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Quick Lift: Mentorship That Multiplies — From Coffee Chats to Belonging · Loud & Lifted

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  Welcome to Loud and Lifted Quick Lift, the snack
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  size episode where we turn insight into action
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  before your coffee cools. I'm your host, Betsy
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  Ham. Today, I'm recapping my Women Supporting
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  Women conversation with Katherine Naylor -Poolman,
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  founder of Our Third Place. We're digging into
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  brave, non -linear career moves, mentorship that
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  actually multiplies, and how belonging, not performative
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  network, fuels real career growth for women in
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  leadership. Let's dig into the key action items
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  and takeaways. First up, brave non -linear careers
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  and educated risks. Katherine graduated in 2018
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  and already has about seven logos on her resume
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  from some pretty amazing companies like Quibi
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  and Cameo and Hello Sunshine and more. On paper,
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  that may look like a job hopper, but in reality,
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  she calls them educated risks. She wasn't bouncing
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  from chaos. She was listening to the market and
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  to her own curiosity. When something lit her
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  up and she got excited like Quibi's short form
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  scripts or Cameo's pandemic boom, she dug in
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  and said, are you hiring? I love her aggressiveness
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  in this and I love how she made the intentions
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  to get her foot in the door and moved on. And
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  I love her filter. Don't move just to move on.
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  Move when the opportunity plus your passion plus
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  your learning curve all line up. I get it. It's
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  definitely very risky. It feels very risky sometimes
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  to make a career move. So you may be sitting
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  there contemplating should you take the jump.
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  I remember having those thoughts when I was at
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  Hershey and kind of passively looking for my
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  next opportunity. You have those conversations
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  when you're open to it. And sometimes you kind
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  of know in your gut that it might not be the
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  right move or the right time or the right company
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  and you don't go with it. But then when you can
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  take that educated. risk, as well as honestly
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  going with your gut. Is it the right fit for
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  you? Are you going to be able to grow? Is it
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  the right fit for me? From a culture standpoint,
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  taking all of those things into consideration
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  and making an educated guess. So action item
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  here is inventory that if you do have the opportunity
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  or you're thinking about taking an opportunity,
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  make an educated guess, write down the move that
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  you're tempted to make, whether it's a new role,
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  new industry, new city, or finally starting that
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  side hustle, list the three facts that lower
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  that risk, maybe it's the skills you already
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  have, your savings account, the support system,
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  market demand, also very important. Then decide
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  one microstep. Send a DM, book an informational
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  coffee, or just update your LinkedIn headline.
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  You don't have to leap this week, but you do
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  have to make a move from thinking about it to
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  testing it. Next up, mentorship that multiplies.
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  I love her quote of, I'll work for you one day.
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  Catherine tells the story about a former boss
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  at Quibi who looked to her and said, Catherine,
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  one day I'm going to work for you. Can we just
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  pause on that? That one line reframed how Catherine
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  saw herself. It was bigger than her title or
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  bigger than her age, especially when you're young
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  and you're starting out. You're not always sure
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  where your career is going to go. So having someone
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  say that to her just helped to build her confidence
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  and give her that support she needed to know
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  that bigger things lied ahead for her. And here
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  was a woman who she respected was giving her
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  this amazing compliment. Now fast forward, Catherine
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  saw a young woman that she knew within an organization
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  that was not really getting the support she needed
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  from those around her. And she picked up the
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  phone and said, I want to be your mentor. I see
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  so much potential in you. And can you imagine
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  how that woman on the other side of the phone
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  felt where she was finally feeling seen and heard
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  and by someone who's amazing? So I love that
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  aspect of we talk a lot about finding mentors,
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  which is great. If you don't have a mentor, you
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  absolutely need to find one. But let's flip the
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  script on that and talk about also being a mentor.
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  And you don't have to be at a certain level or
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  a certain age to be a mentor. There's somebody
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  that you can help. I'm sure of it. So take some
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  time and think about that. Who could you reach
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  out to? And again, maybe it is more of that question
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  of saying, hey, I would love to be your mentor.
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  Can we meet for coffee? But you can always learn
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  from each other. So action item here is think
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  of one rising woman you know, a colleague, someone
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  from a conference, a younger leader in your company,
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  and tell her that you see a lot of potential
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  in her and you would love to meet with her for
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  coffee on a regular basis. Next key takeaway,
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  belonging over networking. Catherine created
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  our third place as an answer to those awkward
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  cocktail hours or the big large networking events
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  where you just kind of swap business cards. She
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  has created a reoccurring dinner series in already
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  37 cities where there's six to seven women who
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  are sitting around a table, phones away with
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  just three rules, come as you are, confidentiality
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  and the pivot rule. So if a conversation feels
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  off, you can say pivot, no more questions asked.
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  I love that it's not about titles or companies
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  or positions. It's just a place to connect. I
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  mean, she calls it the B club, which also sounds
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  fun when they talk about babies, Botox and boobs
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  and birth control. That's fair. Definitely priorities
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  for many of us women. But it isn't about the
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  elevator pitches and the behind the scenes dinners.
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  It's a group where people actually come together
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  and truly connect. Now we definitely need those
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  big networking events in our lives. Sometimes
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  that's how we meet people is the occasional business
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  card swap or the connection on LinkedIn. But
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  if there's an opportunity or a group that you
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  can really get to know women and connect, it
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  goes back to filling your cup. And this happens
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  professionally. and personally. Sometimes we
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  feel like we're too busy or it shouldn't be a
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  priority or we have other things to do. But spending
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  time with the right women, not just any women,
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  but with the right women will make a difference
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  in your life personally and professionally. So
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  fill your cup. Action item here is book one event,
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  whether it's a dinner, a woman circle, a professional
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  cohort, something that makes sense for you and
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  put it on the calendar. And then show up. Whether
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  you're an extrovert or an introvert, you need
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  these types of connections and relationships.
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  It goes back to building community and building
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  circles and being intentional about who you are
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  surrounding yourself with. Lastly, ask for help
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  and ditch the superwoman script. Katherine's
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  a new mom. She has a baby. She's also just founded
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  a company. And it's very clear she knows that
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  there's no such thing as work -life balance.
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  Balance means everything is equal. But her work
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  is part of her life. And it works for her. And
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  what makes it sustainable for her is her tribe.
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  She was very quick to talk about the support
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  that she has. She's lucky enough to have parents
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  that are down the street and in -laws that are
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  nearby and a sister who was home during the summer.
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  And she's very honest about that. And it's the
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  ask. And I get it. Not everyone has grandparents
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  right down the corner. But it's finding that
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  support that you need, whether it's through neighbors,
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  whether it's through grandparents. Whether it's
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  through daycare, hired help, you've got to find
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  the support. And again, this varies throughout
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  our lives and the part we're at. I remember those
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  days of just hoping you had reliable daycare
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  when you went to work and you dropped the kids
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  off and if somebody was sick. And now I'm at
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  the point where I have, you know, one who can
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  drive and the other one who's in high school
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  too. So their needs and their demands of well.
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  getting the younger one around or showing up
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  at events and being at volleyball games, this
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  demands on us change by the time of our lives.
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  And we just have to be flexible. And at the end
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  of the day, we have to ask for support, friends,
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  family, spouses, and as our kids go to our, we
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  need to ask them for support too. So two things
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  I love that she says, she's trying to not parent
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  by the rules, right? In this perfection. And
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  sometimes You just have to go along with it.
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  It's OK if her baby ends up in bed one night.
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  It's just going to happen. And as I said, she's
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  unapologetic about asking for help, even when
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  it's not for crisis, but for her growth. Her
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  line, essentially, if you're lucky enough to
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  have help, use the help. And if you don't, then
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  let's try to work on finding it. From my side
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  as a mom and former CEO, it was where I probably
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  struggled the most. We'll drown quietly before
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  we text someone for help or tell her husband
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  to pick up the kids or unload the dishwasher.
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  I feel like I've mentioned that one a lot. But
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  we have to be able to have leadership at home
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  and at work with both required delegation and
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  support. Action item, at work, delegate a task
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  you've been hoarding because it's faster if I
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  do it. Get rid of that mindset and delegate.
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  And at home, ask someone, partner, parent, friend,
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  sitter for one con. thing. Pick up duty, a ride,
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  watching the kids for 60 minutes, whatever you
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  need. Treat it like a leadership rep, not a sign
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  you're failing. Small moves, big momentum. That's
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  your quick lift. If Katherine's story sparks
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  something, share this episode with the woman
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  in your circle who's taking educated risks, juggling
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  a lot, or building her own third place. And if
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  you want more women in leadership power tools,
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  follow along on Instagram. Growing takes time
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  and attention, but you can start today. Make
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  a plan, send one message, book one dinner, ask
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  for just a little bit of help. And until next
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  time, stay loud and stay lifted.