felt like something I had to earn and prove. Nothing has ever felt guaranteed. I’ve always felt like I was climbing toward the next challenge and then immediately having to prove I belonged there.
So after making it this far, I genuinely thought maybe my experience, reputation, and understanding of the workforce might be enough.
Now I’m sitting here wondering if I simply got caught up in the excitement of being considered.