Latest / Loud & Lifted / Women Helping Women: Mentorship and Bold Career Moves with Katherine Naylor Pullman

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Women Helping Women: Mentorship and Bold Career Moves with Katherine Naylor Pullman · Loud & Lifted

0:00
Welcome to Loud and Lifted, the women in leadership
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show where we trade fluff for practical tools.
0:04
I'm your host, Betsy Hamm. Today, I am joined
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by Katherine Naylor -Pulman, founder of Our Third
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Place, a friendship -first community turning
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networking into real belonging. We dig into brave
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non -linear career moves, the kind that look
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risky on a resume, but build real founder confidence,
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mentorship that multiplies the yes, I'll work
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for you one day kind, and how dinners with other
0:28
women refill your cup. and expand opportunities
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without the performative hustle. We'll also talk
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candidly about balancing motherhood and leadership
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by dropping perfection and asking for help. If
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you're here for women supporting women, female
0:41
founder insights, and actionable career growth
0:43
tactics, this one's for you. Welcome to Loud
0:55
and Lifted, Katherine. Thank you so much for
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being here. Thank you for having me. I love the
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name of the podcast and immediately it was like,
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ah, this is such a great name. This is right
1:04
up your alley, right? Like you like to get loud.
1:06
You like to get lifted. You like to lift other
1:08
women. And that's what we're here to talk about
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is how you are building community with women.
1:14
But before we get into that, we need to hear
1:16
more about you and your journey so far. Well,
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I mean, loud most definitely is how everyone
1:21
describes me. I'm from New Jersey, so I can't
1:24
do myself. Say no more. Yeah, say no more. Yeah,
1:28
thanks for having me. It's been about two months
1:31
since I've decided to go full -time CEO and founder
1:35
of Our Third Place. So we previously were the
1:38
Media Dinner Club. And this was my side gig that
1:41
I started about three years ago. And then this
1:44
summer, I had this moment where the world just
1:48
gave me all these signs. And I was like, okay,
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we're doing this full time. So initially my full
1:52
time job, but my, my experience is in media,
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which is why we started as the media dinner club,
2:00
primarily in brand partnerships and actually
2:02
a lot of startups. So most famously Quibi was,
2:06
uh, was my version of business school. And then
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I was at Cameo, I most recently was at Hello
2:12
Sunshine. But I think by going to all the messenger
2:16
was another startup I was at. So I think what
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I've realized is that in my career, I've always
2:23
been told, oh, stop going to startups, stay in
2:26
your lane. But the beautiful thing is now that
2:29
because I've I was chasing the startup life,
2:31
I now feel equipped to be to be running a startup.
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So that's where we are now. And I'm really, really
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excited for, I'm already talking about 2026,
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but I'm excited for the end of this year in 2026.
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So you just mentioned a bunch of awesome names
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and you've been involved in some really great
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concepts. And let's just be upfront here. How
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long ago did you graduate from college? I graduated
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in 2018. So my long and winding career of seven
2:59
years. But I have about seven logos on my resume,
3:04
which shows you I have jumped around, which is
3:07
the antithesis of what people tell you to do.
3:11
And I'm really glad that I jumped around in my
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20s because I really feel like I can take this
3:17
risk in running a business because of all those
3:20
experiences. But I have some internships starting
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at the age of like 15. So we can we can say I've
3:29
been in media for 15 years. Oh, yeah, that's
3:32
some serious rounding up right there. So you're
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right. A lot of times in your. journey, people
3:38
will say, stick with the company, stay where
3:40
you are. You don't want to be a resume jumper.
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So how did you have that confidence and make
3:44
those decisions to take those opportunities?
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I think I always took an educated guess. So it
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wasn't like I was just jumping around for the
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sake of jumping around. I was jumping around
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because I listened to the market and listened
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to what my passions were. I went to Quibi because
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at the time I was a talent assistant at one of
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the top talent agencies, and I started reading
4:09
the Quibi scripts. I was like, wow, this is so
4:11
interesting. For those who don't know, Quibi's
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whole idea was to create great content in very
4:18
short snippets. So they were short scripts, but
4:20
they really encapsulated my attention. So instead
4:24
of just saying, oh yeah, this is interesting
4:25
to me, I thought... Wait, what is this company?
4:28
Are they hiring? Where could I get my foot in
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the door here? Same with Cameo. Cameo was really,
4:33
I kept hearing about them and all my friends
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were ordering Cameos, especially during the pandemic
4:38
to get, those are the celebrity, like happy birthday
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videos where you can get a celebrity to shout
4:43
you out. It was super popular during the pandemic
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because so many people weren't meeting up in
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person. It was such a nice, personal, fun touch
4:51
to do. So I looked into it and that's how I ended
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up there. It was A, making educated risks and
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then B, following what interested me and where
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my passions were at the moment. Okay. That makes
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sense. And I love that, following where your
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passions were. Any regrets through the last seven
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years? It's funny. So I actually just texted
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my first boss. I landed in LA for ZCon. It was
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a conference that UTA puts on. I was just there.
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land in LA, I feel a little bit of, I feel a
5:28
little melancholy because I did live in LA the
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first couple of years out of college and I did
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it all. I did everything I was supposed to do
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and not supposed to do, but I left pretty quickly.
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So I always have regret for the things I didn't
5:39
do, but embarrassed by the things I did do. Anyway,
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so I actually texted my first boss and I was
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like, I was really bad at my job and I'm really
5:48
sorry. I have dyslexia. So being a talent assistant
5:53
was extraordinarily difficult for me because
5:56
you have to they literally roll call So big call
5:59
Betsy ham and then I have to be like, okay How
6:01
do I spell ham and it's like okay in my head
6:03
ham looks like? An NMM and like I don't know
6:07
if that's an N or M or that I'm looking at so
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so the job itself was so hard on my brain that
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I honestly wasn't very good at my first job out
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of college, so regrets no But cringe -worthy
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mistakes, yes. Which we all have, right? I mean,
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we all have those cringe -worthy ones. But I
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think everything that I've done and did has led
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me to where I am today. Sure. So do you think
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now, looking back, was it all sort of connected?
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Maybe not realizing at the time, but looking
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back, was it sort of like… Oh, totally. Totally.
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And even the things that I did in LA, like I
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went to the parties and I dated and I would…
6:47
Go to all different parts of Los Angeles. One
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week I'd be in Santa Barbara, the next weekend
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I'd be in Santa Monica. So I'd say, you know,
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just running wild in your twenties is perfect
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because then when I met my partner, I knew he
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was my husband. made the decision to become a
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mom. I knew I wanted to become a mom. I felt
7:05
like I'd done a lot of things. So in that way,
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I do feel like it's all connected. I feel like
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I checked off a lot on my bucket list in my 20s.
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Nice. I love that. So because you've done so
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much at such a young age, do you ever feel like
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sometimes you have to maybe say or act that you're
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older because people don't maybe give you the
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credibility or the respect because you are young
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and you've been killing it all along? Oh, thank
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you. I would not say killing it all along. I've
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had some Peaks and valleys, as we all do. But
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I think I have a little bit of a chip on my shoulder
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about my age because there have been so many
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people who've said to me, stay in your lane,
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be quieter, speaking of loud and lifted, that
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I have almost felt like I've had to make myself
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smaller. And I think my age has always had something
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to do with it. I had this one boss at Quibi though,
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Marnie Shapiro, who looked at me and she says,
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Catherine, one day I'm going to work for you.
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So she was someone who even when I was 24 was
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like saw me as so much more than my age but it
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takes one person to look at you as young and
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small to free for you to forget all the positive
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things anyone has ever told you. There's most
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definitely a part of me that now introduces myself
8:21
as a mom because it gives me more straight cred.
8:24
It's like, yeah, okay, if she's old enough to
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have a kid, then she must be old enough to run
8:27
a company, right? But I think I surprise a lot.
8:30
When people hear I'm 30, there's always going
8:33
to be some biases, some good and some bad. Yeah,
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no, that's fair and I can totally relate to that
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I was at a company got promoted really quickly
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and was in my 20s and had people older than me
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twice as my age reporting to me and you do you
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kind of get that tip on your shoulder of any
8:48
time that maybe you're not perfect you mess something
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up which we're all going to do it's like because
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she's so young she's so inexperienced and and
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that kind of becomes the reason and I would fight
8:57
that too and I would try to be more I don't know
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feel older, act older. And I got married young,
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so I at least had that. And they're like, well,
9:05
I'm married. Like, you know. Right. Right. Right.
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No, totally. And I also think that when I was
9:11
younger, there were times that you want to take
9:15
down the younger person in the room, the bright
9:17
-eyed and bushy -tailed young girl, because it's
9:20
annoying. It's like, why is she asking another
9:22
question? It's like the kid who asks where the
9:24
homework is. It's like, you forgot to assign
9:27
homework to say that. I actually had a conversation
9:30
with this gal. I believe she's like 25. And there
9:34
were some older women in her org who weren't
9:36
being kind to her. And I heard about it. So I
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called her, and this is the first time I've ever
9:41
said this to anyone. I said, I want to be your
9:43
mentor. And she was like, wait, what? And I'm
9:45
like, I see so much potential in you. And the
9:49
same exact thing happened to me. I want to be
9:53
your mentor. And by the way, I'm someone who's
9:54
kind of hard to get hold of some days because
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I just have so much going on. Most of the time
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when people ask to like pick my brain about my
10:00
career, I just say, join our third place, go
10:03
to a dinner. I swear you'll get more out of our
10:06
community than having 30 minutes with me. So
10:08
this was like a purposeful calling up this gal
10:11
and saying, I want to mentor you because I know
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how important those first few years. Having older
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women tell you that you are important and that
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your opinion counts how much that matters So
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I'm hoping to give back to this to this gal.
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She's amazing and hopefully she has a very She's
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gonna have amazing career. I'll work for her
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one day is that I told her I told her what Marnie
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told me I love that and you're so right It's
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having somebody believe in you and support you
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and I was lucky enough to have that too But now
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it's to your point. It's paying that back and
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making sure that we're supporting the well to
10:44
me the younger generation the younger generation
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of leaders because you can be made or break broken,
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I guess, in your 20s and think like, oh, I don't
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have the opportunity. I don't have the ability
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when it's just you don't have the confidence.
10:58
So the more that we can build it will be mean.
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Right. But like jealous people will be mean.
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Yep. And that is something my mom taught me in
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middle school. And unfortunately, it applies
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to high school, to college, to post grad. Like,
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people can sometimes be mean. Absolutely. And
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you feel like you can't keep on keeping on. Keep
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going. I promise it gets better. Well, and you
11:21
have a young daughter. So as she gets older and
11:23
I remember my oldest daughter being like four
11:25
at daycare and it was like the mean girl stuff
11:27
started and you're like, what's up over? This
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is starting now. So the more you can build her
11:32
confidence from day one and as she grows up that
11:35
like, okay, it's going to happen. Unfortunately,
11:37
people are going to be mean to them. So how they
11:40
deal with it is I think our job to make sure
11:42
we give them those tools. I just She was having
11:45
a bad day. I mean, she's six months, but she
11:47
was having a bad day. And I said to her, I was
11:49
like, okay, I'm going to tuck you into your sleep
11:52
sack so you can become a caterpillar. And tomorrow
11:54
you get to be a new butterfly. It's like every
11:57
day, whether you're an adult or a child, you
12:00
get to cocoon yourself in bed. And the next day
12:03
you can try a new pair of wings. And I think,
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I think I'm going to keep telling her that for
12:07
like the rest of her life. Oh my gosh. I love
12:09
that. That's so great. Well, and the other part
12:11
of that, that you just started to touch on. ties
12:13
in nicely to the next part of this is having
12:16
that community that surrounds you, that supports
12:18
you. So tell us about Our Third Place. Yes. So
12:23
Our Third Place is a networking community for
12:25
women in media and now finance. And our whole
12:28
mission is to supercharge your network with friendship.
12:31
So what I found three years ago was that if you
12:37
are lucky enough to have friends in your industry,
12:40
that's actually a very rare thing now. to have
12:43
real friends. So what we're trying to create
12:47
and we have created is a community where your
12:50
network becomes your friendship circle and where
12:55
your connections become your community. And I
12:58
use those words connection and community very
13:02
specifically because after the pandemic, what
13:05
we saw was this influx of in -person opportunities.
13:09
You have Pickleball you have run clubs you have
13:13
Book clubs like everyone rush to be in person
13:17
And what I'm seeing is that a lot of people are
13:19
connecting at a ton of different ways But going
13:22
that next level and making your connections in
13:25
a community is actually a pretty hard thing to
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do It takes time it takes consistency and it
13:31
takes some sort of reciprocity like you have
13:34
to reciprocate with someone in order to feel
13:36
like you're a real friend so We put that into
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practice with Our Third Place because we are
13:42
a repetitive dinner party series. So we have
13:46
about 20 dinners every week in 37 cities. So
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if you're in New York, you can go to a dinner
13:52
twice a week if you wanted to. That's our biggest
13:54
chapter. But we are consistently showing up consistently
13:59
and we're giving them tools. We're practicing
14:01
that reciprocity so that they feel like Our Third
14:04
Place is a friend and then they can go and make
14:06
other friends within the community. Love that.
14:09
And so when they go to these dinners, is there
14:11
a structure? Is it just dinner like you have
14:13
programming? It's really easy. We just have three
14:16
rules at every table is one come as you are So
14:18
if you're an introvert if you're an extrovert
14:20
if you need to cry for two hours Which I have
14:23
cried multiple times at the dinners If you need
14:26
to order champagne because you just got promoted
14:28
like whatever you need for those two hours It's
14:30
phone down phones down about six to seven attendees.
14:34
We rarely talk about titles. We usually just
14:36
talk about their role in their company instead
14:38
of saying VP versus assistant first. So that's
14:41
the first come as you are. Second is use confidentiality.
14:44
And the third is practice the pivot role. So
14:47
if you feel uncomfortable about anything happening
14:49
at the table, you can say pivot no questions
14:51
asked. Oh, interesting. But besides that, it's
14:54
just a girls night out. I joke it's like a sex
14:56
in the city episode because like no suffix off
14:58
the table. no one's on their phone and everyone's
15:01
a different personality. Sure. Just by nature
15:03
of signing up for a dinner with strangers. And
15:07
yeah, that's, it's, it's as simple as sign up
15:10
for your dinner and show up. And how did the
15:12
conversations usually go? Is it all media finance?
15:15
Does it get personal? Like, or, or is it just
15:18
inclusive like that? It's very personal. I'd
15:20
say we talk about media for about 10 minutes
15:22
and then it's we talk about babies, Botox, boobs,
15:27
birth control, we're just the B club apparently.
15:30
I mean, we you know, I kind of describe what
15:33
we are as like the ultimate girls group chat.
15:36
Because when you need a doctor recommendation,
15:38
when you need a new client recommendation, when
15:41
you need like anything, a new like a new recipe.
15:45
You text your girlfriends. And what we've created
15:47
is the ultimate girl group chat, because you
15:49
go to these dinners, you make the friends, and
15:51
then we can continue the conversation through
15:53
our Slack community. So all of our members are
15:55
on Slack. And this morning I went to the Ask
15:58
the Table Slack channel and asked something about
16:00
women's health. Just to see what people's opinion,
16:04
it's a specific question, but I am really interested
16:07
in creating speakeasies that are for women's
16:10
health through our third place. So I just asked
16:12
everyone like. What would you want to know if
16:15
you went to a Speakeasy where no conversation
16:17
is off the table about women's health? And we'll
16:19
see what they say. Wow. Okay. That's interesting.
16:22
So I joined your group a couple, I think maybe
16:24
a month or so ago, and I haven't made it to an
16:26
actual dinner, but I enjoy the Slack conversation
16:29
and the engagement. And it's fun just to look
16:32
through the introductions and the support and
16:35
somebody posts something or a question and there's
16:37
three or four people responding immediately.
16:39
least nice that it gets you for people like me
16:41
who aren't down the street from a dinner party
16:44
chapter, essentially, to know who's out there.
16:46
And I've talked to several women like on Teams
16:48
calls, which has been great. So it's just another
16:51
way to connect the dots essentially of, look,
16:55
we're all doing something that's similar, but
16:57
at the same time, like we're all women just trying
16:59
to support each other and improve from a business
17:03
perspective. So I found the group super supportive
17:06
and engaging and I'm only in virtual land. Well,
17:10
thank you. I appreciate it. Well, you can go
17:12
to any of the dinners you want when you're traveling.
17:16
So if you're heading anywhere, going to New York
17:18
for a night, check it out and see if there's
17:20
a dinner. It's like the best part. I mean, I've
17:22
just hosted a dinner in LA because I was there.
17:24
It's like, anyone want to go to dinner? So that's
17:26
kind of the beauty about being one of our, we
17:28
call you guys our digital no bad members. Nice.
17:33
I love it. You can have that unofficial title.
17:34
Thank you. So where do you see this going? What
17:37
are your goals for this in the next, let's say
17:39
a year or two years? Yeah. You know, I'm pretty
17:43
passionate about making never letting sponsors
17:47
come into the dinners because that is what is
17:50
really our secret sauce and our differentiator.
17:53
With that being said, I think that we can create
17:57
events with the same warmth and confidentiality
18:02
and warmth. I think that's where most women feel
18:05
and say when they leave our dinners. So like
18:08
a speakeasy, a women's health speakeasy where
18:10
your phone's away and you just talk about women's
18:12
health for two hours. I want to do a Galentine's
18:14
Day. I want to do an ornament exchange for Christmas.
18:19
So I'm thinking about, I'd really like us to
18:22
start events, but keep them intimate. different
18:26
and all about that warmth and bring in sponsorships
18:29
to those conversations so that we can provide
18:31
the events for free for our members. That's where
18:33
I see us being. Outside of just events, I see
18:36
us showing up at temples. So we tested this at
18:38
Advertising Week in New York and we had an event
18:42
first thing Monday morning from eight to 10 at
18:44
Macy's and everyone got their makeup done and
18:47
you just got to meet 40 women in our community.
18:49
and you got to do a little personal shopping,
18:52
you got to see the space, but most importantly
18:54
is that then you're going into advertising week
18:56
with 40 familiar faces. That is such a game changer
19:00
for a woman, especially for conferences in Las
19:04
Vegas and maybe internationally. When I went
19:07
to CES at 24 years old, my eyes were so wide.
19:12
I was like, what is going on? I would have loved
19:14
to be able to know 40 other women there. So making
19:18
it so that at every single temple event, we have
19:21
some sort of morning activity that doesn't involve
19:23
alcohol, where you can meet 40 to 60 women, I
19:26
think is going to be really important for our
19:30
membership. And the third thing we're thinking
19:31
about is just becoming more of a tech -enabled
19:33
company. I want it to be so, so simple to sign
19:37
up and show up, sign up and show up and making
19:40
hosting the dinner so easy, just post. I want
19:42
it to be as easy as as making a reservation on
19:45
OpenTable. So I actually brought on two business
19:49
partners who are wonderful. I met them through
19:51
the community, which is a testament to the community
19:54
itself, who are there more focusing on the tech
19:57
side of the business. I'm really excited to see
20:00
how we how we grow. I love that. And so you're
20:03
obviously building this strong community of connection.
20:05
And I, of course, like to talk about circles
20:07
and the strength of that. So what if you have
20:10
a friend who has been in a situation where it's
20:13
not supportive? Maybe they're not feeling that
20:14
like from a company perspective, you know, have
20:16
you been there? Have you done that? Have you
20:18
survived or just either friends who have done
20:20
that? How do you get through that? And what do
20:22
you suggest for women? This is a particularly
20:25
hard question for me, because I am someone who's
20:27
always had their job be part of their identity.
20:30
I just am someone who doesn't do work life balance.
20:34
My work is my life and my life is my work. Like
20:36
it just there's always that. So this is a particularly
20:39
hard question because I've really struggled with
20:42
this. Like when I have a bad day at work, I'm
20:44
bringing it home. The advice I would give to
20:46
someone is that think about what's happening
20:49
to you and understand if it is a moment to learn.
20:56
Like if someone's giving you real feedback. Don't
20:59
be afraid of feedback. Ask for feedback. Feedback
21:02
is a beautiful, beautiful thing. If someone is
21:05
giving you a critique that isn't going to make
21:08
you a better leader or a better salesperson or
21:11
just a better person, period, it's probably more
21:14
of a reflection of them than it is of you. So
21:17
being able to differentiate between feedback
21:20
and criticism, I think it's extraordinarily important.
21:23
Because I think of criticism as a negative and
21:25
feedback as a positive. And I would actually
21:28
say, if you are feeling like you're in an unhealthy
21:31
environment at work, go and talk to your boss
21:35
and say, this is how I'm feeling. What feedback
21:38
do you have from me so that I can feel better
21:41
in my day to day? And listen, if they aren't
21:45
filling your cup, they as in the company as a
21:49
whole, it's OK to pivot. It doesn't have to be
21:52
tomorrow, but one other piece of advice I will
21:56
say is have a coffee chat every single week.
22:00
Have a coffee chat every single week. I don't
22:02
care if you are in your dream job at the sickest
22:05
company of all time, have a coffee chat outside
22:09
of your clients and outside of your network every
22:12
single week so that if you're feeling uncomfortable
22:15
at your job, if you need a getaway car, You now
22:19
have, okay, let's say you have a coffee chat
22:21
every week for 52 weeks and you need a getaway
22:23
car. At the end of 2026, you have 52 people you
22:26
can talk to. Totally agree with that. And exposure
22:30
is one of those things that comes up time and
22:32
time again on these episodes and the importance
22:34
of it. And being intentional, I think we get
22:37
stuck in our bubble, which is normal. You get
22:39
stuck with your team or your company, but it
22:41
is. It's getting outside of that. bubble and
22:44
making those connections because you never know.
22:47
And to your point, you could be as happy as possible
22:49
in that role, but maybe there is something better.
22:52
And let's be honest, most jobs come from networking,
22:55
you know, you could people post on LinkedIn or
22:58
whatever, but you probably have a better chance
23:00
if you know somebody or, you know, get that call
23:02
directly, then just applying for jobs. So I think
23:06
that's so important. And we hear that time and
23:08
time again, but you have to be intentional, you
23:10
have to take the time. And I love that you're
23:12
saying once we reach out to somebody, I mean,
23:14
honestly, just go to every single hour third
23:16
place dinner and you're, you're good to go. Right.
23:19
I hosted like 60 dinners my first like 14 months
23:22
of doing this. Okay. 60 times the seven people
23:26
who were going to each of my dinners, like I've,
23:29
did someone do that math for me? See, I'm not
23:32
the math person. This is the one problem I have
23:36
of being a founder. I'm like, what's six times
23:37
seven? That's another thing we're building in
23:41
the backend of our, when you become a member
23:43
of our third place, you can see all of the dinners
23:46
you've gone to in the past. So essentially you
23:49
are making a Rolodex of women you've met in person.
23:52
And that is so, So amazing to have that tool.
23:57
So you're not just going on LinkedIn and you're
23:58
like, how do I know that person? It's like, I
24:01
can go to the back of, I can go to my profile
24:03
on our third place, every single woman I've ever
24:06
had dinner with. And that's really, really amazing.
24:09
Not just, you know, shout out my own product.
24:11
Sure. That's very cool. So do you ever have women
24:13
who show up to this, who are like totally out
24:15
of their comfort zone and nervous to be there.
24:17
And then, you know, by the end, they're cool.
24:20
So yes, that's like the number one story that
24:23
we get is like, I either I didn't want to go
24:25
because I was exhausted or B, I was really nervous
24:27
because I'm an introvert. And I'm telling you
24:30
the best dinners happen when you're overtired.
24:33
And like, I even sometimes don't have it in me
24:36
to go to the dinners. And I'm like, I'm so tired.
24:39
I just want to go to bed. And then I it's always
24:41
those dinners that are the best because what
24:43
I'm realizing is that I really what I need is
24:45
getting my cup refilled. And because we aren't
24:49
networking at these dinners and more just enjoying
24:53
time with girlfriends, you leave so much more
24:57
ready to take on the next day. Mm, I love that.
24:59
And because you're right, it fills your cup.
25:01
And sometimes when you're networking events that
25:02
you're trying to meet Mr. So and so because they
25:05
have a connection, whatever, it's a lot of pressure
25:08
and a lot of like, Oh, I got to have this conversation.
25:09
I got to be sure I say this. There's no pressure
25:12
in this situation, you guys were there just to
25:14
connect and to build community, which takes out
25:17
that like, Oh, I have to make sure I say everything
25:19
perfect and hit my elevator pitch. Great. Well,
25:22
that's another thing that a lot of people are
25:25
taught is like, when you go to that cocktail
25:27
hour, you have to leave with at least five new
25:30
connections and make networking less formulaic.
25:34
Just go to the dinner and see who you meet because
25:38
Sometimes you might sit up there and be like,
25:40
okay, I have nothing in common with any of these
25:42
women and that didn't lead me to a new lead or
25:45
a new job. I promise you one of those women will
25:48
come back into your life at some point. Like
25:51
it's okay for the dinners not to be super calculated.
25:56
Because there's just this like magic and the
25:58
ambiguity. around it and nothing's like we don't
26:02
get to live in ambiguity anymore especially with
26:04
like AI and everything so calculated just enjoy
26:07
that you just get to have dinner with five to
26:09
six like six or seven women just well and you
26:12
made a good point and i have experienced and
26:14
somebody i was just talking to this morning mentioned
26:15
this too that somebody they met 20 30 years ago
26:18
whatever it was a long time ago casually kept
26:20
in touch ended up giving them a really amazing
26:23
career opportunity. And it was, you know, it
26:25
wasn't like they were talking on a weekly, monthly
26:27
basis, but they had this connection and just
26:30
sort of kept it lit, I guess you could say. But
26:33
you never know where things are going to go.
26:34
And you might meet people and it doesn't really
26:36
go anywhere, but you get a good connection and
26:38
you start following them on LinkedIn or whatever
26:39
it is. But sometimes you just don't know where
26:42
that's going to go. Yeah. My fun fact is that
26:45
I actually met my doula through our third place.
26:49
She is an ad tech as her main job and her COVID
26:52
gig was getting her doula licensing. And she's
26:55
like a cool, chill media gal. And she was in
26:58
my hospital and she in my delivery room. So I
27:01
did not think going to dinner that night, I was
27:03
going to end up with a doula and I did so. That's
27:07
amazing. Yeah, you never know. And sometimes
27:08
it's just not immediate, but it comes back around.
27:10
You're like, oh, OK. Sometimes it's funny how
27:12
the world's connected. And people talk about
27:14
being a small world. It really, truly is. And
27:17
I think that's important to be out there and
27:19
to not burn bridges, right? It doesn't mean you
27:21
have to be tolerating bad behavior, but just
27:23
don't burn bridges. You never know where that
27:25
person is going to come back around. And you're
27:27
like, oh, wait. I thought I was done with you
27:29
over here. Right. That's awesome. So since you
27:33
have a daughter, what's your goal that you can
27:36
think about her in, my gosh, 15, 20 years being
27:39
in a profession? Like how do you want to leave
27:42
or not leave? How do you want to make this place
27:44
better for your daughter? I'm worried about women's
27:47
rights, period. I'm going to pivot this question.
27:51
Go for it. I'm going to use the pivot roll because
27:53
for me, there's so much pressure on moms to think
27:57
about the future and where they're going to go
27:59
to school and what they're going to eat today.
28:01
And I actually, I'm just going to say, I'm just
28:03
going to keep on loving her. And I hope that
28:05
the world keeps on loving her back. I love that.
28:08
That's so true. And so you mentioned about your
28:10
integration. Have you figured it out? Now six
28:12
months in to be a mom about how that integration
28:17
works. Now not only do you have a husband and
28:19
your social life and whatever, but now you have
28:22
a baby too. So has the integration been working
28:24
for you? So far, it's been lovely. Honestly,
28:28
I have I have a tribe. I my parents are down
28:32
the street from us. My in laws are once like
28:35
a couple subway stops above us. My sister was
28:38
home all summer. So I'm really lucky that I such
28:41
a tribe. And I was so sick when I was pregnant
28:44
that this is so easy compared to being pregnant.
28:47
Just like mentally, physically, but I don't put
28:50
the pressure on her or me or us to be perfect.
28:54
She doesn't want to go to bed. Okay, don't come
28:55
sleep in my bed. Like I'm just not following
28:58
it by the rules. And I also just having a tribe
29:03
has been everything. So it's actually been pretty
29:05
easy. The first big thing that was really hard
29:09
is that I had to miss one of my best friend's
29:10
bachelorettes this weekend. And that was the
29:13
first time like I purposefully had to change
29:16
my life because I'm a mom. That was hard. And
29:19
I just couldn't, I was coming back from LA, Libby's
29:23
had COVID and Crook Cough. So I've had COVID
29:26
and Crook Cough. We're both still recovering.
29:29
And I called Nikki and I was just like, I don't
29:32
think I can come. I just, I don't think I can
29:34
leave her for four nights. So that was a little
29:37
bit of a reality check. But overall, I think
29:41
because I'm not putting pressure on us or our
29:43
family unit to be perfect, that it's been. That's
29:46
great. And you're right. You nailed it. It's
29:48
a tribe. Like no one's doing this on their own.
29:49
You're never going to be super mom and super
29:51
wife and super CEO. So it's just having that
29:55
grace for yourself and also having the support.
29:58
I mean, it's, it's a deal breaker for sure. I
30:01
also say if you're lucky enough to have help,
30:04
use the help. Like I think there's this idea
30:06
that you have to be super mom. It's like, no,
30:09
like tonight my friend invited me to an event.
30:11
Probably not what I have time for tonight, but
30:14
My mom is here, so I text her, I'm like, can
30:16
you watch Libby for an hour? And she's like,
30:18
yep. Not necessarily the help I wanted to ask
30:22
for in that moment, but I know that this is important
30:24
for my growth as a leader to understand the candidates
30:27
better. So I'm asking for help. And my mom said,
30:30
yep, in two seconds. So ask for help, even if
30:33
you are not in the mood to. Yeah. And let's be
30:36
honest, your mom's probably thrilled to watch
30:38
her anytime. All the grandmothers are always
30:40
in. I will say that too. She's like the chillest
30:43
little baby. And it's asking because we're guilty
30:46
of that. I know I think back to times where I
30:48
was trying to do it all and I wouldn't ask my
30:50
mom, ask my husband, ask the neighbor because
30:52
you're like, I just don't want to be a burden.
30:53
And it's usually not. So it's just not holding
30:57
back and asking it. Well, this has been awesome.
31:00
I greatly appreciate your time, Catherine. So
31:02
if people want to learn more about our replace
31:05
or connect with you, where can they do that?
31:07
Just go to o3p .com. I will actually give you
31:12
a code, one month free for any of your listeners
31:15
so they can check it out. Then just follow me
31:17
on LinkedIn. But I would love to have you and
31:20
your followers to our dinners. Awesome. Thank
31:22
you for being here. I look forward to meeting
31:24
you in person at a dinner here in the next few
31:26
months. You can definitely make a New York trip
31:28
on the list. Please do. Thank you so much for
31:31
being here. A huge thanks to Katherine for being
31:34
here with us today. Her insights, grit, and grace
31:37
far exceed her years, and I can't wait to see
31:39
the impact she continues to make. Catherine is
31:42
offering our listeners one free month to join
31:44
our third place using code KNPO3P. Visit our
31:50
third place for details. If you enjoyed this
31:51
show, please share it with a friend, schedule
31:53
your next networking event, and please subscribe
31:56
to the show wherever you listen to podcasts.
31:58
Until next time, stay loud and keep lifting those
32:01
around you.