Quick Lift: Mentorship That Multiplies — From Coffee Chats to Belonging

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Welcome to Loud and Lifted Quick Lift, the snack

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size episode where we turn insight into action

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before your coffee cools. I'm your host, Betsy

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Ham. Today, I'm recapping my Women Supporting

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Women conversation with Katherine Naylor -Poolman,

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founder of Our Third Place. We're digging into

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brave, non -linear career moves, mentorship that

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actually multiplies, and how belonging, not performative

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network, fuels real career growth for women in

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leadership. Let's dig into the key action items

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and takeaways. First up, brave non -linear careers

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and educated risks. Katherine graduated in 2018

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and already has about seven logos on her resume

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from some pretty amazing companies like Quibi

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and Cameo and Hello Sunshine and more. On paper,

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that may look like a job hopper, but in reality,

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she calls them educated risks. She wasn't bouncing

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from chaos. She was listening to the market and

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to her own curiosity. When something lit her

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up and she got excited like Quibi's short form

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scripts or Cameo's pandemic boom, she dug in

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and said, are you hiring? I love her aggressiveness

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in this and I love how she made the intentions

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to get her foot in the door and moved on. And

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I love her filter. Don't move just to move on.

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Move when the opportunity plus your passion plus

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your learning curve all line up. I get it. It's

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definitely very risky. It feels very risky sometimes

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to make a career move. So you may be sitting

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there contemplating should you take the jump.

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I remember having those thoughts when I was at

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Hershey and kind of passively looking for my

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next opportunity. You have those conversations

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when you're open to it. And sometimes you kind

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of know in your gut that it might not be the

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right move or the right time or the right company

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and you don't go with it. But then when you can

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take that educated. risk, as well as honestly

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going with your gut. Is it the right fit for

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you? Are you going to be able to grow? Is it

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the right fit for me? From a culture standpoint,

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taking all of those things into consideration

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and making an educated guess. So action item

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here is inventory that if you do have the opportunity

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or you're thinking about taking an opportunity,

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make an educated guess, write down the move that

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you're tempted to make, whether it's a new role,

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new industry, new city, or finally starting that

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side hustle, list the three facts that lower

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that risk, maybe it's the skills you already

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have, your savings account, the support system,

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market demand, also very important. Then decide

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one microstep. Send a DM, book an informational

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coffee, or just update your LinkedIn headline.

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You don't have to leap this week, but you do

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have to make a move from thinking about it to

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testing it. Next up, mentorship that multiplies.

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I love her quote of, I'll work for you one day.

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Catherine tells the story about a former boss

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at Quibi who looked to her and said, Catherine,

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one day I'm going to work for you. Can we just

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pause on that? That one line reframed how Catherine

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saw herself. It was bigger than her title or

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bigger than her age, especially when you're young

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and you're starting out. You're not always sure

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where your career is going to go. So having someone

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say that to her just helped to build her confidence

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and give her that support she needed to know

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that bigger things lied ahead for her. And here

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was a woman who she respected was giving her

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this amazing compliment. Now fast forward, Catherine

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saw a young woman that she knew within an organization

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that was not really getting the support she needed

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from those around her. And she picked up the

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phone and said, I want to be your mentor. I see

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so much potential in you. And can you imagine

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how that woman on the other side of the phone

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felt where she was finally feeling seen and heard

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and by someone who's amazing? So I love that

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aspect of we talk a lot about finding mentors,

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which is great. If you don't have a mentor, you

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absolutely need to find one. But let's flip the

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script on that and talk about also being a mentor.

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And you don't have to be at a certain level or

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a certain age to be a mentor. There's somebody

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that you can help. I'm sure of it. So take some

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time and think about that. Who could you reach

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out to? And again, maybe it is more of that question

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of saying, hey, I would love to be your mentor.

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Can we meet for coffee? But you can always learn

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from each other. So action item here is think

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of one rising woman you know, a colleague, someone

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from a conference, a younger leader in your company,

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and tell her that you see a lot of potential

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in her and you would love to meet with her for

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coffee on a regular basis. Next key takeaway,

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belonging over networking. Catherine created

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our third place as an answer to those awkward

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cocktail hours or the big large networking events

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where you just kind of swap business cards. She

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has created a reoccurring dinner series in already

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37 cities where there's six to seven women who

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are sitting around a table, phones away with

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just three rules, come as you are, confidentiality

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and the pivot rule. So if a conversation feels

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off, you can say pivot, no more questions asked.

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I love that it's not about titles or companies

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or positions. It's just a place to connect. I

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mean, she calls it the B club, which also sounds

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fun when they talk about babies, Botox and boobs

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and birth control. That's fair. Definitely priorities

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for many of us women. But it isn't about the

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elevator pitches and the behind the scenes dinners.

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It's a group where people actually come together

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and truly connect. Now we definitely need those

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big networking events in our lives. Sometimes

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that's how we meet people is the occasional business

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card swap or the connection on LinkedIn. But

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if there's an opportunity or a group that you

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can really get to know women and connect, it

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goes back to filling your cup. And this happens

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professionally. and personally. Sometimes we

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feel like we're too busy or it shouldn't be a

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priority or we have other things to do. But spending

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time with the right women, not just any women,

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but with the right women will make a difference

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in your life personally and professionally. So

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fill your cup. Action item here is book one event,

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whether it's a dinner, a woman circle, a professional

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cohort, something that makes sense for you and

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put it on the calendar. And then show up. Whether

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you're an extrovert or an introvert, you need

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these types of connections and relationships.

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It goes back to building community and building

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circles and being intentional about who you are

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surrounding yourself with. Lastly, ask for help

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and ditch the superwoman script. Katherine's

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a new mom. She has a baby. She's also just founded

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a company. And it's very clear she knows that

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there's no such thing as work -life balance.

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Balance means everything is equal. But her work

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is part of her life. And it works for her. And

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what makes it sustainable for her is her tribe.

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She was very quick to talk about the support

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that she has. She's lucky enough to have parents

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that are down the street and in -laws that are

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nearby and a sister who was home during the summer.

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And she's very honest about that. And it's the

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ask. And I get it. Not everyone has grandparents

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right down the corner. But it's finding that

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support that you need, whether it's through neighbors,

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whether it's through grandparents. Whether it's

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through daycare, hired help, you've got to find

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the support. And again, this varies throughout

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our lives and the part we're at. I remember those

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days of just hoping you had reliable daycare

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when you went to work and you dropped the kids

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off and if somebody was sick. And now I'm at

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the point where I have, you know, one who can

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drive and the other one who's in high school

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too. So their needs and their demands of well.

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getting the younger one around or showing up

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at events and being at volleyball games, this

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demands on us change by the time of our lives.

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And we just have to be flexible. And at the end

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of the day, we have to ask for support, friends,

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family, spouses, and as our kids go to our, we

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need to ask them for support too. So two things

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I love that she says, she's trying to not parent

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by the rules, right? In this perfection. And

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sometimes You just have to go along with it.

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It's OK if her baby ends up in bed one night.

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It's just going to happen. And as I said, she's

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unapologetic about asking for help, even when

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it's not for crisis, but for her growth. Her

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line, essentially, if you're lucky enough to

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have help, use the help. And if you don't, then

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let's try to work on finding it. From my side

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as a mom and former CEO, it was where I probably

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struggled the most. We'll drown quietly before

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we text someone for help or tell her husband

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to pick up the kids or unload the dishwasher.

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I feel like I've mentioned that one a lot. But

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we have to be able to have leadership at home

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and at work with both required delegation and

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support. Action item, at work, delegate a task

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you've been hoarding because it's faster if I

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do it. Get rid of that mindset and delegate.

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And at home, ask someone, partner, parent, friend,

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sitter for one con. thing. Pick up duty, a ride,

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watching the kids for 60 minutes, whatever you

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need. Treat it like a leadership rep, not a sign

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you're failing. Small moves, big momentum. That's

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your quick lift. If Katherine's story sparks

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something, share this episode with the woman

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in your circle who's taking educated risks, juggling

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a lot, or building her own third place. And if

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you want more women in leadership power tools,

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follow along on Instagram. Growing takes time

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and attention, but you can start today. Make

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a plan, send one message, book one dinner, ask

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for just a little bit of help. And until next

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time, stay loud and stay lifted.