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Cate Luzio: Luminary Leadership- Building Community Through Bold Action · The Bold Lounge

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Bold Lounge podcast.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: My name is Leigh Burgess and I will be your host.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: If you're anything like me, you love hearing inspiring stories of people who have gone on bold journeys and made a positive impact in the world.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: This podcast is all about those kinds of stories.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Every week, we'll hear from someone who has taken a leap or embarked on an extraordinary journey.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: In addition to hearing their stories, we'll also learn about their bold growth mindset that they use to make things happen.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Whether they face challenges or doubts along the way, they persisted and ultimately achieved their goals.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: These impactful stories will leave you feeling motivated and inspired to pursue your own bold journey.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: I believe everyone has a bold story waiting to be freed.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Tune in and get ready to be inspired.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Bold Lounge.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Today I have Kate Luzio.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Kate Luzio is the founder and CEO of Luminary, a global professional education and networking platform created to uplift, upskill and propel women and allies through all phases of their professional journey, from entrepreneurs to those navigating their career path, the power middle to the C-suite, those in transition and everyone in between.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: In March 2018, kate left her two-decade banking career and self-funded the launch of Luminary, with the mission to build an ecosystem of high-touch engagement for both individual and enterprise members to address and impact the systemic challenges faced by women in underrepresented communities across all industries and sectors.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Today, she continues to build a dynamic, gender-inclusive community focused on creating connection, collaboration and change through global expert-led programming and services, activations, content and culture.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Bold Lounge.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: Hi, I'm so glad to be here.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: So I am excited to have a super fun conversation about all things Luminary and all things Kate Luzio, but we're going to start with your definition of bold.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: What does that look like in your world?
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: To me, the definition of bold starts with being able to take risks and own those risks.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: Bet on yourself and really have the courage to not only take those risks, stand up for yourself, bet on yourself, but also stand up for others.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: It's interesting of all, like I've, I have over 200 definitions of bold from the different episodes that I've done.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: And one interesting thing that you know when I wrote in the book, we looked across all the definitions, see what was consistent and where an outlier, and I think service of others versus service of self is a very interesting way that people define this definition.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: So, being a voice for others, standing up, you know giving yourself, so you know for the betterment and of others, and so I think it's interesting your definition hits in that too of like you know being sure that you're betting on yourself so that those behind you have a better life, right, yeah?
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: So when you think about your definition, what's a memorable bold moment?
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: Like, we have so many layers of bold, whether it's personal, spiritual or professional.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: Like, is there one bold moment that comes to mind when I say what equates to that when you bet on yourself or stood in your value?
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think it starts, you know, from way back when, right, and I have lots of examples, but I think for me and you don't know this when you're doing it, especially at a young age, right, because just kind of doing it.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: But so I was, I played soccer and basketball.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: I was, like, very competitive athlete and I had a father.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: I have a father who is very, you know, focused on competition and being the best and I love that.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: I played only with boys up until middle school, Because we didn't have any roles that you had to have girls for, yeah, there were no girls teams and there were really no girls that played.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: Anyway there was a travel team.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: I was good enough to meet a travel team, but it was a girls only in a different county.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Okay, I was good enough to meet a travel team, but it was a girls only in a different county.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: And I didn't want to play on it.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: I wanted to play on the boys.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: And so I said to my dad I really want to try out for this team.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: I know there's no girls, I know there's a girls option, but I want to play on this team.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: I want to show that I can play on this team.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: He supported me and we had to go get special approval from the league and I went to tryouts.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: I was the only girl and I made the team and I have to say that was me sort of one overcoming a fear of I'm the only girl and I can't do this to taking a risk and saying I'm going to try this and even if I'm not successful, it's okay, I'm betting on myself.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: But more importantly, if I do this, maybe this opens doors for other girls that have been in my shoes.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: And again, you don't really reflect on that at that moment, but years.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: And then I ended up starting my own soccer team in our high school, because there was no girls team and we weren't allowed to play on the boys team.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: It was you, just it wouldn't make an exception.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: So I think that started for me this ability to bet on myself right, to take those risks, calculate those risks but have the courage to stand up for myself and what I stood for.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: But while also thinking this can open the door for others.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think when we're being bold, like I don't go, I'm going to be bold today, maybe that's an affirmation, but I mean it isn't like I'm going to like, oh, here's a bold step, here's a non-bold step, you're just doing it, right, yeah, and it becomes almost like a lifestyle.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: It's just the way you operate.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: I think it's interesting.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: My bold moment I don't know if you know this, I don't think you do when someone asked me you know my definition and mine stepping into fear, moving forward even though you're not sure how it might end up.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: Right, you're just, you're going to learn.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: But I go all the way back to second grade.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: When my mom said you're either going to play a sport or play an instrument, I said how about soccer?
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: And she's like there's no girls teams and I said, okay.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: So we went to soccer.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: There were three girls in the whole league.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: You know, I'm eight years old, second grade, and I didn't know any different.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: I wasn't supposed to be there, I wasn't supposed to play hard, like whatever it was.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: And it was interesting because every game I would get laid out at some point, cause I'd be like it's going after it and the refs would go over to my mom and my coach and say she needs to play less hard, like she's going to get hurt, and my mom's like why would she play any different?
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: And so like I still remember those conversations and like I had a signal, like if I fell down, like I would raise my hand so my mom wouldn't come out on the field, all that kind of stuff.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: That's amazing, but I love that because, you don't know, you're being bold when you're doing it and your dad and your mom probably too, like supporting you along the way and you had two brothers, right, you're in the middle.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, equally very supportive, and they were also big athletes.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: And my younger brother is only one year younger, so, leading up to that sort of decision, he and I played on the same team I mean, we that's fun, yeah.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: And so he knew that I could do it.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: He knew where my abilities were as related to my peers as males or females, and so, you know, it was a point of pride, I think, for him as well, like my sister made this team and she played.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: It wasn't like I made the team and I rode the bench and there's nothing wrong with that.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: I played and being able to have, you know, take that bold step and doing it and obviously conquering.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: There were certainly nerves and anxiety, but when I couldn't join the boys team in high school and it was just like there was not an option, I went out and my father said well, what are you going to do about it?
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: We got a petition going and I went around to girls in my school and said I know you've never played before, but I need people to play.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: I got a petition going and I went around to girls in my school and said I know you've never played before, but I need people to play.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: I need a team.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: And there was one great one of my great friends who was relatively new into the district and Dina Ali I love hey, dina, and she came from another town and she was a great soccer player.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: I said, listen, we got to do this.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: We went, we got petitioned, we went to the school board.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: We had to present and they said, listen, we got to do this.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: We went, we got petitioned, we went to the school board we had to present and they said, yes, except, or but you have to pay for your own uniforms.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: Oh, okay, and we said, fine, we're going to do a bake sale, and we did.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: And it's really interesting kind of tie the whole story.
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: So that would have been in 1989, 90, when we started the team.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: I would have been by that time, a sophomore 20 years later, something like that.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: I was living in London in my former life as a banker and it's like the middle of the night my phone rings at London time.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: I'm like, oh God, something's wrong.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, never good.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: And, by the way, the team we started was terrible, right, Because it's new and sure it's his beginning.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a beginning.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: And my dad goes Matawan.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: That's where I went to high school just won the girls state championship in soccer.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's awesome.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: 20 years later, here's your legacy of starting the team.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: I was like well, it's not just me, he's like Kate, my family calls me Katie.
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: He's like Katie, be proud of this.
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: And he's like and I couldn't wait to tell you because we're so proud of you, because it's something that you started.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that and it lives on Right.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think it starts for me very early on.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: Some people get bolder as they get older.
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: Some people you know have were born bold, or whatever it may be, but I think you know, for me, the confidence gets stronger as you get older.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: I think you did a, you know you did something that felt very bold and so you take the next step in the next step.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: So, like your early on boldness led to this legacy of them winning this, you know, state champion, yeah, it certainly circles back to your definition, right?
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, yes, leaving it better for the next and, what's even more so, one of my best friends growing up that's still in Matawan.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: Her daughter, her youngest daughter, shannon, became the leading scorer in boys and girls history of soccer at that same school last year and is now playing at Rutgers.
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: And so her mom, my best friend growing up, played soccer as well.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: She had never played, she'd be like a recruiter on.
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: So it's this, you know, it's this ripple effect that we don't even know we're going to have.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: And so it's like your point of I didn't wake up and go, I'm going to be full today.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: I'm just I'm going to do this because I feel like it's the right thing to do.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: Right, and that's hard for people sometimes.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: So I think, you know, betting on themselves or believing in themselves, and not listening to some of the voices, external and internal, I was like, ooh, you know, like it's not always, I don't think boldness equals fearlessness either.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: I think it's acting in spite of the fear.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: Fear is meant to keep us safe, right, it's there for a good reason, but sometimes it can hinder us from action, and so I'm sure there was moments of you stepping through that and being able to do what you've done.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: Not only there, but that bold moment leads to the next bold moment leads to the next right, exactly, yeah.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: So you get through high school, you get into this industry, the banking industry, right, and you have tremendous success in this industry.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: So how does being in banking, you know, take you to founding Luminary and why?
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: Yes, so I, you know, accidental banker.
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: That was not my path.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: Okay, you know I.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: I.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: My undergraduate degree was in political science.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: I was going to say poli sci, right, yeah, yep.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: And I thought I was going to go work in the government and then realized, of course, as I'm graduating college, I want to do this.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: I ended up getting a job at a nonprofit and it was wonderful.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: But again I had a I would say a mentor.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: He was the CFO of the organization and he came into.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: I went into his office about eight and a half months maybe a little bit longer and he said you're going to have to leave at some point.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: And I was so upset and he said not because you're not great, it's because you're great and there's nothing wrong with working here for the rest of your life.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: That's what you want to do.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: But I feel like you are got so much to offer and I'd love to see you.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: And he had come from the private sector, so he had worked a long time and then came and said you can be me, you could come back and do something, but I want you to go out and get this experience.
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: It was the original internet boom.
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: So I got hired by a startup, did that for a couple of years, had amazing opportunity to kind of wear so many hats at a very young age, go to China.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: And then I got recruited into the first bank that I worked for.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: It was not natural.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: I hate math, all the things.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: I thought this is ridiculous, why would they want me?
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: But it was a risk that I was like what's the worst that could happen?
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: It was also an incremental salary increase and then, lo and behold, almost two decades later, I was loving that career.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: I loved what I did.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: I had three banks, three continents and I loved sort of everything On the side of my desk.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: I was very involved in building our women's networks and focused on diversity, equity, inclusion and our all those that talent development.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: And even though I was running these big businesses and being able to have impact that way, there was something missing for me in how could I leave a legacy, how could I have more impact, and not just with the clients and the money that I was making, which was very nice, and not just with the clients and the money that I was making, which was very nice.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: And I had a great conversation with a mentor who's still a mentor, and there was a light bulb moment for me that, as a Gen Xer, this is just what I was doing.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: I was climbing the ladder and that was great and I was thriving in that environment and I had a very accelerated career.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: No one had ever said is there something else that you want to do?
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: I had never asked myself that and once I did, my sort of brain capacity for creative thinking around what did I want to do opened up and kind of explodes, right.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: You know, like I never thought I was going to be an entrepreneur, I never even thought it was possible.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, my parents were like you go to college, you get a job, you get a 401k, you you know stability you retire, right yeah, and your dad was in the FBI and your mom I don't know a teacher.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: A teacher, right, she's retired now, yeah, yeah, so you know, you work hard, you work hard and, by the way, I love that.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, me too I work hard, and as an entrepreneur, as you know you have to work hard.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it took me a couple of weeks, and I always say this if you had asked me a week before I wrote this business plan, because that's not what I was planning on doing, I would have laughed at you if you said I was going to start my own company.
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: I came out of an event that was less than impactful, but I had made time for it.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: I was frustrated and I called my partner and he said write it down.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: And I said write what down?
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: And he said you have an idea.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: You should write what you're talking about down.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: And so I did.
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: And two weeks later it was a business plan.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: And a week later I did the financial projections and said wait a second, I can do this and I can do it on my own to start, if I didn't want to go out and fundraise, and that was it.
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: I'm 100% in kind of person, so I have so much respect for people that have side hustles and multiple businesses.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: That's not me.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: It's like I got to be in the one thing and once I made that decision it was there's no looking back, I'm all in, I'm going to focus my efforts.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: And eight months later I had to build a physical space in New York City, et cetera.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: Here we were, luminary opened, and it seems like again, I took this massive risk and bet on myself.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: But it was almost like we do when we climb the corporate ladder.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: It was like this is my job and I just have to go and work really hard and succeed.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: And and that's how I've approached being an entrepreneur, no different than I've approached my, my 20 plus years in corporate America.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: It's just now, it's on my shoulders and I have no boss.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: Right, yeah, which I appreciate now honestly, like my friends say, of anyone that doesn't need a boss, it's you, you know.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: So it's like oh well, thank you for telling me.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: If you know, I was in, you know, corporate world for 20 years.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: Maybe that's where I bumped into a few things here and there, you know, I think also I was very innovative and I was usually agitated if things went slow, and I think that's where I was also.
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: I think my entrepreneur was coming out in those settings where I probably got in trouble too, Like it just wasn't patient enough, or yeah, I'm pointing at myself for the audience, so you can't see us.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: So it kind of came out.
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: So, when you think about what it took to get to that point, what do you say to someone who is like, well, you know, I could never do that.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: You know, that's just not something that's possible in my world you know I could never do that.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: You know that's just not something that's possible in my world.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: You know, and I get that, I also get that right.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: So I get a lot of commentary when I talk about self funding and I'm very vocal about saying listen, I worked for a really long time and I worked in a very, you know, competitive industry that was also lucrative to be able to see and I saved money.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: Well, Well, you started like really early on, Like I think I you know, in doing my research, I think at one point you had three jobs.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: You know, like you, you grew up and working really hard.
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I mean I always had multiple jobs because, also, my parents said we're going to give you the biggest gift that you could ever get.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: We're going to pay for your college Right, and I thank every day for that gift that you could ever get.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: We're going to pay for your college Right, and I thank every day for that, but everything else is you.
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: And so, from a very young age it wasn't great.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: Like, you, save money, you save money.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: You save money because you want to have that.
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: You also want to have that money for a rainy day or things that you want to do.
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: And so when it's time to again starting the company, it's like oh, I have this money I'm going to use, not all of it, because I don't want to deplete everything, but I'm going to use a portion of it.
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: And so when I send people say, well, I can't do that because I don't have any savings, and there are a couple of responses.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: And one is the point is like well, then, maybe it's not the right time to start the business.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: Right, and that's okay.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: Two is, if you've exhausted all options including you don't have that can you raise outside capital?
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: Can you tap into a network?
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: No, I can't.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: Okay, then maybe again, it's not the right time to start business, but I do.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: I feel the same as you.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: I have this incredible privilege that I've been able to do it.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: But I'm also and this is where you know having a business plan, having your numbers, being very, very diligent and specific about what you're building, versus let's throw spaghetti at the wall.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: It all came from my corporate background, because in the corporate world I had lots of money that I was using, meaning building businesses for the banks that I worked for, but it was their money.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: So because it was a lot of money didn't mean I was going to be disrespectful with it.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: I wasn't just going to use it.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: Every dollar is counted from the people you pay to the money you invest in projects and products.
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: So I had that discipline in me and I think for people that do feel like, well, I don't have anything and I can't, then you really need to evaluate is this the right time to start a business?
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: Or maybe continue to work and save money and do start that side hustle?
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: If you're able to, and once it's producing enough revenue that you can leave that full-time, 9-5, then maybe that's the time.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: And so everyone's story is different, and I think I always.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: I mean I teach a bootcamp on business planning every single month.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: I did one yesterday and I tell people you've got to have a plan, whatever that plan is, and you've got to have milestones, and you've got to have.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: You know, tick these boxes, write it down right.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: One of the things you said earlier was you wrote your plan down after you came out of a, probably something that inspired you to change something, the way we did something or how we, you know, spoke about some topic, but it was like write it down, like don't let it.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: There's so much power in that and I don't think people, I think they, they possibly underestimate it.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: Right, well, I want to, or when I can, or if I could, or when I'm the, to me like it's timeout time when I hear that, because it's like, what is it that you want to do?
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: And when you write it down, what happens is I feel like the universe starts clicking into place.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: Okay, this is what we want to do, this is what we're working toward, and you start moving towards that plan, either learning more about it or learning what works or doesn't work faster, right, Absolutely, and then you revise, and then you can edit, and then you can move things and add things, and that to me I mean I am not a digital native, I don't think you are either and so I like physical notebooks.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: I take tons of notes, right, and that's almost like my Bible, in a sense of like that's where it lives, it's in there, that's my to-do list, that's like everything that I have to, and so for me, that's my way.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: Maybe for others it isn't, and I, you know again.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: I think, some people learn.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: Obviously, everyone learns differently, but for me it's like that's my stake in the ground and so it's on there, like there's no one going.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: There's no going back.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: Kate, you're holding yourself accountable.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: So when you started off, one of the first things obviously is choosing the name.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: So where did Luminary come from?
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: So I had in my then apartment I had like a whiteboard or poster board of like tons of names and stickies and I was you know, did you have the URL?
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: I bought a bunch of different ones that I was kind of playing around and those are like the mistakes of a rookie on yeah, exactly, we have like 50 of them.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and then I look back oh, my God, I spent a lot of money on that, but I just didn't know, and so I had thought it was going to be a name and it was like, very like, this is what it's going to be and it was March of 2018.
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: And I wrote a LinkedIn post about Women's History Month and Girls Inc.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: I'm on the board of Girls Inc and so I did a post about that and why empowering young girls and the next generation.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: Anyway, a gentleman on LinkedIn DM'd me who worked at JP Morgan.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: I didn't know him.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: He's based in.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: India.
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: And he said you don't know me, I'm technically a former colleague because we both work at JP Morgan and what you're doing with Girls Inc and how you show up digitally is inspiring.
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: You've always been a luminary and I was.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: I mean, it was like wait, ding ding, yeah, immediately, I'm like Luminarycom is not available, but like every iteration, and I didn't even ask anyone else, I think I might've asked my mom and my partner and they're like yes, because that is what you are, that's what you want to build, right, you want to build a community of luminaries, and that was it.
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: And so ripped down that poster board and that's how it was, and it was.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: You know, and it takes other people sometimes for you to recognize, you know moments like this.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: So just him saying that he didn't know me, he's never met me, and so I love that.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: He even took the time to reach out to me and say something, and I think we often forget about doing that and I think it's like one of those things that, like we used to have those after school specials, like it's an actual reach out to people if they've inspired you, if they've encouraged you, even if you don't know, them.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: it takes a very small amount of time to do it, and he did.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah, who is your luminary in your world?
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I have so many.
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: I mean my, my mother is for me an incredible role model.
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: I will forever aspire to be as good of a person as she is.
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: There's my partner.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: Joe will say I'm very much like my father and I have a little of my mom.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: I need more of my mom, and when I'm in one of these, like you know, crazy funks, he'll go.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: We need a little bit more Beth and a little less Pat, and that's his way of like.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: Let's go even this out.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: Right, yeah, yeah and so she is, she's a luminary.
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: She wasn't in business, she was a teacher.
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: But I think the lessons that that both of them and my father is a luminaryinary as well that they taught.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: I go back to that like daily and they didn't have a lot, but we I had a.
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: I feel like I had a wonderful childhood and and, and that really instills in me today and every decision that I make sort of, am I making the right decision for myself, for others, what's that impact?
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: So really, I know lots of people probably say their mom, but they are.
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: And then I'm a sports fanatic.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: So for me, I don't read a lot of business books.
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: I love sports books, I love sports documentaries.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: I love coaches, because I feel like that team environment.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: You have to be a leader, whether you're on the team or you're coaching the team.
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: So I look at a lot of sports figures, a lot of them being men, because that's what I grew up with, being those sort of, again, idealized luminaries.
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: And then I now have so many, I would say, peer mentors within the women's founder world that I also consider luminaries and that are really walking the walk in the walk.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so like your group evolves and enlargens as you grow into your roles and the people you're around, but sounds like you had a home base of your parents, particularly your mom.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: You know I always call my mom the original bold one, my family, my original bold tribe, right, you know, like just seeing things that they went through, that they did.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: We didn't have a lot either either, but I didn't know we didn't have a lot exactly I knew every now and then we couldn't buy things like everybody else, like I.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: Just you know she had to save up for the tree thorns or the lead jeans and, believe it, that was fashionable then, people so, hey, I'm with you, I'm with.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: I was gonna say um, like my cabarets, right?
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: exactly like we had to save up.
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: I still remember getting the police album but I had to wait like three weeks to get synchronicity.
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: That was a deal anyway, but it makes you.
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: It makes you value money.
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, anything that you get it you, I think you value it more and I think that you want.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: My parents were always like, listen, you want something, you want that, you want that Bon Jovi album and you can't wait for it.
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: You go take some of your babysitting money or whatever you're doing, and you put it towards that and also remember the investments that you're making.
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: Is this a purchase for the lifetime?
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: Is this a frivolous purchase?
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: And now I'm doing that with all of my nieces and nephews as they get older and I get to spend much.
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: I'm very involved.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: There's 10 of them in their lives and I think that you know you're not giving.
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: They realize that there's a value to this and I think I've learned that even more as I get to work with so many founders that are bootstrapped, like you and I have been Lee and sort of again investing in their business, investing for what they're trying and hopefully will build.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: So I think you and I have strong personalities, like someone would say, like you're very confident or you know, you know what you want, and I think sometimes I don't know.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: For me, like one of the misnomers or the miss is like you're always confident and you're just 100% all the time.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: And I think for me, like there are times where I'm just like I'm not sure it's going to work, but I'm going to try it.
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: Right, do you ever have those moments?
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: Oh my God, yeah, okay.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: Do you have a recent example of when something came up like that?
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: So I'll give you kind of a daily example.
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: So you know, I think from the outside, like all of this, right, it looks amazing, right and and I also get this, and I'm sure you do too oh, you're crushing it, you're killing it.
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: I hate those words because maybe in that moment what they see, but they don't know the whole story right they see me crying.
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: Right, exactly.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: They're like oh my.
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: God, oh my God, oh my God.
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: But my, my, my confidence piece is I would say, at least once daily I say did I make the right decision leaving my banking job?
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: Should I eventually go back?
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: Is this the right thing?
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: And then I'll get an email from someone saying you've changed my life, or this luminary has done, and that's that validation.
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: And it's like, okay, I can do this.
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: But I think it's important for people to hear that, because it isn't all glamorous and it is really hard, but in the highs are high, the lows are low, but the reward when it works is is pretty amazing.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: It's hard to explain, right, you know, and I think there's more highs than lows.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: They definitely exist, but I think, from the corporate setting, like where I was and kind of what I was trying to do, and where I felt stuck, like it just felt the like the lows lasted longer and like my high never got back up the last high level, right, it wouldn't be like this, you know, okay, I'm back up to here, but I'm not getting back up to that level.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: I was that, yeah, and I know who to talk to, cause I'm the boss.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: So, like, if something's got to change, I know who it starts with, right, you know.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: So you kind of feel all the feels when you're doing it, and I think it's just important for folks to know that.
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: You know there is doubt.
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: There is every now and then a question.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: It could be a daily, you know, and there are tough times and you just keep moving through it.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: So I think that's just something for people to realize that if it does look like someone's, just you know, always hashtag crushing it.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of work that goes behind that one moment.
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: Exactly exactly and me.
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: You know it is not just about me and and you know I have an incredible team around me, and none of this exists or happens without the team or the community that we've built at Luminary.
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: And I was also very transparent during, especially those first six to nine months of the pandemic Like we continue to exist if we still have members, right, because if all of those members disappear, then we don't exist, because that's the business.
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: So weekly, I was sending out emails about what was happening and I needed to be transparent.
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: I'm a very transparent, direct person, as you are too, and so that's how I want the world to communicate with me.
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: Be direct, right, tell me what it is, tell me what you happen.
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: Just because of Kate, there is a team, there are people, there's a support system that I get to tap into when family and friends and my networks and, I'm sure, much like you, I had a big network in corporate America.
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: My network is like 10 times bigger now as an entrepreneur and I feel again a very big privilege that I can tap into different parts of those networks at different times, based on what I need or want, but also be able to say, hey, how can I help you?
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: Right, yeah, and I think there's a myth about being bold that it's a solo act.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: I think being bold is not a solo act.
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: So, like for people listening to hear that like you have to own your step, you have to own your action, so that is something that is internal and intrinsically yours.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: But being bold like comes from connection and talking to people and, like you said, there are people who truly authentically do want to support you and there will be people along the way that don't understand you and that's okay, you just keep moving.
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: So I think you know when you left the banking industry and when I left the healthcare industry, you know very successful job, c-suite level, like you know, and people are like what are you doing?
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: Why are you doing that?
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: Oh, everyone, did you have any naysayers or people who didn't understand?
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: So I have a funny story.
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, I mean a lot of people are like, wait, your career is like on a high.
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: But so my, my aunt, who is, who has since passed, but she was one of my role models and luminaries in business.
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: She worked at PNG for a really long time.
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: She was a senior executive, lived in Cincinnati.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: That is wild.
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: My dad is a microbiologist and he was at PNG for a very, very, very long time.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: Oh, we'll have to like talk about that.
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, but we she was in Florida, like, and I I just decided this is what I was going to do and I wanted her to read my business plan.
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: So I was in visiting and I went to go see her.
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: Anyway, long story short, told her all about it and after I was leaving, I was going back to my partner's.
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: Uh, you were, I was going to meet up with him and I texted my mom and my aunt pictures of my aunt and I saying oh look, I'm with Aunt.
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: Fran.
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: Well, I guess they didn't realize I'm on the text, even though I sent it.
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: And my aunt writes Katie just told me she's leaving banking and starting her own company.
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: Wtf, what's going on?
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: My mom is writing back.
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: I can't believe this.
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: I don't understand why is she doing this.
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: And I let it go on for a little while and then I wrote hey guys, I'm on this text.
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: I'm the one that texted you the pictures, so if you want to have a conversation about this, please, I'm all ears.
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: And then you see the bubbles come up.
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: And then they erase.
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: And then I finally my mom called me and she's like no, I believe, we believe in you, we're just.
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: You know, you had this great job and stability and all of this and you're kind of giving it all up.
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: And I said, yeah, I'm giving it up for now and taking on a new challenge.
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: Never say never.
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: And all I need is your support that, whatever this looks like and, believe me, she has been a cop, like a therapist, as well as a mom for the past half years and I think she just needed to hear me say that.
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: But there were definitely people that were like, oh my God because they love you or they care for you.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: It's not always negative, like I know.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: I don't mean like.
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: There are some people who like, maybe you had something in common with them that you no longer have, whether it was strife at work or how you operated or what you were frustrated with and then they can't connect with you anymore.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: And then there's a kind of like, oh, like, are you doing like?
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: The one I was the most nervous to tell that I quit without having a job, a plan was my mom, and I remember calling her and I, I think I told you this and she was the happiest.
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: She was like so God's going to be healthier.
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: I don't know what you're doing or how you're going to do it.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: I'm a little worried about that part, but I want you to be healthy and and happier.
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: Right, you know, and one of the things I've heard you say is you can always go back.
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: Yes, you can.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: You can go back to your industry, you can try something new and, you know, figure out the next step if it doesn't work.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: But if you don't try and follow your pre-optimism and I think I used to say that to people what they were making a change in career or they were leaving to go to a different bank.
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: It's like, well, you can always come back, and it's true.
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: And what I also recognize that same mentor that encouraged me to sort of think about what I wanted to do he said don't underestimate whatever you decide to do, if you want to stay in banking or if you do something different or you go run your own company is that the skills that you're building, they're new skills outside of what you already have.
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: So you're just adding to your toolbox and you have a great reputation.
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: If you continue to invest in that reputation and others and your networks and your relationships, then if you decide it's not for you or you want to go back or you want, you know that's an option and so never think that you can't go back and have those conversations.
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: And he's right.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so you've created something very different with Luminary, so I wanted you to highlight what's different and special about the membership and the community that you've built of over.
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: Is it over 15,000 women globally now are part of Luminary?
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and men because we're gender inclusive, but a lot of women just given who we are and what we do, and it's been part of our mission from the beginning that I wanted to make sure we were as inclusive as possible, you know, having men on our side just like you had right, and I think it also helps to build and highlight allyship.
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: But for us, for Luminary, I think our biggest differentiator is one is the accessibility.
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: We have, you know, multiple tiers of membership.
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: Two, there's no application process.
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: I truly feel for something like this, and especially for women and women of color, we are already sort of barriers are up against, are in front of us, so why would I create another barrier if someone feels like this is where they'd like to be and that's their decision, and so that's really, I think, been a game changer.
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: And lots of people when I told them that originally, they were like oh, you need an application process, you have to keep people out.
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: How are you going to create FOMO and exclusivity?
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: I'm like I don't want to be exclusive, that's the whole point.
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: I want to be the opposite.
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: And then the level of, and the abundance of, and the quality of the programming.
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: So we, from the beginning, when we were in person only, to when we went to online, only to now, in this hybrid world, is that investment in the programming and that is that through the lens of our member, so 70% of our programming comes from our members and that we are a members first community.
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: I want to invest in them and to every day, and I say this to my team if you wake up every day and come to work with the best intentions to do good for yourself, for our staff and for the community, then you have done a great job.
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: So we have best intentions to help our members and making sure there's impact every single day.
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: It's not just about what they pay per month or per year, and even all of the companies that we work with in our enterprise platform, it's the same, and we want to work with people that are aligned in our mission, that truly walk the talk and also want to help one others succeed, but also create the version of success that's important to them versus everyone else.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: So there's power in partnership, there's power in an open door.
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: you know, in the sense of you know, we want you to come in, find out kind of where you fit, where you you know in the sense of you know we want you to come in, find out kind of where you fit, where you you know where you can get programming that's connected to your needs, kind of meeting the person where they are, whether that's any middle or, you know higher entrepreneurship, and I think you know.
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: From that perspective, I think that's an interesting thing.
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: You know you're in memberships, I'm, you know, different experiences, but there's an inclusivity that is palpable, I think, within luminary, and is also a sense of giving back, kind of going back to your definition at the very beginning of like I want to leave it better.
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: I don't want you to go through that.
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: Let me give you this or let me share something that I did.
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: You know my experience, but maybe you don't make that same mistake.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: You know there's a feeling of that sisterhood.
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: I know there's men, but I mean a lot of women, oh, totally, totally and.
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: And that women are, by nature, very catty and competitive.
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: And listen, I'm a competitive, listen, I want to be very successful and it's why I'm competitive, but but I not at the expense of of others.
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: And so one of our you know sort of mantras or models is like collaboration over competition.
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: Right, we can.
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: There are so many organizations out there.
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: If they've been before Luminary, they'll be after.
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: We, as customers or consumers, can be a part of whatever we want.
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: And so if they're finding value in Luminary, but also with at the Soho House or others, like that's great, yeah, but we can coexist and we can work together.
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: That's how we built the partner network that we have for Luminary, so that I'm not building spaces in every city and there are amazing women and men doing great things in these cities, and so now we have this great reciprocal partner network and that's all through the spirit of collaboration.
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: But I was bold in reaching out to them and back in 2018 and saying I'm probably not going to come to Minneapolis or Houston, or would you want a partner?
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: And it takes work.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: Think you're kind of the masterclass in this, and so I think it's really important for folks to understand, to learn more about you, your model, all in the episode notes.
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for being on the Bull Lounge and sharing your journey with us.
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: It was so great.
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: Thank you for having me and first of all, I just love your energy and I think so many women and men can learn to be more bold, and so just thank you for having me, absolutely Thanks.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to the bold lounge podcast.
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: Through the continuum of bold stories vulnerability to taking a leap you will meet more extraordinary people making a positive impact for others through their unique and important story.
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: By highlighting these stories, we hope to inspire others and share the journey of those with a bold mindset.
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: We hope you've enjoyed this podcast and look forward to sharing the next bold journey with you.