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Building Powerful Communities with Cate Luzio
16 Plays4 months ago
In today’s episode, I sit down with Cate Luzio, founder of Luminary, a global, gender-inclusive professional education and networking platform built to uplift and propel women and allies at every stage of their career journey. We talk about why intentional community matters now more than ever, the power of showing up as your full self at work, and the evolution of leadership through connection.
Cate’s story is a masterclass in bold pivots, purposeful leadership, and building impact with heart. We explore what it looks like to shift from corporate finance to founding a mission-driven platform, how to create programming that actually serves people, and why the best mentoring is rooted in relationship—not formality.
Whether you’re climbing the ladder, shifting gears, or dreaming up what’s next, this episode will remind you that you don’t have to do it alone.
🧭 Episode Highlights + Timestamps:
00:00 – Welcome to The Goode Guide
01:30 – Why Community is the Heart of Growth
04:00 – Cate’s Pivot from Finance to Founding Luminary
06:50 – The Power of Inclusive, Multi-Generational Networks
10:20 – Digital Expansion + Building Belonging Across Borders
14:40 – Reprioritizing Career & Life After the Pandemic
17:10 – Creating Safe, Supportive Spaces for Women and Allies
20:55 – What Makes an Intentional Community Work
25:00 – Men in the Room: Allyship & Engagement in Practice
29:00 – Programming with Purpose: Built by the Community, for the Community
33:45 – Leading with Your Whole Self at Work
37:15 – What Professional Fulfillment Actually Looks Like
42:10 – Lessons in Mentorship, Sponsorship & Organic Connection
46:30 – Career Growth Isn’t Always Linear—And That’s Okay
52:00 – What Cate Would Tell Her 25-Year-Old Self
54:10 – Where to Find & Connect with Cate Luzio and Luminary
Resources & Links:
Learn more about Luminary: weareluminary.com
Connect with Cate on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cateluzio
Follow Luminary on Instagram: @weareluminary
Learn more about The Goode Guide and coaching: thegoodeguide.co
🎧 Listen to the full episode now and don’t forget to leave a review if this conversation sparked something for you. You showing up here helps others do the same.
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Transcript
Introduction to The Good Guide Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey there, welcome to The Good Guide, your ultimate career companion. I'm Shannara Good, and I've been on quite the career roller coaster. From the trenches of entry-level positions to the boardrooms as a now more seasoned professional.
00:00:15
Speaker
Believe me when I say i have been there and know that I've acquired some wisdom over the years that I cannot wait to share with you. Ever felt like you're on your career journey solo?
00:00:26
Speaker
Or maybe you're curious about conquering career plateaus, overcoming imposter syndrome, or leading with unwavering confidence. Well, I promise you are in the right place.
00:00:38
Speaker
Every week, my guests and I will share our own challenges and successes. We'll talk about everything from career development to leadership to even work-life balance. Expect a healthy dose of authenticity and, of course, our tips and tricks that will have you navigating your career with a newfound confidence.
00:00:58
Speaker
Don't miss out on the knowledge drop, y'all. Hit that like, subscribe, and follow button on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Trust me, you won't want to miss an episode.
00:01:12
Speaker
Because this is the good guide where we're not just chasing success, we're defining it. Are you ready to elevate your career game? Let's dive in.
00:01:26
Speaker
Welcome back to the Good Guide podcast. My name is Shannara Good and I am your host.
Meet Kate Luzio and Luminary
00:01:33
Speaker
On today's episode, i brought on the Kate Luzio, who is the founder of Luminary.
00:01:42
Speaker
um What I found so unbelievably amazing about this conversation as I've been doing a lot of thinking and soul searching about even just ah my own personal journey. And um when I stumbled on on Kate um and Luminary, what I love so much about it is that it was anchored in community.
00:02:02
Speaker
um I have talked about this so many times on here, but to me, I feel like without community, so little would be possible.
00:02:14
Speaker
um I always comment on how pre and post pandemic has shaped so much of the way that I think and how I show up in the world. But one of the things that it has absolutely changed and inspired um ah is that was the concept of having a strong community around me.
00:02:37
Speaker
So Luminary is a global membership-based professional education and networking platform. um And they were founded with the mission to uplift, upskill, and propel women and their allies forward um through all phases of their professional journey.
00:02:55
Speaker
you know, they have a physical space in New York City um that started actually pre-pandemic. And even throughout the pandemic, they opened globally, um virtually, and they've just seen the community grow and flourish. And I just find that so, so inspiring. Like,
00:03:14
Speaker
I genuinely feel like I'm about to go sign up for this membership. That's how inspired I felt um by our conversation. So I really hope that you enjoy this episode. I hope that you take a few things away from it. And I hope you take the time to also explore Luminary and their mission. And um you know if you are um a woman or an ally searching for community, like you might just find it in Luminary.
00:03:38
Speaker
So um enjoy this episode and thank you for listening. All right. So welcome Kate to the good guide podcast. Thank you so much for being here with me today.
00:03:49
Speaker
um I want to start off by letting you share a little bit about your business luminary and just share a little bit about what you focus on and how it really came to be.
Luminary's Mission and Model
00:04:01
Speaker
Sure. Well, it's great to be here. So thanks for having me. Luminary started a little over six years ago. i had a very long career in finance, two decades worth prior to starting Luminary. And one of the biggest reasons I would say catalyst that sort of helped me formulate the idea of Luminary was really what I learned in those 20 years in finance. And before that, I had been in technology and nonprofit.
00:04:26
Speaker
which was community is so important, whether you're inside an organization, you're tapping into community outside of your company, if you're an entrepreneur. And so often we think we must be in the box that we're supposed to in I'm an entrepreneur, I'm a banker,
00:04:42
Speaker
I'm in transition. i don't even know where to turn. And so the whole idea behind Luminary was bringing community together um under a gender inclusive lens. While I identify as a woman, ah I know we need all voices around the table. If I think we need to advance women and allies in the workforce, if we need more capital going to women and underrepresented founders, if just by simply having new ideas and opportunities to collaborate. We need more voices at the table. And so the business has always been gender inclusive. And we have a physical location in New York that's about 25,000 square feet um where people come and they connect and they work and they go to events. But we also, thanks to the pandemic, have a very substantial global digital platform. So whether you're looking for content, you're looking for
00:05:33
Speaker
that community and that connection, you want to participate in our programs and events of which we do 20 plus a month. ah We're now doing that in both a physical, in real life, virtual, as well as hybrid manner. And so 50% of our members identify as business owner, entrepreneur, the rest are what we say in the traditional workforce.
00:05:53
Speaker
And we do that through a both a B2C and a B2B lens. So more than 60% of our business, our revenue is actually derived from our B2B model, which most people don't know, ah which works internally in supporting teams inside of companies, as well as clients for companies and the community that we have.
00:06:12
Speaker
And then B2C are all what we say individual members. They're really looking to be part of the community by investing in them themselves and paying for a membership. But those are two very distinct business lines, but they all come together under the luminary umbrella.
00:06:27
Speaker
Yeah. I absolutely love that. And I, you know, one of the things for me, especially kind of coming out of or being now on the other side of the global pandemic is now more than ever, I feel like people are seeking community connection.
00:06:43
Speaker
Yeah. You know, i think a lot of us spent the time in the pandemic really aligning ourselves with like our own boundaries and understanding what we wanted, whether it be in our personal life or in our professional life.
00:06:58
Speaker
And I think what it brought forward was like, wow, I want to start to um surround myself with like-minded people. And if anything, it really starts to like fill your cup. Yeah. um I know for me, that's something that i personally um really,
00:07:14
Speaker
searched for in the pandemic. It was almost kind of like a taking a step back to almost look inward to understand like what I needed my community to look like to help me continue to progress forward. Yeah. And and we hear that so much. I think you know Luminary was a little bit early on the community side. yeah And while there were lots of communities and I and i tapped into them prior I think because it is so ah varied as far as it's very multi-generational, it's intersectional, it's bankers, it's lawyers, it's marketing people, it's also entrepreneurs across all different industries. I think that's also what people were searching for, that one that i identify and and I could tap into those like-minded individuals, but I also want
00:07:59
Speaker
um different and diverse perspectives. I want different backgrounds. I want different experiences. And I just want to be able to lean on someone that may not may look like me or may not look like me. And and I think also the pandemic, what we've seen, at least over the last five years, is especially for women.
00:08:19
Speaker
We've seen a lot of reprioritization of whether who is my community, who do I want to surround myself with, to am I on the right path from a career standpoint? Do I want to do
Impact of the Pandemic on Career Paths
00:08:31
Speaker
something different? Do I want to go to the C-suite or am I okay where I'm at?
00:08:35
Speaker
um how am i thinking about family life and caregiving so i think there's been a reset of priorities and part of that to your point is i want to be part of a community that understands me that offers value of course but also offers different ways to to to share in lessons learned or advice and where i really really it really resonates and so that's what we do day in and day out or we at least aspire to do that Yeah.
00:09:02
Speaker
This is truly just ah question that I'm curious about. Do you find, especially with luminary being gender inclusive, do you find there is a difference in which some of the people who identify as women come into luminary and for those who identify as men come into, like in terms of like maybe their openness to share, to learn, to connect? Like, I'm just curious, like if you do see um any difference, gender to gender? Yeah, you know, I think um from the, on the B2C side, individual member, I think most of the women have heard about it or yeah and has told them about it and they want to see what it's about, whether it, you know, it fits their needs.
00:09:45
Speaker
So I think a lot of that is, is really done organically. Yeah. a Word of mouth is our biggest, our biggest sort of, you know, conversion driver.
00:09:56
Speaker
And yeah whether that's somebody sitting in l LA or London or in New York and wants access to the physical space, I think um men come in two ways. One, they may may come on a day pass and they're like, wow, this is incredible location and everyone's so nice and people are talking to each other.
00:10:13
Speaker
Or they've heard it from a colleague like, oh, I worked or I went to an event at Luminary. So not so dis just ah different than than the women. I think because of our B2B model, we're getting much more exposure to men inside companies because their companies are investing in a membership at a company level or a line of business for their people versus just their women or just their men or just one particular group.
00:10:40
Speaker
and right And so there theyre but i what I find is it's driving a much bigger sense of allyship and inclusivity that way inside companies. Yeah, I think that's a really good point. And just like I said, it was a genuine curiosity, but I would agree. I find even programs that we have it at my company, you know, that are more geared around allyship. I think you get this support or I would also say I think you also naturally get people who come into it.
00:11:11
Speaker
with the intention yes be an ally. yeah You know what I mean? They're obviously not coming in with that shield. Right. And yeah and i think you're I think you're absolutely right. I watch it happen when we do virtual yeah programming and 50% of the participants are are men and 50 are women. And it's like, you just watch it. You also see that they're there for a reason. They're there with good intentions. And then they want to be part of an organization that is inclusive. And many of them may have daughters or sisters or moms that work. And so I think tapping into that,
00:11:45
Speaker
as part of our our broader community is really important. And then also validating that everyone can show up in different ways, regardless of where you come from, what you look like, what your financial status is. And and that's really important to our mission.
00:11:59
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. for For your members, like what have you seen or heard um them say in terms of how community has helped them either step into new leadership opportunities or grow in the current leadership roles that they are sitting in?
00:12:17
Speaker
Yeah, I think it varies, right? So we had yesterday our whole health summit. So we had over 600 attendees. Our space only holds about 150. So you can do the math on how many attended online.
00:12:31
Speaker
But some of it is i just needed to hear the messaging um about my health, right? Yeah. Some of it is i met another member or somebody at one of your events or online that has now become a client.
00:12:50
Speaker
ah Some of it is, I got great advice through one of your workshops, and that led me to have a better relationship and conversation with my manager, which is now leading to me getting my company to help pay for my MBA.
Overcoming Skepticism and Building Community
00:13:04
Speaker
yeah you i found a new job through Luminary or a new opportunity, or I got ah you know a side hustle gig through another member. So it's it's really interesting to me over the last six years just to see how much impact is derived when people that are intentional and purposeful inside the community versus just self-serving, um that's where the magic happens.
00:13:31
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. i another semi sidebar, it's just talking to you about, um, about luminary. You can just tell how we've already said the word, but intentional you were about creating this space.
00:13:45
Speaker
What did people say when you first were like, this is what I'm going to do. Like, this is kind of this next chapter of my career and my desires. Like, what did people say when you first brought this idea to them?
00:13:58
Speaker
Women said, oh my gosh, this is so needed. i want to be a part of it. I often feel left out of conversations or I don't have a seat at the table, which is why our tagline is come sit at our table.
00:14:12
Speaker
yeah We've all felt that way, whether it was in middle school or high school or or in our jobs.
00:14:19
Speaker
A lot of the the men that I talked about, they were like, you're crazy. Why are you giving up this great career in finance? But I think many of them have come back, you know especially in my network and say, wow, right? This is like calling. At least this is your calling for right now. Never say never. right I love yeah it in finance. And I think there's like a and another career for me after this but that is related to finance in some way. But yeah.
00:14:44
Speaker
But I think there was, and and even my mom was so nervous. Like, I don't understand what you're doing. I don't understand this business model. And I actually ended up taking her on a trip. ah This is in April of 2018, right after I had written the business plan. And I was doing, I had done sort of a ah road show at other women's spaces, right? Or women's board spaces. And one of them was in California, out in Mill Valley, hill the high brewery.
00:15:12
Speaker
And they had they were a trailblazer. They had you know started earlier than us. They ended up, by the way, shutting down during the pandemic. And they just came back. So we're really excited about that. Oh, yay. But a fabulous founder named Grace. And anyway, I i brought my mom there ah because I was like, we're onic we' seeing my uncle, et cetera.
00:15:31
Speaker
And she came, we did a tour and we met people and we walked out and she's like, now I get it. And this is- love that. exactly what you should be doing and yeah uh and so sometimes you have to see the model and see yeah what you're going after ah my my book my partner always says like when you're building a if you're a golfer and somebody says i'm going to build the most amazing golf club but you don't have the opportunity to see it and experience it it's really hard to say well i'm just just going to join it right i'm going to money down um yeah so in that example just showing people
00:16:04
Speaker
that there were organizations and companies and communities that already existed out there. And by the way, they have existed for hundreds of years. or wild many months yeah it's it's sort of It's a category that is relatively new. And so sometimes you have to do a little bit more to convince people why it needs to exist.
00:16:23
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. um I mean, it's very, like I said, it's very obvious the passion that you have for for what you do and and and for Luminary and and and the message um that it's sending out there. So I just want to let you know that that definitely shows through.
00:16:38
Speaker
so Thank you. Thank you.
Evolving Programming and Virtual Adaptation
00:16:39
Speaker
Um, so talk me through kind of the beginning stages, like what was your programming like, and like, what was kind of like your main, okay, if you walk into these doors, this is the one thing that I want you to take away back then versus like maybe how you changed and pivoted, um, today.
00:16:55
Speaker
So the programming really has not changed. And and yeah and and I mean that in in sort of you know the foundation of the programming. one the first One of the first things I did was I had to hire somebody that knew how to build programming curriculum design.
00:17:08
Speaker
and And that's what I did. I went into my network and said, hey, who's done this before? Maybe they've done it big company. What am I looking for in a person? Because that's not my background.
00:17:19
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. our first chief, what we call chief impact officer came out of higher ed, had done that and continues to do that. And so what we knew was at the core of all of our programming, it wasn't just about what we wanted to teach or facilitate.
00:17:35
Speaker
It had to come from the members. um When you're just starting, you don't have any members, you've got to. So we just use what, what did, what were we hearing inside companies? What we're hearing from entrepreneurs, what we're just hearing from people on the street that they were looking for.
00:17:49
Speaker
The second thing we knew was, We wanted the majority of our programming to come from our members. And what i what I mean by that is that they are the facilitators, they are the workshop leaders, they are the the hosts.
00:18:05
Speaker
Because when you have them investing in the community by buying a membership, we reinvest in them by giving them access to the community, by accessing their tools and their skills. That's also how we built our corporate programming.
00:18:20
Speaker
and all of those facilitators are paid. um And so, but really 70, more than 70% of our programming comes from our members. And some of that comes from our corporate members that are part of our B2B. And that's great because they have content that I think we know is relevant.
00:18:37
Speaker
And then the third is really staying close to the community and those members around what is top of mind. um Great example right now, tariffs for small business owners, ah yeah women in wealth transfer, um yeah hormonal health, right? yeah And so that's how all of our programming,
00:18:58
Speaker
comes to fruition. It is not Kate and her team going, I think we should lead something on X. Now, pre-pandemic, for the first year we were in business, it was all done in our physical location in New York. And that was by design.
00:19:13
Speaker
ah You had to be in the New York metro area, whether you were part of JP Morgan membership or Goldman Sachs or UBS membership. or you were individual, you had to be physically there. We didn't have any virtual.
00:19:24
Speaker
Pandemic is happening around us or or threatening. And we went online overnight. And so we knew that our programming needed to continue to support the community. And so we went on Zoom thinking yeah this is going to be a few weeks. And here we are five years later.
00:19:39
Speaker
and actually all of our programming, with the exception of a handful, are even if they are hosted in our space, like yesterday's health summit, It's live streamed.
00:19:50
Speaker
um it's all pre It's none of it excuse me, prerecorded. It's all live. And then it is recorded so that members that want to replay it or are able to see it or attend can replay it and download it.
00:20:03
Speaker
um yeah But the programming design, what we call the ABCDs of of Luminary, none of that has changed. um The topics and themes have evolved based on what's happening around us. If you remember,
00:20:18
Speaker
You had the great resignation, the great reset, right? All these people are leaving corporate. So of yeah course we were doing. You had, it's it's really tough for me to say, but in 2020, all of these companies coming out and making these pledges to the diverse communities. And obviously we're seeing a whole reframing of that now, but the work still has to get done. And and and also making people feel not just seen, but also heard.
00:20:47
Speaker
in what is important to them in their both professional life as well as their personal life, because we're not just our careers, right? And we're not focusing on our mental health, our financial health, our physical health, all of that.
00:21:02
Speaker
That impacts our professional lives. And so- so much of our programming is designed to support sort of all of the the whole human, exactly the whole human holistically.
00:21:13
Speaker
um And then there's going to be some programming that's just specific to that one part. And then there's some, that's going to go across all. Oh, I love that. I love that. And i you know, somebody who I would still consider myself like earlier into my career, yeah not early, early, but earlier yes and into my career. And I think this is something that even I talk to my, my analysts and my um team that I support about all the time. Like I,
00:21:41
Speaker
I just, I feel so strongly that when I come into my office doors, right, I'm not, I wouldn't call myself, or I guess I'm an entrepreneur, but I still have like a full-time job. um for you just Yeah, Just because you also have a full-time job, you've also got yeah entrepreneurial stuff.
00:21:56
Speaker
Yes, exactly. But when I walk into the doors, I don't just, I don't take off like my personal life hat and put on my professional life hat. I'm still who I am inside and outside of work. And I feel like that's the only way that I can succeed is by not, you know, switching in and out um and trying to be somebody I'm not.
00:22:20
Speaker
in my personal life at work etc or or vice versa. And I think that's so true.
Balancing Authenticity with Professionalism
00:22:25
Speaker
So like when I'm at work, I will talk about things ah around mental health, right? Like I will talk about the external environment how that's having an impact on how I show up at work yeah because at the end of the day, like I am a human and I need you to understand that if my company has now rolled back their DE&I program, that like that's going to impact you.
00:22:47
Speaker
how i thought that Absolutely. And I think that's what's being forgotten in this whole DE&I, whatever you want, watering down assaults, et cetera, is that at the end of the day, who does it impact?
00:22:59
Speaker
it what By the way, it is going to impact your bottom line, yes but it is going to impact People feeling a sense of pride in their company, a feeling of affinity, a feeling of connection. And um the the the further we get disconnected in the workplace, the worse we produce.
00:23:17
Speaker
Yes. Yes. And so you can't show up. You don't feel supported. You don't feel listened to regardless of what you look like, what you do, where you're at in your career, that spills over into our work product.
00:23:31
Speaker
yeah how we perform, what we deliver. And I think that's a big disconnect right now in what's happening. And the ability to have an environment for true ideation and innovation and collaboration starts to shrink because we're putting up these barriers yet again.
00:23:53
Speaker
Yep. Yep. What is your biggest, another, God, there's so many just like random questions that are coming up for me in this conversation, but um what is your advice to people? So, you know, for me, i try really hard as I've gone up in my career,
00:24:09
Speaker
To again, still be the same person with polish and with professionalism added each level I go, right? Like I'm, I still want to ensure that I'm always stepping into the role and, and exuding that professionalism, but.
00:24:25
Speaker
i Again, i still even if I become the CEO, like I still want to be me and I still want to feel authentic and that I'm not kind of um having to to shade POV.
00:24:39
Speaker
What advice do you have to to to to people yeah as they... gain momentum in their career and as they step up, like, how do you find that balance of like, I'm now ah a figurehead for a company.
00:24:51
Speaker
This company has done something that I don't agree with. Like, how do you handle that? Yeah, so I think there's a couple things there. I think number one is, you know, as as much as we don't like to play the game, we have to play the game, right? yeah um yeah and and And it's okay, as long as you play it authentically, and you play it smartly, right? I don't mean play it where you're, you know, there's, there's, there's,
00:25:15
Speaker
there's unethical behavior and I've seen that both, right? So you're still, you're at, you're playing, you're in the game. So you might as well play it and give it your all. And sometimes you have to show up differently depending on the audience. You know, my big thing, and I, I less led a course this morning, a workshop for one of our clients around knowing your audience. So who Kate is to her team, right? And I managed people for, I've i've managed teams for many years, might look a little different to who, when I sit around the leadership table.
00:25:44
Speaker
um That might look a little different than when I'm sitting in the BRG or ERG meeting with yeah you know my peers. Two, yeah also who shows up in front of clients.
00:25:55
Speaker
yeah What I know is though, who I am, core to who I am, I cannot change. I may adjust. my tone, my style, my language based on who is in that audience.
00:26:08
Speaker
Now, if I don't agree with what decisions my company is making, it is my right to either leave or try to create a different ah scenario. yeah i also believe that if I am trying to not just inspire, but also create impact inside an organization and people are looking at me or to me.
00:26:38
Speaker
yeah I need to be a representative of them as much as I am for myself. And sometimes that's going to work. And sometimes it's not. I've had many instances in my career, especially in finance, where i felt like I was doing the right thing. I spoke up and it didn't mean that all of a sudden things changed, but I had to voice, you know, what I thought was right.
00:27:03
Speaker
um But I also learned And I think this is a really good lesson that you also, you may be so steadfast in what you believe that you have to also respect other people have different opinions and different ways of working. So I think this is this game. It's this it's this chess board that they are gonna you're gonna take You may take four steps forward, you may take one step back, we may do a lateral move, um but we can still be who we are yeahp um without that sort of torpedoing our careers.
00:27:39
Speaker
Yep. I had a conversation with someone once and they kind of described it as two one of two things, either like a Venn diagram where you've got you've still got these like core pieces in the middle.
00:27:52
Speaker
And sometimes you have to be more on this side of the Venn diagram and kind of to your point of like, I might be in front of my peers or sometimes you're on this part of the diagram, et cetera, et cetera. They also explained it as like a twister board.
00:28:04
Speaker
Yes. Yes. Oh, that's a great analogy. Yeah, like ah like a similar concept of like, you know, you at your core, but like, you might have to kind of reach over here, right? Or reach over there into different kind of segments of um of yourself, but still, you're still being driven by that same like core yeah um of who you are.
00:28:27
Speaker
So yeah, I love that. um I had a yesterday, um i had like ah a reading. I'm very spiritual in that sense. And I asked questions about my career.
00:28:40
Speaker
And she flipped over three cards. And one of the first things she said it was like, wow, um you you seem fulfilled. And haven't, I, have you know, I don't sit back and think to myself, Oh, I'm so fulfilled. Like, you know, because I feel like it's one of those things that just kind of like sneak up on you. Yeah.
00:28:58
Speaker
But as she's, you know, kind of talking through it, this is how I think you feel, blah, blah, blah. I was like, wow, yes, I do. Yeah. So curious, what, how would you define professional fulfillment?
Defining Professional Fulfillment
00:29:10
Speaker
Oh, I think, listen, I think it's gonna it's going to ebb and flow throughout your career. if If you had asked me again, seven years ago, my professional fulfillment was i had spent you know two decades in finance and I loved it I really did. i loved I loved managing businesses around the world and having clients and being on a plane all the time.
00:29:29
Speaker
Mm-hmm. That and and climbing the corporate ladder that to me was and then hitting those milestones that I set for myself as well as for my business and for my people. For me, I was very professionally fulfilled.
00:29:41
Speaker
It wasn't until I had a conversation with a wonderful mentor of mine that he sort of reframed sort of what does that look like and what does impact look like for you? Do you want to continue doing it inside a company?
00:29:53
Speaker
um Do you want to do it for yourself, which I had never thought about? But it also depends on where you're at. i wasn't able to have children. um yeah So personally, i wasn't fulfilled, but I still had to have a big role in what I was doing. And and i yeah I never really showed up personally for people. And now I look back and wish that I had told more people what I was going through because it could have helped someone else, would whether a man that was going through it with his wife or partner or a woman that might have gone through it or was going through it.
00:30:26
Speaker
um I think now I'm professionally fulfilled by, of course, milestones and of course, having a building a sustainable and profitable business and and growing, but also by the impact that we're having on a daily basis.
00:30:40
Speaker
I mentioned this Health Summit just because I keep just getting DMs and emails and texts saying, this is the impact that day had on me and for what reason.
00:30:52
Speaker
you know My goal is to bring people together and get great speakers and great content. How that shows up, you never know. But when yeah somebody tells me this was the impact, I am immediately filled, both personally and professionally, because yeah what I set out to do six years ago is working. how For however long we're around, it's working. And I want to do more of that.
00:31:16
Speaker
Yeah. ah I love that. um Okay, so question for you, especially, so a lot of my listeners, they do tend to be um kind of that first leadership experience um or currently like trying to get into that first leadership experience. And so one of the biggest learnings that I've had as I've gotten into my leadership experiences, it's been When you are such a high achiever, right, um it is so hard to step away from the work and give trust to other people to get the work done and instead your role being how you inspire them and how you encourage them.
00:31:57
Speaker
So what, um I guess, what advice do you have to leaders that that are earlier into their career and they're learning for the first time? Wow, like I actually have to step away from being the executioner and have to now inspire those to step into that role. So I think it's it's not one or the other.
00:32:13
Speaker
Yeah. I think it's simultaneous. Yeah. Okay. So you we no matter what level we're at we're always executing, right? You look at any CEO, they're executing at a different level.
00:32:26
Speaker
I look at my former life in finance to what I'm doing now. Yes, it is a smaller business. Absolutely. My P&L was $2 billion plus. dollars Now it's much smaller, but I'm still executing as a leader. yeah and So that doesn't change.
00:32:42
Speaker
Yeah. the decisions that we're executing change. And at the same time, i can still invest in others, build relationship, mentor others, and and but also provide and deliver opportunities for others on the team, especially those that are newer into their career or just are looking for bigger or newer opportunities.
00:33:07
Speaker
I'm always doing that. That is part of who I am. I think that's why community is so centered in my core that i I look at talent the first time I meet someone and think, what else could they do?
00:33:19
Speaker
Yeah. This is their job today, but what else could they do in the future? And more importantly, what do they want to do? Right. And is there a win-win situation? And that's not just for people on my team. That's for stakeholders that I work with. So I don't think it has to be an isolation. I think we can do that simultaneously.
00:33:37
Speaker
i think who we are as leaders changes as well. And our, um, our sphere of influence, uh, our, our sphere of power. Right. So, um, what I always want to make sure is people feel like they're being brought a along and I'm building followership, uh, no matter what decision I'm making and, and no matter, and, and, and they've got to see that in my actions.
00:34:01
Speaker
I like the reframe of that because I think you are like, you've hit the nail straight on the head in the sense of like, it just looks different role to role and and level to level of like what that quote unquote execution is.
Mentorship and Personal Growth
00:34:15
Speaker
um yeah How do you now also, again, as someone who has, you know, had a successful career, you've built luminary and I would imagine you've got mentees, you've got people that you in a sense take under your wing or who come to you for advice.
00:34:31
Speaker
How do you, and a lot of times they might find you, but the relationship continues because you both want to invest in each other. So I'm curious, like, what do you find, um, is maybe consistent or like the through line in people that you mentee?
00:34:46
Speaker
So one of the big things, and I might be a little controversial is, is, is don't ask me to be your mentor. Okay. Uh, Because number one, ah mentoring relationship, one can be transactional. You may say, hey, Kate, i I would love to meet you. I have three questions that I would love to ask you. And and by the way, in that one conversation, I've mentored you, but you may not need to and maybe not want to speak to me again. i don't know.
00:35:12
Speaker
But there's also, i think mentorship is all organic and it's very much built on chemistry and relationship building. So maybe we've had this great conversation. We want to stay in touch. Right.
00:35:25
Speaker
And so then from time to time, maybe we get on a zoom or maybe we have a text chain and we're like, Hey, here's what I'm doing. or That to me is also mentorship. It is a two way street. yeah It is not just when people come to me on LinkedIn and they're like, or if they've seen me at an event, they're love you you to be my mentor. It's like, I don't know you.
00:35:42
Speaker
Let me get to know you. Yeah. And then maybe organically, I also start to mentor you. um I also think one of the biggest um underestimated mentorship relationships is peer mentorship. oh I look at so many of my peers, different founders, other other people that are is still in corporate America or finance.
00:36:06
Speaker
When I come to them and ask them a question, that is and and I can get real advice and and and I'm drawing value from that conversation and or I can help them too. That to me is a great example of peer mentorship.
00:36:19
Speaker
The other thing is if you're inside a company, the people around you, your peers know better than anybody else what you're going through. yes So how have they handled a situation?
00:36:29
Speaker
What are they talking to their manager about? How are they approaching conference compensation? Whatever it is. so And then on the flip side is i also don't know everything. yeah So I love reverse mentorship. I learn so much from just talking to, and in our case,
00:36:46
Speaker
more junior staff and or younger people that come to our sessions or our events or members because they're from a they have a different perspective. So I don't think it is as black and white as everyone thinks about mentorship. yeah um What I would say is also, if you if you have a question to ask someone and you'd love to hear their perspective, just ask the question yeah versus,
00:37:14
Speaker
I've got to make this person my mentor before I do that. Most people are not going to say no. And that's where I think the magic happens and you never know where that relationship can lead. Yeah. ah that So I feel the same way about peer mentorship because especially, i mean, my group of peers, right? We are all from diverse walks of life. We have we handle things differently.
00:37:36
Speaker
We speak differently. Like we just are different. And I learned so much from my peers in terms of how they handled the situation differently than I would have in my mind. And I feel like I take so much from that.
00:37:49
Speaker
So I definitely agree on the peer mentorship. And then also from like the chemistry piece of it as well. Like I've had people reach out to me um for mentorship and to your point, it was just like, hey, can you be my mentor? But I'm also kind of like, when you invest in a mentor mentee relationship, like it is an investment. It is time that you're taking, you're both taking out of your schedules.
00:38:13
Speaker
Yeah. And the last thing that I want is to fall short of someone's expectations of what they needed because the chemistry just wasn't there and vice versa.
00:38:24
Speaker
So I, you know, I couldn't agree with that more. I think and it it takes time to fill that out. It's not something that just like, oh, because you said it you're going be my mentor, it's where sparks are flying and it's an instant connection. Like, no, it it does work.
00:38:36
Speaker
um Yeah. and And most of the mentors that I consider mentors in my career, particularly in finance, happened organically. yes Somebody inside the organization that saw something in me. yep that wanted to nurture yeah my talents, that wanted to see me moving forward forward and and and and helping. yeah And so, you know you look back, I look back on my career now, go, wow, that was a mentor. That person was a really big, important mentor yeah in my career. and and But he or she may never have thought, like I'm Kate's mentor. yeah
00:39:07
Speaker
But really the relationship was, and and many of those mentor relationships ultimately inside those companies turned into sponsorship of the as uh as an employee in the organization and so i think the more organically you could build that the better there are lots of formal mentoring programs which i think can work yeah uh but it's got to be to your point and and and my earlier uh uh comment is there's got to be chemistry you've got to both be in it for the right reasons yep absolutely Well, I always end my conversations with this one question.
00:39:42
Speaker
So um knowing now, um or how do how do I want to frame this? If you knew then what you know now, what would you what advice would you give to yourself at say, we'll call it like 25 to 30? Yeah.
00:39:57
Speaker
yeah ah Don't second guess yourself. there You don't know everything and and and and you're never going to know everything. So take the time to listen and learn but from others around you, your peers, those that are younger or older, but never second guess yourself and your ability.
00:40:18
Speaker
You, especially for those of you that are already inside a company and got the job, right? You're there for a reason. So own that and and continue to invest in those skills to help you flourish and to help you be nurtured and and ask for help when you need it. yeah but Don't let the, uh, my two least favorite words and in the and in the English language, imposter syndrome, don't let that prohibit you from but believing you in yourself. Yes.
00:40:49
Speaker
Yes. Intuition. intuition. I feel like it's gotten me farther. And work really hard, right? Work really hard. yeah You've got an opportunity. Don't squander it. Work really hard. Yeah.
00:41:00
Speaker
I love that. Well, thank you so much, Kate. This truly was like, i I had a list. I truly had like a list of questions and I think I maybe asked one of one of them, it being, tell me about your story. So um I just, I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation. I would love for people to connect with you and know where to find you. So Do you typically connect via LinkedIn? Do you kind of um yeah have people go to social? Like, what is your preference?
00:41:26
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I love LinkedIn. My LinkedIn is Kate, C-A-T-E-L-U-Z-I-O. Pretty simple. That's the best place to connect with me. If you go to my Instagram, which is the same Kate Lucio, you're going to see a lot of cats. You're going to see a lot of my nieces and nephews, but also what I'm passionate about. It's very personal, all yeah but it's open. yeah And then Luminary. I We are luminary.com is our website. And then we are luminary is our Instagram. And if you just search luminary inside of the LinkedIn, you know, search function, that's how you find us. We're also on TikTok. We're on Facebook.
00:42:03
Speaker
um But those are the best places to find me as well as learn a little bit more about luminary. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time today. Truly meant a lot. Thank you. Thanks for the questions. They were great. What a great conversation. And I appreciate you having me. Yes. Awesome.
00:42:15
Speaker
Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of The Good Guide, the podcast dedicated to guiding you through every twist and turn in your career journey. If you loved this episode, make sure to leave those five-star reviews and share this podcast with a friend, loved one, or hey, even a colleague.
00:42:34
Speaker
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00:42:45
Speaker
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