WEBVTT - Cate Luzio: Founder of Luminary Gets Personal 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:02.719 Welcome back to she Pivots. I'm Kate Lucio. 0:00:13.080 --> 0:00:16.599 Welcome back to she Pivots, the podcast where we talk 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:19.280 with women who dare to pivot out of one career 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:23.919 and into something new and explore how their personal lives 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:33.880 impacts these decisions. I'm your host, Emily Tish Sussman. Today 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:37.760 we have on Kate Lucio, the founder and CEO of Luminary, 0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:41.919 a first of its kind global professional education and networking 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:46.280 platform created to address the systemic challenges impacting women and 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:50.599 our allies across all industries and sectors. Luminary also has 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:53.600 a brick and mortar location that you just might recognize 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:56.760 from our season three launch party last year. I met 0:00:56.840 --> 0:00:59.040 Kate through one of my dear friends, a former she 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:02.800 Pivots guest, Marissa Lee, the author of the must read 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:06.160 book Grief Is Love. In fact, I had the honor 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:10.600 of introducing both her and another she Pivots guest, Brookshields, 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:13.720 at her book launch, the party held at you guessed It, 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:17.320 the Luminary. This is exactly what I love about this show, 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:20.360 the way it brings women together and uplifts all of 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:24.200 us individually, and Kate is the perfect representation of this. 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:27.959 She started Luminary after wanting to bring together women in 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:32.200 a meaningful community to share resources, time and expertise. She 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:36.280 had spent two decades in leadership and financial services, leading global, 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:39.679 multi billion dollar businesses, and she saw a need for 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:42.640 a platform that would allow people to fully embrace their 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:47.320 stories and skills, and so she pivoted and started Luminary. 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:50.680 But that's not the end of her story. In fact, 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:55.240 it's just one side, the professional. On the personal side, 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:59.200 Kate was dealing with her own health journey from IVF 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:03.760 to breast care answer to eventually a hysterectomy and acute 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:06.480 and difficult loss for her after trying for a baby 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:09.919 for so long. I'm so grateful to Kate for coming 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:13.360 on and opening up about her still developing and complex 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:18.120 feelings around the intersection of these deeply personal experiences and 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:21.880 her blossoming career success. Ladies, this is an episode you 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:24.919 won't want to miss enjoy. Oh and if you hear 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:27.600 some chirping birds, it was just the idyllic setting that 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:29.960 Kate was recording from. Let's jump right in. 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:35.960 I am Kate Lucio, and I am the founder and 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:40.560 CEO of Luminary and what is luminary. Luminary is a 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:46.200 global networking and provisional education platform. We started here in 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:50.880 New York City in twenty nineteen as a physical space 0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:56.480 for women and allies to connect, create, develop, and thanks 0:02:56.520 --> 0:02:59.079 to the pandemic, we went online overnight and now we 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:01.400 have a global community around the world. 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:06.160 You also hosted my launch party for the podcast we did, 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:06.639 and I. 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:09.600 Couldn't even be there but because I was having surgery. 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:14.320 So but I you know, so many people continue to 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:16.799 bring that event up. They're like, I was at Emily 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:21.120 She Pivots podcast launch at the Glass Ceiling. You weren't there, 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:24.800 but so many people continue to talk about what a 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:25.680 magical night it was. 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:28.519 Oh my god, I love that so much. Well, I mean, 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:31.280 I think the energy that you brought into it, like 0:03:31.400 --> 0:03:34.200 into designing the space and even just like the spirit 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:36.920 that you bring into it was so felt there. It 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:40.760 was so everybody was just happy to be talking about 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:43.440 their pivots and like how to help other women, and 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:46.000 everyone was bringing that energy and like, yes, what can 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:47.280 I do for you? What can I do for you? 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:49.360 What can I do for you? Which is the kind 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:51.000 of room I want to be in? Like that's definitely 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:52.640 the kind of I want to create, and you really 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:53.840 help do that with the space. 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:58.080 Yeah, isn't that amazing where it's not just about listen. 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:00.520 There's there's a time and place for the for the get, 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:02.640 but there's also a time and a place for the give, 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:05.320 and I think when it happens at that same time, 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:08.680 it just inspires other to have that given the get. 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:12.400 And so I'm pretty proud of what we've built and 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:17.200 both physically and virtually, and just know that the incredible 0:04:17.320 --> 0:04:20.880 community and people coming into the space again physically and 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:25.400 virtually is is exactly who we wanted to walk into 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:26.400 the space. 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:29.039 Well, I actually met you and came into the space 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:32.360 for the first time in exactly one of these circumstances, 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:35.240 because you hosted a book party for my friend Marissa 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:37.760 Renee Lee and her book Grief Is Love, and that 0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:39.599 was my first time in the space and I was 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:40.359 just blown away. 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:44.599 And we love Marissa. She's amazing. So thanks to you. 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:48.840 You introduced Marissa to Luminary. You introduced us to Marissa 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:52.040 and her book, and that was an incredible book launch 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:55.600 as well. But she's become a Luminary member and she's 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:59.080 just an inspiring motivating is not even the words that 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:01.440 I could use to describer It's so much more than that. 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:04.760 But that was because she did her book launch there 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:09.359 and now she's so engaged and so involved and also 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:12.800 bring this idea that grief is love and we have 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:13.680 to talk about it. 0:05:14.880 --> 0:05:16.960 You know, what she's talking about, what you're talking about, 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:19.120 the luminaria, what we're talking about here at Cheap Pivots. 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:22.400 It's so intertwined. It's like the fact that we want 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:25.200 to show up professionally and we know that we're good, 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:27.240 and we know that we can be our best selves, 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:32.440 and we have these other personal factors that interplay sometimes 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:34.120 and we want to show up with all of it. 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:37.520 Yeah, and I think they interplay all the time, right. 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:42.279 I think historically women in particular women and women of 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:45.480 color just were kind of told not to show up, 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:48.240 you know, leave that at the door before you come 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:51.039 into the I'm using air quotes into the office. I 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:53.360 think the pandemic did change a lot of that, right, 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:56.480 because we had windows into what everyone's lives were because 0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:59.360 everyone was going through it at once. And I think 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:03.000 that the more we share our stories and we do 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:06.160 it not behind closed doors or through what we call 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:10.360 Whisper Networks. We're doing it out in front. It does 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:13.280 inspire and motivate others to share their stories and bring 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:16.640 their whole selves into whatever they're doing. Yeah, I mean 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:19.080 it's the whole, you know, Like it's the whole idea 0:06:19.160 --> 0:06:21.880 behind a group therapy that like if you see someone 0:06:22.080 --> 0:06:26.120 showing up emotionally, then you are compelled to meet them, absolutely, 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:28.160 both for yourself but also for them, like you don't 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:30.159 want them to feel alone, and so like you show 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:32.200 up to talk about the thing that you're going through 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:35.120 and it helps them and it helps you absolutely. That's 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:37.600 such a great analogy. I was just leading a workshop 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:40.680 for one of our corporate our enterprise clients and around 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:43.960 self advocacy. But I like the term self promotion much 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:48.080 better because it makes people uncomfortable. Oh I don't want 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:51.000 to be around someone who self promotes. It's the same 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:55.479 as self advocacy. It's just this negative connotation that you're 0:06:55.520 --> 0:06:58.160 doing it in an in authentic way. And it can 0:06:58.200 --> 0:07:00.880 be done in an authentic way. But if we show 0:07:01.000 --> 0:07:05.200 up and we actually give facts and context, I say 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:08.039 that's the way to do it. And so for me, 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:12.680 when somebody shares an achievement or an accomplishment. When they're 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:16.680 advocating for themselves, it inspires others to do that too. 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:22.440 Yeah, totally. Okay, So let's get back to you, Kate. Okay, okay, 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:25.920 So set the scene for us, give us a little Kate, like, 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:27.280 what did you think you were going to be when 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:30.320 you grew up? So, actually, my mom recently found something 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:32.000 that I wrote. She has kept a lot of our 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:34.280 kids stuff, and I think it was in fourth grade 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:36.720 I said I want to be the president. Probably not 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:39.560 what I thought I was going to do, but at 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:43.240 that time, I think I was inspired by leadership. And 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:45.640 so to me at that time, if I unpacked that 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:47.880 a little, it was like that was the example of 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:50.400 a leader. At the same time, I was in fourth grade, 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:53.760 it was when the Challenger happened, and so we were 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:56.600 watching all of these amazing astronauts, one of them being 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:59.440 a teacher, right, So for me it was like anybody 0:07:59.440 --> 0:08:02.440 that was in a leadership role, that's what I wanted 0:08:02.440 --> 0:08:05.960 to do. I really looked and my teachers were leaders, 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:08.000 and so one I thought there was they had a 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:12.920 position of power, which an influence which probably didn't recognize 0:08:12.920 --> 0:08:15.560 then do now. And so for me growing up, I 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:18.320 really wanted to follow my dad's flote steps. He was 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:20.720 an FBI agent, and that's what I thought because that's 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:21.200 what I knew. 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:23.800 And my mom was a teacher, loved what she did. 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:26.280 I could never be a teacher, but I guess I 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:28.520 do that now. So when I went to college, I thought, 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:31.800 I'm going to do political science criminal justice as a minor, 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:33.760 and that's what I'm going to do. Or I'm going 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:36.120 to work somewhere in the government, and that was what 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:38.360 I really aspired to do. 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:40.960 Wait, so how did you not end up as an 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:42.720 FBI agent? Oh? 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:45.280 Boy? So the true story that I don't think I've 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:49.480 ever shared publicly. So when I was a sophomore in college, 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:53.679 there was an internship program at the FBI Academy, oh sorry, 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:56.199 the headquarters in Washington, DC. I went to University of 0:08:56.200 --> 0:08:59.320 Maryland underrub and very long story short, my dad said, 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:01.800 you should apply for this. It's to be a tour guide, 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:03.600 but that will get your foot in the door and 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:05.720 you can start experience. What I didn't know is you 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:08.079 had to go through the same application process that anybody 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:10.080 that wanted to work with in the FBI. Was like 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:14.200 thirty pages What I also didn't know is that I 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:18.080 had tried marijuana for the first time about three months 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:20.680 prior to that. Now this is in the nineties. The 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:24.520 last page of the application said your drug history, and 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:27.280 everyone in my dorm said, just lie, you've tried it 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:29.640 one time, but I couldn't. I had to be honest, 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:31.920 and I'm an FBI agent's daughter, and so we get 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:34.200 into the interview and they're like, this is amazing. You're amazing, 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:35.680 and then they get to the last page because they 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:39.080 do it they did it in person, and they said, wait, oh, 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:42.640 you've tried drugs. I said it was one time. I 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:45.880 started crying. They said, I'm so sorry, You're ineligible to apply, 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:48.840 and so had to go home and tell my parents 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:51.679 and my dad was very disappointed, but he said I'm 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:54.440 glad you didn't lie. And then got a letter a 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:56.719 few months later saying because of your drug abuse, you 0:09:56.760 --> 0:10:00.440 know we can't you're not ineligible, and I thought, are 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:03.280 you getting me? Literally, I tried it at one time, and 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:05.560 I said, that's not where I want to be If 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:10.120 that's the judgment, I understand their processes and rules, and 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:14.559 so that was that was my I guess failed attempt 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:18.680 to try, and then years later my dad actually said 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:20.920 to me, I'm so glad that you did something different. 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:24.400 Okay, so do you know what your dad was trying 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:26.040 to get you away from? 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:30.760 No. I think he thought, and again I'm putting words 0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:36.840 into his mouth, that I was destined for bigger things 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:41.160 and bigger impact. And I didn't know it then that 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:46.360 I really wanted to do something very international, and not 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:48.319 that you couldn't do that at the FBI, but that 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:51.160 would have not been my path. And so you know, 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:53.840 many several years later, when I got recruited into banking, 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:56.760 that took me into an international career for the better 0:10:56.800 --> 0:10:59.079 part of twenty years. And so I think that was 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:03.599 one I do also think my dad was so committed 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:09.440 and it's really a public service job. You're not making 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:12.160 a lot of money, which is a shame. It's because 0:11:12.200 --> 0:11:15.840 they sort of protect us. And I think he wanted 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:18.880 me to not have to worry so much all the 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:23.080 time about finances and to put my four years of 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:25.640 college that he paid for. That was a huge gift 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:30.280 for me to use and to hopefully go and be 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:31.240 financially stable. 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:34.480 So was that the driving factor for you when you 0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:36.560 graduated college, like, I'm going to find a job that 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:39.360 will help me be as financially stable as quickly as possible. No. 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:42.000 I got a job in a nonprofit. 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:45.040 Not known for financial stability. 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:48.400 No, but so I was. I loved my job. I 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:51.880 was working for an affordable housing nonprofit still around mana 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:54.720 love them, and the CFO at the time, who was 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:57.400 probably not that much old, wasn't old, but looked older. 0:11:57.520 --> 0:11:59.520 I was in my twenties. He came and he called 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:00.800 me into his office the city said I think you 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:03.000 need to leave. I don't want you to get stuck here. 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:05.640 And it wasn't a negative. It wasn't like you should leave, 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:07.720 and because it's more a bad place. It was you 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.079 have a lot to give, you are, you have a 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:13.280 lot of energy, and go work in the private sector. 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:16.040 You can always give back and be philanthropic over time, 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:18.440 and you can always come back like he did, because 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:20.960 he had been a CFO in the sort of private 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:24.600 sector and came back. And I really took that to heart. 0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:27.719 And it was the Internet boom, and so I went 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:30.959 out and got a job at a tech startup and 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:34.720 I remember thinking, oh my gosh, I'm rich because of 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:36.960 what I was. I mean, it wasn't that much more money, 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:39.840 but it was significant for me, and I could start 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:44.120 saving to buy a house, things like that that didn't exist. 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:46.400 So I went from well, I'm going to make money 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:49.720 to a nonprofit to a tech startup to that for 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:51.559 a couple of years, and then pivoted when I got 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:54.560 recruited into financial the financial. 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:58.960 World, you had really interesting international placements, what you would 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:03.480 call yes, yes, that's great. Were the international jobs. Were 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:05.680 you trying to find something where you would move around 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:07.559 the world because I want to hear what you learned. 0:13:07.600 --> 0:13:08.600 It's just so interesting. 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:11.640 Not necessarily so. I when I was in college, I 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:13.839 studied abroad and that was for me. I mean I 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:16.200 really I had been out of I never I've been 0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:18.560 on a plane one time before I studied abroad. So 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:21.800 I went to Spain and it was amazing, and I 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:24.360 was like this whole world that I never knew existed 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:29.960 outside of sort of New Jersey, Midwest Florida, and I 0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:32.520 fell in love. I remember coming home going I think 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:36.520 I want to live abroad. And when I got to 0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:40.040 that tech startup, about six months into the job, my 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:42.480 CEO called me in and it was a very small 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:44.120 company and you said, you have a passport. I said, 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:45.720 of course, and he said, great, You're going to China 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:48.959 with our CTO and you're going to help him figure 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:52.280 out if we should set up joint ventures. He said JVS. 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:54.040 I didn't even know what it meant, and Google was 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:56.480 just starting, so he couldn't google it. And and then 0:13:56.559 --> 0:14:00.960 I went to China and it was like, wha, this 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:04.400 is amazing experiencing this culture. And I spent you know, 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:06.560 sort of the better part of two years on and 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:09.760 off there working at this company and then realizing that 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:12.120 I just loved international And so when I went back 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:15.200 to school at Georgetown, it was not because it was 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:17.680 I had a job in mine. I did a master's 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:21.840 in international relations because I loved international and learning and 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:25.800 learning about economies and political systems and certainly job the 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:29.680 sort of what was happening in their markets. But there 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:32.560 wasn't a plan. There was a I'm going to go 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:34.680 back and either work in a startup or I'm going 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:36.440 to go work in the government. There still was that 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:40.120 government in the back of my mind, and I did 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:42.920 a night program, so I was surrounded by people that 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:45.320 were working in the government, whether it was the State Department, 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:48.120 the CIA, the NSA. So I was like, this is 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:48.760 what I'm going to do. 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:49.680 And then I. 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:54.600 Got recruited by a bank which was just nowhere on 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:58.720 my radar, and that then over the next you know whatever, 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:03.000 almost twenty years took me to Mexico and London and 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:05.160 then working and traveling all around the world. 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:08.960 When you were moving, did you think every time you 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:11.160 think like this was a permanent move or you thought 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:13.200 of it as a tour of service. No. 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:16.640 I always thought, Okay, I'm and I'm very close to 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:19.680 my family, and I always thought, well, this is just 0:15:19.720 --> 0:15:22.720 going to be temporary. But I didn't know how temporary. 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:26.320 So for example, when I moved to London, the assignment 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:29.080 or the placeman was two years, and I remember having 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:31.920 this conversation with my mom like she's I'm very close 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:34.400 to her, and I said, she said, it's only two years. 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:37.200 It's going to fly by. And two years turned into seven. 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:40.360 And so when I did move back to the States, 0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:42.600 you know, and Mexico was sort of on and off 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:44.320 for two and a half years, and then I sort 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:46.880 of lived a pneumadic life on a plane in Latin America. 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:49.480 And even when I was in London, I was on 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.280 a plane almost three weeks of every month, so but 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:54.600 always in a different part of the world. So when 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:56.880 I kind of moved. When I moved back to the US, 0:15:57.000 --> 0:16:01.880 it was very difficult for me because I loved learning 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:05.080 and being and being thrust into situations where I sort 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:08.120 of have to adapt, and coming back to the US. 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:11.240 People warned me about repatriation, but I didn't really appreciate 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:15.840 it until I did it, and it was difficult. I'll 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:18.400 just say that it was difficult. I also was not 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:21.000 happy in my marriage at the time, and so I 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:23.640 think there was a lot going on when that happened. 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:26.600 But I still love the travel. I've been, you know, 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:29.600 amount one hundred and twenty eight countries, and so that's 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:31.760 just part of who I am. It's in my DNA 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:33.440 and my mom and dad always go, we don't know 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:36.000 where you came from, but it's just they gave me 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:39.680 this opportunity as a kid and growing up to believe 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:42.720 I could be anything I wanted. And I think just 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:46.240 giving me that belief and sort of reinforcing it and 0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:50.000 think for myself and become who I wanted, that has 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:54.120 driven so much of why I love international and certainly 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:57.280 you know, my job and giving it. 0:16:57.240 --> 0:17:01.400 All, will you fill in, like illuminate into a little 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:03.600 bit into the personal. When you were going through you know, 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:07.480 like twenty years of international living and international travel, I 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:10.080 feel like sometimes it's hard for me to keep friendships 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:12.600 and relationships with people like a town over or you know, 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:16.480 like a different city. Yeah, So how did that work 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:18.440 for you? Were you making friends as you went? Were 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:20.800 you keeping up relationships? Were you dating? 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:21.119 Like? 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:22.720 How did that work? Oh? 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:25.760 Absolutely? I mean, you know, I think you're you have 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:29.480 to make time to invest in relationships, right, So relationships 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:32.160 that come from your past as well as the relationships 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:34.719 that when you're in different places. And I think it's 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:37.760 really important to surround yourself with local people as well, 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:40.479 not just the people that make you comfortable, and usually 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:44.440 those are Americans. So I made it a priority wherever 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:47.440 I was to really invest time and build relationships locally, 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:49.679 and a lot of those relationships I still have. It 0:17:49.720 --> 0:17:53.600 also was very intentional about how did I stay connected 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:57.160 with my sort of network and my friend group that 0:17:57.320 --> 0:18:00.600 were still I'll call use the word home. And that's 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:03.520 what's I think pretty wonderful. Is this is like before 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:07.320 the Internet and before all the social media, so you 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:11.359 really had to take time. And then obviously social media 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:13.639 made it so much easier. I remember when Facebook came 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:16.159 out and I was moving. I was actually moving to London, 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:17.920 and it was like, oh, this is a great way 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:19.879 to stay connected, and it really was. And it was 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:23.480 also allowed people to see what you were doing. So 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:25.440 many people thought I was in Cia because they're like, 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:28.399 you're in a different country every week. So that and 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:30.919 then you know, I got married when I was in 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:34.880 London and my now ex husband, but my then person 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:39.080 was living in New York and so we got married, 0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:41.600 he moved to London and spent a couple of years 0:18:41.640 --> 0:18:45.120 in London together before my job. The job opportunity brought 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:46.679 me back to the US, but that was always going 0:18:46.760 --> 0:18:48.640 to be the thing that I wanted to do as 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:52.280 my parents got older. But it was definitely it wasn't easy, 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:55.080 but I think you really have to make an effort 0:18:55.520 --> 0:18:59.480 and and build that. And by the way, I also say, listen, 0:18:59.840 --> 0:19:01.760 I I'm not going to be in touch all the time, 0:19:01.800 --> 0:19:03.879 but when I am in touch, let's make the most 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:07.080 out of it. And all of my US trips back home, 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:10.040 I would really make it a point to see the 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:12.160 people that mattered to me. It wasn't just I saw 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:14.360 my parents and my nieces and nephews, which I did see, 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:16.280 but it was like those those friends that I really 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:19.760 needed to to also fill me up personally and also 0:19:19.840 --> 0:19:21.800 invest in them. It was important to me and be 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:24.600 there for their special you know, events in their life 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:27.960 and their weddings and experiences. Just because I wasn't in 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:30.680 living in that area didn't mean I shouldn't make time 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:33.000 for it, and I did. So let's talk about when 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:35.720 you started to think about pivoting out of the corporate career. 0:19:35.840 --> 0:19:37.840 Was it when you came back to the US because 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:40.280 you stayed in it for a little while? Still, right, Yeah, 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:42.960 I stayed for a couple of years, and you know, 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:47.679 I loved I loved my job. I love managing people, 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:51.879 I love clients, I love deals, and and so when 0:19:51.920 --> 0:19:54.080 I when I decided that I was going to leave 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:56.679 banking or at least, you know, take a stop in 0:19:56.760 --> 0:19:59.000 that part of my career, it wasn't because I didn't 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:01.800 love it. I think the culture where I was was 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:04.440 not the right culture for me. And I also, in 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:08.560 a very again pivotal conversation with my one of my mentors. 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:11.720 He said, you know, you need to go somewhere and 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:14.640 build your continue to build your career somewhere where you're 0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:17.480 able to have a tremendous amount of impact, because that's 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:20.159 when you get I don't want to use the word board, 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:23.000 but you start to feel sort of antsy when you're 0:20:23.119 --> 0:20:27.879 not having an impact. And so that was a really 0:20:28.320 --> 0:20:31.160