Plan For Success, Run Your Own Race with Cate Luzio
In this episode of Good Enough for Now, we hear from Cate Luzio, the Founder & CEO of Luminary, a membership-based career and personal growth platform and collaboration hub.
After years of mentoring other women and growing her own career, Cate built Luminary to shift systemic challenges in the workplace to uplift and upskill women through all phases of their professional journey.
Tune in to hear Cate discuss how taking risks, leaning into your confidence, and creating impact have allowed her business to soar despite recent global and economic bumps in the road.
Join Luminary for their 2nd Annual #InThisTogether Women’s Summit virtually on March 9th. Register Here.
LISTEN NOW
what we cover in this episode:
Leveraging transferable skills you've cultivated from prior work experience when beginning a new venture
Leaning into your confidence as a business person
Making impact the primary measurement of success
Recognizing the collective power of community to make change
Surrounding yourself with people who will lift you up and asking for help when you need it
Flexing your pace at work and in life to reflect your priorities and needs as they evolve over time
Resources
Follow Cate Luzio on Linkedin
Follow Luminary on Linkedin
Follow Luminary on Instagram
Follow Cate Luzio on Instagram
Visit the Luminary website
What Good Enough For Now means to Cate:
When I was a banker, I would've probably said, there's no such thing as good enough. You've gotta be great, you've gotta be an all-star every single day.
And I think to an extent, I wanna be an all-star every day, but I can't. I don't have to be doing every single thing every day. It's not sustainable, and it's not realistic. For the younger generation and in particular girls and girls of color, we have to show them that not everybody needs to be at the top at the C-suite, climbing the ladder every day.
It's okay to be happy with where you are and pause and reflect. You're running your own race. Sometimes you're limping along and sometimes you're in a sprint and sometimes you're just at a good pace.
ABOUT
Luminary is a membership-based career and personal growth platform and collaboration hub created to uplift and upskill women through all phases of their professional journey. Members comprise a multigenerational and intersectional community of individuals, intrapreneurs, entrepreneurs, corporations, and organizations including UBS, WW, JPMorgan Chase, Unilever, Verizon, Goldman Sachs, Mastercard, and Heidrick & Struggles.
Before starting Luminary, Cate Luzio spent 20 years in financial services. She was global head of multinational corporate banking for HSBC, she also served as head of multinational corporate banking at J.P. Morgan EMEA based in London. Prior to that she was in Latin America with Bank of America across both consumer and wholesale banking. She started her career working in tech in China.
Cate was named to American Banker's ‘Most Powerful Women in Banking' list multiple years in a row, is a three-time Financial Times Global Diversity Champion, and a two-time Yahoo Finance Diversity Hero. She remains committed to leveraging her extensive corporate experience to support and encourage women and push for gender equality and pay parity in the workplace.
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Stephanie Kruse (00:05):
Welcome to Good Enough for now, a podcast aimed at dismantling perfectionism. One conversation at a time. I'm Stephanie Kruse, and along with my guests on the show, we share stories of false starts, unexpected U-turns, and moments of reinvention that happen as we move through life. Thanks for joining me. My hope is that our conversations will help you stay grounded, feel a little less alone, and a little bit more together.
(00:40)
Hi everyone. Welcome to March, which is Women's History Month. And while I tend to not wanna participate in performative marketing, I have to say the women that I'm talking to this month that I'm actually kicking off with, Cate Luzio in today's episode are making history all over the place. So I'm so pleased to share my conversations with them with you. Cate Luzio spent two decades in financial services leading global multi-billion dollar businesses. During this time. She also led many of the institution's, women's networks, and saw the disproportionate number of men to women and women of color in the senior ranks. She recognized the problem was a lack of investment in development of talent in the female pipeline, rather than a lack of talent itself. This observation sparked a new direction for Lu's own trajectory. She took a career pivot, wrote a business plan, and set out on a new mission to help women see a path toward advancement by arming them with tools, resources, and community to propel them to the top regardless of their professional journey.
(01:43)
In 2018, she launched and self-funded Luminary, a membership-based career and personal growth platform and collaboration hub created to address the systemic challenges impacting women across all industries and sectors. Luminaries is the ultimate career advocate, uplifting and upscaling women through all phases of their professional journey. They provide a vast ecosystem of expert led thought leadership programs, as well as in-person and virtual workshops and events. Their corporate partners include U B s, JP Morgan, chase, Unilever, Verizon, Goldman Sachs, MasterCard, and Hydrick and Struggles. Prior to Luminary, Kate was global head of multinational corporate banking for h Hssbc, managing more than 2000 employees worldwide. And prior to that, she served as head of multinational corporate banking at JP Morgan based in London. She spent her early years with Bank of America and began her career working in tech in China. Cate, it is so good to have you on.
Cate Luzio (02:40):
I'm so excited to be here and it's great to reconnect after what is now like a crazy three years of a pandemic
Stephanie Kruse (02:46):
<laugh>. I know, right? So speaking of adapting and looking at sort of where we were and where we are, tell me where you are in your life right now.
Cate Luzio (02:56):
Ooh. So personally, I'm incredibly fortunate and lucky to have an amazing partner in my life who's supported me throughout this crazy entrepreneurial journey. And just very lucky to have him as a best friend, as a partner, as just everything. And I probably even understate how much it means to me in my life, just having that by my side. So personally, it's amazing. I think on the company side, right? It's been a really crazy four years and it's hard to say that we're only four. Some days it feels like we're 20 some days it feels like we've just started and three of those years have been in a pandemic. But I'm feeling really good about the impact that the company has. I'm feeling great about the women and the men that we have as part of our community and the companies that we get to work with every day. I'm also very cautiously paranoid about the economy and a recession and the downturn because I know what that does, both from a corporate standpoint on budgets as well as individuals. But I think as a business owner, you have to be paranoid at all times because you need to make the right decisions for the company and make sure that you make tough decisions and you make them quickly. So that's kind of where I'm at right now.
Stephanie Kruse (04:13):
I think it's interesting you bring up the fact of, as a business owner being paranoid, there is always that, I don't know if it's waiting for the other shoe to drop or just contingency planning, we can call it that. Yeah. In the most simplest term, but you never know what's around the corner and you are holding the reins of all the horses. Exactly. So it's when is one gonna cut loose? <laugh>, right? Yep. So when you think about, you know, where you started and where you are, what has surprised you the most in this journey to date?
Cate Luzio (04:45):
One, to be quite honest, is how much I knew.
Stephanie Kruse (04:49):
Oh, that's amazing.
Cate Luzio (04:49):
Yeah. And all of these transferrable skills that I probably undervalued, underestimated, didn't even think about as I built this incredible career in finance. But it's been amazing because I can tap into so many different skills that I knew I had, but I think a lot of business owners kind of fly by the seat of their pants. I am not that way. I need to have a plan. I need that north star of where we going. So that part has, I think, a little bit surprised me. I think the other is how people have shown up for the organization and the company and either continue to be a part of it or advocate for it or be a champion. That's where that real impact to me comes in because it's like, wow, actually we are doing really good things. And then the last thing is just being able to see my team, right? I was used to managing bankers for my whole career. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and this is a very different world, but just being able to see my team flourish and blossom and evolve and develop. I mean, we're four years old. We're a small business. Our team we have now had Walmart, Estee Lauder, fidelity, and Deloitte recruit people from my team.
Stephanie Kruse (06:04):
What a compliment to you. I mean, that says it all. And I'm
Cate Luzio (06:07):
Excited for them, right? These are amazing opportunities and we were a part of their journey. Just like 20 years in banking was part of mine. And so it's just been wonderful to watch as someone who loves to people manage and develop talent. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> to see the team that are still here. And obviously those that go on to different roles. And I think as managers, as leaders, as founders, you have to be comfortable with that because nothing is forever and everyone is replaceable. And that is a positive thing versus a negative.
Stephanie Kruse (06:34):
What do you think makes the difference? You know, you had all these skills, but what's been the glue that has made luminary really sore for you?
Cate Luzio (06:45):
There's kinda three things being unafraid to continue to take risks, right? And I did that through my whole career, whether it was three different banks, three different countries or continents. So being unafraid to take risks, I think leaning into the confidence that I have as a person in business, not necessarily a business owner or a bank, a person in business, right? So that confidence to me and speak with authority and speak with passion. And then I think the other piece is just the fact that we continue to have such impact. That's why we're still here, right? I mean, the physical space that we started in 2019 is just one part of it that was always meant to be a vessel for the programming in the content in the community. The reason I left banking was cuz I wanted to have more impact and boy are we having that and, and lots of different ways. And I think when I look at the women and men across different professional journeys that we have in our community, both individually and through our corporate memberships, those are the three things that I think we try to lean on hard with them as well, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, where are you taking risks? Are you confident in your abilities? I was a business owner or taking that next step or going for that next role. And then three are, are you feeling in your organization and what you're doing? Are you having real impact?
Stephanie Kruse (08:09):
Yeah. And taking note of what that looks like. Yeah. So, you know, I just read a recent article, it was a post that you actually put on LinkedIn about performance reviews.
Cate Luzio (08:19):
Oh yes.
Stephanie Kruse (08:21):
<laugh>, I loved it. You got so many good comments on it as well. But you talked there about, okay, it's performance review time and decide what your goals are. Are you in career maintenance mode? Are you in career advancement mode? Ultimately though, no matter where you're at, you have to have results. Yeah. To talk to, right? You have had to have put in the work. It can't just be because you feel like you deserve it. That's what managers are looking for. And by the way, managers are burned out too. Yeah. And so you were talking about your team managing them and being inclusive in leadership, but there's the results piece. So as your journey in Luminary has gone on, gosh, there's so many results probably every day, but are there a few that bubble up for you that for you know, entrepreneurs that might be listening to this where it's really hard to know sometimes where you're making progress. How do you kind of head up occasionally and say, okay, Cate, like <laugh>, here's what we're actually accomplishing. Yeah. Your own employee performance review. What does that look like?
Cate Luzio (09:23):
So I think a lot of it for me is our KPIs. For most organizations, it's all around financials. And absolutely there should be a number of KPIs around financial metrics and retention and customer acquisition. But for me in particular, it is around impact. And so when I think of a couple of examples, right? So number one, we're an in-person community as of 2019, by March of 2020 we are no longer in-person, we're on lockdown. So we're now a digital community and we have to show up every day the same way we did in our space to be able to literally overnight go from we're doing everything in a space to, we're now trying to create engagement and impact through this digital platform that we didn't know if it was gonna work. But what I did know was that our community wanted to be a part of us.
(10:18)
They wanted the content, they wanted the connection, they wanted the information and learning. Boom. Now that's a whole business model, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. The second is towards the end of 2020, I had many business owners that were luminary members are not saying, I don't know if I can continue. Like, this is really hard. I don't have the funding, I don't have the community, I don't have the resources. And on the flip side, you had all these companies out there going, Hey, you know, women business owners, black business owners, we support you. It's like, do you really? And so I went to Unilever who we knew and they were not yet a corporate member, but we knew them very well. And I said, listen, you guys are out there saying this. How are you supporting women business owners as an example. And they were like, uh, and I pitched them our fellowship program that was supporting 290 women owned businesses across nine cities. That program has now been replicated through luminary across 11 different programs. And we've now been supporting or have supported over 1500 women business owners or women that have been impacted by job loss, job production, had to leave so that they can get the access to the community and the resources and neither of those two things. were in my business plan.
Stephanie Kruse (11:32):
Yeah.
Cate Luzio (11:33):
And so K P I, there is like, wow, we created two new whole revenue streams and opportunities and impact out of the worst thing to happen to our economy, our world, small business in our lifetimes.
Stephanie Kruse (11:48):
When you've seen, you know, either clients or members of Luminary get in that stuck place of not being able to move forward or even for yourself, what helps you or what have you seen help them get unstuck?
Cate Luzio (12:02):
I think there's a huge fear of failure. And I had this conversation last night with a friend who's luminary member but a business owner, a fear of looking weak. And I think we all have that. I think you just really have to get over it.
Stephanie Kruse (12:17):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>,
Cate Luzio (12:19):
I'm the kind of person in any job I've ever had. If I'm backed against the wall, I come out swinging. That's how I was raised. Right? And I'm gonna put my best foot forward and I'm gonna do everything in my power to make whatever I'm doing a success for the people around me. And so I think for me it's like sink or swim, right? So I'm going to always keep swimming, but I also know that I hate the word failure. I mean, I absolutely hate it because to me, the only time you fail is when you just give up. Yeah. If you decide to leave your corporate career or you decide to shut down your business or pivot, that's not giving up. That's just, you know, adapting to the new environment. You just gotta keep getting back up, right? No matter what you're doing. And this whole idea of you don't wanna seem weak. And I think for women and women of color, it's even more so, right. We have to project this, everything's great. And social media has just really done us a number.
Stephanie Kruse (13:19):
Mm-hmm.
Cate Luzio (13:20):
<affirmative>, you gotta surround yourself with people that are gonna lift you up at your weakest moments. And it's okay to ask for help. And I think in my former life as a banker, I don't think I asked for help a lot. I think I just kept going. I think in this entrepreneurial journey, the help that I asked for is much more emotional than anything because the ups and downs are horrendous and also ecstatic. And I could feel that 30 times a day. But from the outside, everyone thinks everything's good, it's great. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but it isn't always. And I think we have to also be okay with saying that.
Stephanie Kruse (14:01):
Yeah. You know, through the covid experience that we've all been through and understanding how the rug gets just pulled out from under us in more ways than we even could have imagined. It's like my LinkedIn feed all of a sudden turned into like personal journals. Yeah. Right. It was the thing that I had always hoped for in my corporate life coming to life, which is people saying, guess what I'm, I'm a human. Right? I can't just be this person that you know, is my walking bio. Right? Yeah. Every single day there's a whole lot more to me. And in fact, if I share this with you, I'm humanizing me. I'm humanizing you. I'm respecting the fact that we all have lives outside of whichever walls or virtual rooms we walk into every day. And you know, you've definitely seen that more for the members and the people that you work with and for yourself. How do you think about that in terms of humanizing our experience, but yet also keeping ourselves beholden to the fact that, you know, we have to show up professionally too? What's that feel like?
Cate Luzio (15:04):
Listen, I think so much of this is personal and what you're comfortable with sharing. Not everybody wants to share everything that's gone on in their life or mm-hmm. <affirmative> the challenges they've faced or the, the childcare issues or the caregiving. And then there's people that wanna overshare. Right? I think it's gotta be what you feel comfortable with and you as someone that's receiving that information, you also have to be able to say, is this something that I wanna receive or not? Right? I mean, I think mm-hmm. <affirmative>, your example around LinkedIn is great. Cause historically it's like Facebook and Instagram you're doing that. But you're right, even for me, I've shared more personally, but I also have a boundary, right? I don't need to share everything. Right. What I love is that people are sharing and whether it's about a toxic workplace to their childcare issues, to mm-hmm. <affirmative> menopause or whatever it is that people are starting to share the stories so that we can normalize these conversations in the workplace. Whether it's a small business to the largest companies in the world, that normalizing of conversations and that it's okay to bring that personal side, I think is a really good step forward. And I think the generations below, like your kids, it's gonna be commonplace all the time.
Stephanie Kruse (16:24):
Yeah. This blending of, or maybe blurring lines. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yes. You know, there aren't such hard and fast people that we have to be the minute we step outside of our personal lives and into our work lives, that yet at the same time we're all hopefully working towards some shared goal Yes. In the work that we get paid to do. Yes. And if I think about systems, you mentioned systems and caregiving and yes, I know that luminary has both women and men, but probably more women at this point, if I might make that assumption.
Cate Luzio (16:53):
Absolutely.
Stephanie Kruse (16:54):
So how do you see your role or Luminary's role in changing systems?
Cate Luzio (17:02):
If you had asked me this question a year ago, um, I probably would've had a little bit of a different answer just because of what's happening in the market and mm-hmm. <affirmative> central recession and I had great excitement and hope and optimism around companies really investing in their employees in different kinds of way, whether that's through luminary or other other things. Now the budget pullback, it's unbelievable. And the first thing that gets pulled back on is anything around employee engagement or these benefits that are sort of on the periphery. Right. And that's sad to me because you just spent three years trying to retain people, invest in them, understand them. Why would you want them in your organization, why do they wanna work for you? And now you're pulling that out, listen, I get it. Bottom line, you've gotta manage a business. But I think employees are the reason these companies exist.
(17:55)
So I'm disheartened by that. However, from Luminary standpoint, I think that, you know, we're still able to carve out ways that we can work with both individuals, organizations, and companies. And I see other companies, great examples, Poppy Seed Health, just incredible around pregnancy loss, fertility, that whole journey. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, Elektra Health, perimenopause, menopause, and goes back to normalizing these conversations in the workplace. And I do think that companies, over time, it's gonna be the employees that actually make the change. Cuz they're not gonna stand for not having access to the luminaries of the world and these benefits that are for them that will keep them in the workforce, that will keep them producing, that will keep them focused on results. So I think that there will be, collectively in a lot of these companies, the employees are just gonna say, we have to have these things and it's not gonna be the ERGs, it's gonna be, you know, a lot of employees and hopefully leaders saying you're absolutely right. We need these things and it's gonna take balls and ovaries, um, for, for leaders to be able to do that and stand up for their employees. But I worry also about this younger generation, they have everything instantaneously. These digital natives. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, when you get into a corporate environment, it's very different and things are slower. And so we've gotta figure out better ways to support these generations and, and people, but also just ways to work better internally.
Stephanie Kruse (19:35):
It does feel like a critical inflection point of all kinds. Right. Generationally climate-wise.
Cate Luzio (19:41):
Yeah. You know,
Stephanie Kruse (19:42):
Work-wise, health-wise, sort of all going on. It's like everything is converging amongst all of those. Yeah. So we talked about corporate world. I wanna shift back just a little bit to kind of the entrepreneurial world. I thought you had a really interesting point in one of your Forbes pieces about how venture backed businesses are the ones that sort of received the airtime mm-hmm. <affirmative> and that you chose to self fund Luminary. As you think about that, and obviously you're supporting a community which may have venture funding and you know, some of the members may be venture backed for people who are considering their own business or considering launching into the next phase of their business. How do you think about how to get some of that noise off of their table and to help them find ways to curate that success? Can look all sorts of ways.
Cate Luzio (20:38):
We had an event last night around fundraising from Angels to VC and everything in between. Um, the media has really done us founders, business owners, small, medium and large, uh, entrepreneurs a disservice. Cause they've made it that the only measure of success is raising money. And those are the companies that get press. It's a huge problem. And I'm so vocal, I talk to the media all the time about this, right? There's lots of different measures. Not all of them are measures of success. Raising money doesn't mean you're gonna be successful. And by the way, the success rate of those that raise money is, you know, less than 2%. So, so many fail <laugh>. So many, most. Right. And and the same is true for small business. That's why it's the biggest risk in your careers if you wanna become an entrepreneur. You know, I think that again goes back to these stories.
(21:29)
Like we've gotta tell all stories, you know? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I used this example last night. I said, there are thousands, probably millions of business owners that are having incredible companies, have incredible lifestyles, making lots of money that have never been on the cover or in an Inc.article or Fast Company or Forbes. Right? Right. You have to, as the business owner, define what those measures of success are. If it's, I wanna be on the cover of Inc. Okay then how are you gonna get there? If yours is, I wanna make a great living and be wildly successful and create generational wealth for my family, my community, how are you gonna get there? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, we have to stop comparing who's a success versus who's not by these different mechanisms. For me, I've had to really think hard about I'm running my own race. Right? I was running my own race in corporate America mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
(22:23)
And that kept me sane. I didn't think about everyone else. I focused on me and my career. I gotta do the same thing as a business owner. And it's hard because as a self-funded business, and by the way, I will toot my own horn here. I self-funded the business initially. So I put in capital to start the business. I've never had to put in another dollar. That's amazing. Cate. The business runs itself, not, I'm knocking on wood, but I think it's really important that if you are bootstrapping or we like to say stiletto strapping as women founders, cause it's harder <laugh>, you have to have a plan. Like what is your plan? Do you wanna run this for the next five years, 20 years? Do you wanna hands it over to someone else? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, do you wanna sell it? And by the way, your answer may change every year because the world changes.
(23:12)
Yeah. Four years ago when you met me, I would've said, I would never sell my business. I'm gonna have this. And I, the pandemic definitely has changed that. And I just like when you switch jobs, right? Mm-hmm. You know? Mm-hmm. When you, when you're in your corporate and you get the call from a recruiter, like, you're like, no, I'm so happy, but I should probably take the call to see what's out there, <laugh>. Exactly. You have to keep your options open. And I think for business owners it's always about, you know, keeping your options open. But I really think that we, we and the media has to help us change the story that, and I, by the way, this market is gonna be really hard to raise, right. Cost of capital is so much more expensive. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And if you are a business owner, if you're planning to launch, you better have a really good plan. You have better have a great product or service. Um, and if you want to raise, by the way, there's lots of ways to raise money, not just vc. You have to know the strings. Right. And be comfortable with the strings attached to that.
Stephanie Kruse (24:12):
Yeah. You know, nothing is free, nothing. So somebody invests in your company, they're gonna expect a result, uh, a return, you know, a decision that they get to make with you and you don't get to make on your own a return on their investment. Absolutely. And those accolades may be short-lived depending on the risks and how well that works out. So, and you know, the other thing that I've come to understand too is that the venture world is still very male-centric. It's very difficult for women to raise money. They're up against a, a different standard oftentimes too,
Cate Luzio (24:48):
Just like women in corporate, just like women in government everywhere. Right. But if we only focus on that, we won't change anything. And I think to be quite honest, and it's why I've always had men as part of Luminary, is men are getting tired of that conversation.
Stephanie Kruse (25:05):
Absolutely. Mm-hmm.
Cate Luzio (25:06):
<affirmative>. So instead of saying how bad it is, let's say, how can you help us? Right? How can you come along these journeys with us? And I've seen actually a number of woman co-founded businesses that have a male co-founder. Part of that's very strategic, right? But part of that is also smart. You're gonna be able to access 98% more of the capital out there if you are raising from venture. Because that statistic we keep talking about 2% or less than 2% is only for venture. Then you've gotta start thinking about bank loans, institutional loans, angel crowdfunding, you took look at crowdfunding. Women are like, I don't know, eight times more successful in crowdfunding than men. So why don't we start talking about the good statistics Yeah. And build on those that can have a domino effect over time in the venture world. But I think it's just, again, it's slow progress. And while the number decreased last year as far as it went from like 2.1 to 1.9, what's interesting is the check sizes got bigger.
Stephanie Kruse (26:11):
How interesting
Cate Luzio (26:12):
For the women founded companies, right? So if you're getting more money, um, and you're raising, I think that's also a, a statistic that we should be talking about. But this is a marathon. And what's challenging, I think, for founders that are going after the venture dollars is even though it's billions and billions, it's a small pool and it's ultra-competitive.
Stephanie Kruse (26:32):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, one of the things that you just mentioned was how it's a marathon and you're four years into this chapter, you started out with an idea, you were in a state of wonder and curiosity you made a great plan. You saw it come to life. I'm way oversimplifying <laugh> to be clear. What fuels you now? What are you curious about going forward? What's come to mind lately?
Cate Luzio (26:56):
You know, one is still thinking about the impact we wanna have and particularly for, for women business owners. I think also in helping to change these numbers in corporate America, you know, everybody in corporate America can't leave and start their own business. First of all, we need people in corporate America to work in the jobs too. It's just unrealistic. I'm constantly thinking of how can I have bigger impact. The digital for us accelerated our impact dramatically. And then, you know, 60 plus companies that we get to work with every day and helping their employees. I think the other thing for me is my like state of curiosity and wonder is who else out there doesn't wanna do this anymore and is ready to, to say where can luminary take takeover? So I'm constantly looking at are there companies to acquire that have built something great?
(27:49)
But like I said earlier, you may not wanna do it forever. Circumstances may change in founders or business owners lives, or they just want somebody else to take that on. And, and we've done that with two companies already since 2020. And that's worked out really well. So I'm always looking at who's else is out there, what are they doing well? What are they not doing well? And where could luminary either be a strategic partner or they be our strategic partner for us? But more importantly, again, how do we take what we're doing and just multiply that impact by the the thousands.
Stephanie Kruse (28:22):
Yeah. I think that's smart because if you don't look outside, you know, I can imagine that the demands on your attention are such that you could just focus on everything that happens within the walls of luminary to the end of time. Yeah. And you know, that would take all of your energy, but keeping your head up and out is so key to eliminating comparison number one, you know, searching for answers. And number two, finding ways to sort of keep your fire lit, I imagine too, right?
Cate Luzio (28:51):
Yes, absolutely.
Stephanie Kruse (28:52):
This has been so great. I could like talk about 20 more things with you, but that's for maybe the next time. So I wanna get to the last question. So this podcast is really evolved itself into one where we're really trying to take perfectionism and kick it to the curb. So when you hear that phrase good enough for now, what does that mean to you?
Cate Luzio (29:17):
So if you asked me that question when I was a banker, I would've probably said, there's no such thing as good enough. You've gotta be great, you've gotta be an all-star every single day. And I think to an extent, I wanna be an all star every day, but you can't. And I think to the, the earlier comment I made about this conversation I had Show your weakness's. Mm-hmm <affirmative> to feel like what I'm doing right now is okay enough. I don't have to be the rockstar or the all star or going after every single thing and doing every single thing every day. It's not sustainable and it's not realistic. And for the younger generation and particular girls and girls of color, we have to show them that not everybody needs to be at the top at the C-suite. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, priming the ladder every day.
(30:12)
It's okay to be happy with where you are and pause and reflect and determine again, you're running your own race. Sometimes you're limping along and sometimes you're in a sprint and sometimes you're just at a good pace. And I think right now for me, I'm at that point where I'm at a pace, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I'm no longer limping. Like I felt like in the beginning of the pandemic <laugh>, you know, I'm gonna have little different sprints, right? And then I'm gonna get back to pace. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so for me right now, that's good enough for me. But you have to surround yourself with a community and people that are gonna be okay with that and encourage you that that's also okay. I think it's really hard for women because we have so much messaging coming at us all the time. Do this, do that. Be a great mom, be a you gotta do this, you gotta be join your E R G, you gotta launch a company. It's like you can't do it all and be good at all of it. So let's be okay with where you're at in your life and if you are striving for that rockstar, fantastic. But I don't think anybody can be that every single day and we have to be okay with that.
Stephanie Kruse (31:16):
Yeah, that's a great analogy. The running, uh, at pace or sprinting or maybe limping, I feel those maybe all at the same time every day.
Cate Luzio (31:26):
<laugh>. Absolutely. Absolutely. That's most people's lives. A lot of people just don't wanna admit that.
Stephanie Kruse (31:33):
Yeah. Or feel that they can to your point
Cate Luzio (31:35):
Or feel that they can. And I think, you know, again, the whole blurring or blending of our personal and work life because of what's gone on with Covid, I think hopefully leaders have more empathy around that. And really, I always say just get to know your people, right? What's going on in their lives. You'll have a much better relationship, you'll have better performance and work product if you can actually have real dialogue. And it's both ways.
Stephanie Kruse (32:02):
Well said. So where can people find you, find luminary and get engaged with all this great work you're doing?
Cate Luzio (32:09):
So our website is we are luminary and then our Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, it's all, we are luminary and we're very active on LinkedIn. I am extremely active. That is my main platform. So you can find me on LinkedIn, just search Kate Luo, C A T E L U Z I O. Then that's where I do most of my pontificating on all of these subjects. But we love to engage, we love feedback, we want new topics, what's happening in the different ideas. So we'd love to hear from
Stephanie Kruse (32:41):
People. Great. And I'll put that all in the show notes as well so people can refer back. Awesome. Thank you so much Cate. It's been such a great, great excuse to catch up with you. Like I need one <laugh>. Um, and thanks for the time. Thank you so much for joining me. Please share the show with your friends by word of mouth, send them a text and maybe leave a rating and review. It really helps people find good enough. For now, don't forget to also follow on your favorite podcast player like Apple or Spotify so you can get new shows automatically each time they're released. You'll find show notes at good enough for now, pod.com and you can connect on Instagram at good enough for now pod. See you next time.
