September 25, 2024 • 23 mins
In this episode of ConnectTheKnox, host Julia Hurley sits down with Catherine Porth, the visionary behind Let Her Speak, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering women in Knoxville and beyond. Catherine shares her journey from corporate life to founding a movement that creates safe and supportive spaces for women to share their stories and become leaders. They discuss the cultural power dynamics women face, the importance of community and support, and Catherine's ambitious vision to expand Let Her Speak's impact globally. Join Julia and Catherine for an inspiring conversation on women's leadership and the transformative power of storytelling.
Show Highlights:
(00:00) - Intro
(00:32) - What is Let Her Speak?
(04:09) - Leaving corporate work
(06:03) - Harassment and the cultural power dynamics facing women
(10:04) - Trying to change how women are treated in society
(14:51) - Ad - Just Homes Group
(15:20) - Finding a female ally
(21:08) - Where you can find more from Let Her Speak
Links Referenced:
- Let Her Speak: letherspeakusa.org
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Hi, everybody.
Welcome to another episode of Connect the Knox.
I'm your hostess with the mostest, Julia
Hurley, connecting Knoxville to the nation.
Today's guest is Catherine Porth, North with a P, and she has
created an amazing opportunity here in the Knoxville market
(00:25):
and East Tennessee area for a company called Let Her Speak.
And that's exactly what we're going to do today.
Catherine, thank you for being with us.
Tell our listeners about Let Her Speak.
Uh, yeah, well, thank you so much for having me.
So, Let Her Speak is a non profit organization.
We started under a fiscal partnership with the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center,
(00:48):
so we would not exist without their belief in what we were trying to do.
It started actually just as a event in 2017.
I had an idea when I first moved to Knoxville of recognizing that I was coming
into contact with a lot of women across a lot of different backgrounds, fields,
sectors, but they were all segmented by those backgrounds, those sectors,
(01:10):
those industries, and it felt very much like we weren't connected as a city.
Especially the women, but we were all talking about the exact same issues,
the exact same barriers, and oftentimes if you are around the same people
over and over again, and you get that hive mentality or that groupthink, it's
really difficult to break out into having more innovative ideas or even trying
(01:32):
to break the cycle and break the issues that a lot of women were facing.
So I had an idea for an event.
I interviewed a lot of women during 2017 to understand as a newcomer what
had already existed in the city, what is something new that could exist
that might be able to help break that cycle and how things had been done
in the past, especially with a lot of new folks coming into the city.
(01:53):
And in 2018, I started with an event, we
called it the Letterspeak Women's Summit.
And we sold out, we had 50 women there, six speakers talking about all
the things that usually we're told we shouldn't really talk about out loud
or we're ashamed to talk about out loud, mental health issues, bullying.
Trying to talk through intergenerational issues of
(02:16):
communication across generations and a lot of other things.
And women shared their stories that they have never shared publicly
before around a lot of different struggles that they've had and
connected with the women that were there that everybody felt like
they had an opportunity to speak, to share their stories, to be very
authentic and real and open and honest about, I'm facing this too.
(02:37):
Don't believe everything on social media or don't
believe what gets perceived out in the public.
I'm struggling.
And, um, it worked so well that women kept asking me to do more.
I was in grad school, so there was only so much
I could do at the time as I was getting my MBA.
But once I graduated and started understanding what it was I had built.
By accident, really, and in 2020, because of the shutdowns, it ended
(03:02):
up being a blessing in disguise for me, despite the horrible things
that were happening in our communities across the entire globe.
It gave me an opportunity to really reset and think about the
fact that I had created something bigger than I had anticipated.
And it was meant to be something that could be
much larger than I was giving it credit for.
And so from there, we launched into understanding that we're actually
(03:24):
developing women to be leaders and that we need more women in leadership roles.
We need those different perspectives.
We need those lived experiences.
And women need a stronger support system to support them
in getting into those leadership roles and recognizing
that they are capable of being leaders themselves.
And along with that is understanding wealth and money and finances that
(03:45):
comes along with it and asking for your worth and knowing your worth.
It comes along with getting more involved in local politics and civics.
in getting more, uh, in tune with our own
well being and our mental health and wellness.
So we've been launching a lot of programs to holistically look at what is the
support that a woman in leadership needs to have a healthy leaders, empathetic
(04:05):
leaders, and the leaders that our modern world is really searching for.
I love that.
So you came from a corporate background, I assume.
That, uh, you also experienced some of the same
ceiling issues, maybe is a good, glass ceiling issues.
Witnessed it, experienced it, probably shared a lot
of that conversation, was able to bring that with you.
Tell us about your corporate experience and leaving corporate.
(04:27):
How has that been?
Yes, all of the above.
Uh, I decided I was going to go into the business
field in some way when I was, 13, 14 years old.
So I started taking business classes when I was really young.
I knew to be expecting that there was a glass ceiling.
I always knew that that was something to be looking for.
But what I was not expecting was that the mean girl
(04:51):
mentality that is so pervasive when we're teenagers.
does not stop the minute that you step into adulthood.
It's still very much there.
It very much feels like there's only room for so many of us at the top.
The, the opening is so small and we don't necessarily encourage a
culture of, well, why, why don't we widen that, that space that seems
(05:12):
to be the limiting factor for us to get through that glass ceiling?
But also the, the, all of the quiet work and the invisible work
that women do, uh, that the planning of the birthday parties,
checking in with each other, being the quote unquote mom in
the group that takes care of everybody else and is the go to.
I, um, took on that role in part of my corporate life, uh,
(05:35):
several other women that were a little bit more mature, a
little bit more set in understanding the world around us.
We really became those touchstones of those,
those moms in the group and planning everything.
And you don't get promotions because of that.
You, it doesn't come into your performance reviews.
You don't get bonuses because you took care
(05:55):
of the mental health of your employees.
When really that should, very much be a part
of, I feel like, a leader's performance.
And so there was a lot of those factors that not only
I experienced, but the women around me experienced.
Um, I mean, in all honesty, harassment is still very much a thing.
And we can't ignore that it is not, and it happens.
(06:17):
And a lot of times anymore, it's more under the radar.
It's not so, you know, it's, it's not like, uh, Mad Men where it's very obvious.
Never want to relive that situation.
Exactly.
You know, it's not, it's not as obvious, but it is there and it happens.
And women still continue to feel that they need to take on
(06:38):
that burden of not sharing it because they feel shameful.
that had happened to them.
And so I ran into that with my colleagues.
So yes, out of a lot of frustration was really channeled
and that energy was channeled into creating Let Her Speak.
It's not something that isn't discussed, I would say.
It's something that really and truly solutions have yet to be found.
(06:59):
And continuing to talk about it and shed light
on it is a massive opening for solutions.
Not problems.
And that is something that we've always talked about in our family.
My husband, God bless his heart, is surrounded by all women
except for the two dogs who have been fixed, so there's that.
And he is constantly surrounded by females and a different perspective.
And even in his, um, leadership in our home, our conversation
(07:23):
will still be very different on very specific subjects.
And it's always a learning opportunity.
to share a conversation.
Our daughter is about to be 12 years old and her language patterns
are starting to become prevalent around what is affecting her.
And the girls, as you said, the main girl and
junior husband, when I start, it doesn't stop.
(07:44):
And some of the conversation and language patterns that we are learning as
she is growing, um, are always a, always a challenge and an opportunity for.
Um, for my husband to learn how to be a different
kind of leader and be more female oriented.
Like, for example, we went, we took a trip to, um,
(08:05):
somewhere in South Carolina, very popular place.
And now I can't remember the name of it.
Anyway, we're there.
There's a bunch of road construction.
It's pouring down rain.
We come out of the restaurant.
We don't have umbrellas.
There's no umbrella stores.
We, we're going toward the path that we came down to get to the restaurant.
My husband says, there's a shortcut, let's take that shortcut.
And I said, no, I don't think we're going to take that shortcut.
(08:27):
And it was where all the construction was, all these big walls, blockades.
You couldn't see through it, you couldn't see past it.
I don't know what was on the other side of it.
And immediately, as a female, the very first thing I thought
of was, I don't know who was on the other side of that.
That's not the way we came.
I didn't see any lights on that street.
There's no restaurants on that street.
I don't see any doors open on that street.
This is a potential for danger.
(08:48):
And he saw a shortcut and it was us versus him.
And he was adamant that we take this shortcut.
And I said, okay, well, we'll meet you on the other side of it then.
We're going this way, you know, and when we got to the other
side of it, he was waiting, he was very much a shortcut.
I mean, we, he was waiting for us.
And, uh, and I explained to him, I said, Hey, From a female perspective,
this is why I was adamant that we went back the way that we came.
(09:10):
And I understand that as a male, you were literally looking for the biggest
and fastest solution you could come up with, and you were doing what you
thought was the fastest route to get us out of the rain and take care of us.
But in my mind, I saw a hundred other things that could have gone wrong
with that situation because I'm a woman and your daughter is a woman.
And these are the things that we have to think about all the
time that doesn't even occur to you to have to think about.
(09:33):
And just the look on his face of just sheer sad that he had it occur to
him and that he's supposed to be the protector of his family, you know.
And we have these conversations often and he is very
conscientious of space now, unbelievably aware of where,
where we are at all times and kind of the, the things.
But these, that's just a pattern of behavior that women have to navigate
(09:55):
through in a parking lot, or an elevator, and especially in the corporate world.
So I appreciate and applaud your effort in that.
What avenues since 2017 have you been able to take in the Knoxville
market to forward that, that, um, change in groupthink, as you said?
I think groupthinking is a very good Term for that term, what
(10:17):
have, what have you been able to physically see, uh, or palatable
conversation to share that's changed in the Knoxville market?
I've seen a lot of, a lot of shifts and a lot of changes I've seen.
Um, so I'm very intentional with the way that I
curate the culture and the ethos of Let Her Speak.
and the expectations of any woman that enters into a space that was curated
(10:42):
by Let Her Speak, that we seek to understand, we allow every woman to
speak, we approach every conversation with kindness and without judgment,
and, and see the opportunities and the possibilities in every woman.
that comes our way.
And I've seen that any room that we curate that is a Let Her Speak
space, it is amazing the, the hope and the positivity and the
(11:07):
joy that springs out of the women that enter into those spaces.
Um, because we firmly believe every human,
um, deserves to be seen, heard, and valued.
And every human desires to be seen, heard, and valued and that a lot of
issues and a lot of traumas are rooted in not feeling seen, heard, or
valued at some point in our lives and trying to overcome that in some way.
(11:30):
And so it pops up in, in different ways that can be, um.
that can be destructive to a lot of environments.
And so the women that have come to our events or engaged in our programming
or even, uh, listened to our stories that we share online or, uh, whether
it's written or, or the recordings that we do, uh, a lot of women see hope.
(11:53):
that where they're at isn't necessarily where they
need to stay if they don't want to stay in that space.
Uh, we've had women that have stepped out and realized that starting a business
and having that, um, freedom was really what they were wanting to do, but
they just didn't know if they had the right, if they could do it on their own.
And so they found people to help support them through that.
(12:14):
I mean, we've had women that, as I mentioned, they've never shared their story
and now that is a huge part of the work that they do is to They had that safe
space to do that, that brave space, and now they do it all over the world.
They share their story everywhere that they possibly
can because they recognize how powerful it was.
You are seeing women hold their heads up a little bit higher, um, speak up a
(12:37):
little bit more, especially in rooms that it's not all women because studies
show that still to this day, even if there's gender parity in a room, and
let's talk about a classroom, it is still very difficult for a lot of women
to speak up, to answer a question, to ask a question in the room and without
feeling shameful because they feel like they don't know 100 percent the answer
(13:00):
or they, they feel like they, somebody might look down on them for that.
And that's one of the things that we're trying to help shift is that's okay.
And that one of the things that we can do as women in that room to
truly what it truly means to support another woman is if there's
only two of you in that room, what can we do to second each other?
What can we do if we recognize that a woman had something
to say and she got talked over that if we can, if we
(13:23):
pull that, if we pull the conversation towards us.
How can we redirect it back to her and
say, Hey, you were about to say something.
Um, and so I want to make sure that your point gets made.
So can you please elaborate on what you were about to say?
So there's a lot of those little things that we do to help support women,
but also at the same time, you know, we're not anti-man by any means.
(13:44):
I mean, I am, I'm married to a man, I have a son, you know, guys are great.
And so we are very intentional again with, we
are not here to bash the, to bash another gender.
We're not here to say that one is better than the other, but that we all
together, um, need to understand our part in overcoming these barriers
(14:05):
and these obstacles and these inequities that exist in our society.
And so I have conversations with guys all the time of helping
them to understand similar to your husband of these things that
you've never had to see or experience what that's like for a woman.
Um, the things that, that because of who you are and,
and, um, the gender you were born that you didn't have
(14:28):
to go through a lot of the same issues that we did.
So that was, uh, that's something that we're still continuing to work on.
What kind of programming or support can we offer to help men be allies for us
and to help, um, be more empathetic and understanding of these situations that
they don't always see all the things that we have to see because we are women.
(14:51):
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From a very early age, I will say that oddly enough,
I'm not sure how I was born with that mentality.
And I am the person that, that will absolutely talk through you
if you interrupt me in a meeting, especially if you're a man.
(15:35):
The minute you think you're opening your mouth when I speak
and I even see I'm going to keep talking exactly like this
until you stop talking and then I'm going to finish my point.
Been like that since about the age of five.
Never understood how I ended up with that personality.
Uh, but I really have spent a very large portion of my
career helping other women in my sphere learn that trait.
(16:00):
It's, oh, well, you need to get out of my seat.
Or, you can get your own coffee.
You can grab me one while you're up.
Thanks, Stan.
You know, things like that.
You can be much, much nicer about it.
But, throughout that, throughout my years of, of leadership, um, I have found
that, finding a female ally in a leadership position is increasingly more
difficult and I have focused a lot of my future toward the younger generation
(16:23):
to ensure that they are pulled in a direction where they feel supported.
Because I can say, throughout my years in banking, in the corporate
industry, in politics, I did not get that support from other women.
So finding your company in the Knoxville market is huge because we have a
very small buckle of the Bible Belt, which I love, specific way of leadership
(16:47):
in this, this area that has yet to encompass full-blown female leadership.
What can the people in the community do to reach out to you, to help you?
To include themselves?
To be included?
Uh, to contribute?
What are you looking for?
So right now we are in a state of expansion.
So in March of this year, on purpose in March because it's Women's
(17:11):
History Month, we established our and filed our paperwork for our 501c3.
coming out of our fiscal partnership with KEC because
we saw that this can be much bigger than Knoxville.
And so we, um, we needed to really embrace the fact that this can be
much bigger, and I need to believe and show that I know it can be bigger.
(17:31):
So we need to put on our, our, you know, our big pants
and say, okay, we're going to do this on our own.
And, uh, part of what we are doing with our expansion is understanding that
there is a continuum, much like we were, you were talking about of reaching back
and supporting the next generation of women and girls that are coming behind us.
And I've recognized that exact same thing.
(17:52):
So while a lot of our core programming is really about helping women
that feel like they got left behind, they weren't in, maybe they
weren't in the Talented and Gifted program, or maybe they didn't
recognize that they could be in leadership or their lives had, had
them taking a lot of side roads for a while before they, they really
(18:12):
started recognizing and seeing their own power within themselves.
And, um, there's no, and they feel like there's no longer
opportunities for me because I'm quote unquote too old.
Or I, I should know all of these things by now because I'm
in my, my thirties, my forties, my fifties, my sixties.
Um, and in all, honestly, we're all learning all the time.
Nobody has it all figured out.
And so we want to give those opportunities to women to, um, to be able to feel
(18:37):
like they are empowered and getting the education that they desire for that.
But the continuum of how do we break that cycle, um, we're building out
programming for preteen girls as well as women that are in that 18 to
23 age range as well to help them, um, with the, the education and the
bonding and the conversations that a lot of us that have now grown out of
(19:02):
that, recognize, I wish that this would have happened much younger, that
I didn't have to struggle this way, that I didn't have these barriers put
up, that I put up myself because of the community that was around me, or
maybe the, the types of people that were around me that weren't helpful.
Uh, so from a support standpoint, we're going to be
opening up very soon, um, opportunities for folks to raise
(19:25):
their hands, to be a part of, um, advisory board members.
as well as different committees and volunteerism with
supporting these new programs that we have coming out.
Uh, we also, um, of course, because we're on our
own, fundraising is going to be, is a huge thing now.
So any fundraising of, uh, donors, individuals, but we also, um, a part of
(19:47):
our fundraising is that we do workshops for corporations, individual groups.
Um, organizations, uh, all types of different
environments and it doesn't have to be just all women.
We do workshops for men and women, uh, across topics of imposter
syndrome and understanding our strengths, our superpowers,
uh, under looking at goal setting, but goal setting from the
(20:11):
mindset of what we're doing every day is building our legacy.
We all have a legacy to leave behind, and what we do every single
day is building towards that, or it's taking away from that.
Uh, and then we're working on a new workshop as well that's around
embracing and celebrating failures, and that they're a necessity for growth.
And so those workshops actually directly, uh, help fund our other programming
(20:35):
that we do, that we offer for free, or that we offer at a very reduced cost.
to ensure that um, financial barriers do not exist for the women that
are really wanting our programming and, and wanting to attend our events.
I love that.
We have a, uh, conversation at the dinner
table, tell me what you failed at today.
Cause if you didn't fail at anything, you didn't try anything new.
So you have to tell me something every day that you failed at.
(20:58):
So I know that you tried something new cause
no one perfects anything the first time.
So, a fail, a failure is a failure forward.
It's a learning experience.
I love that program.
Where can people find you online?
LetHerspeakUSA.
org.
Okay, and this is your Knox, your, when is your 501c3 going to be through?
Do you know how long that takes?
I know that they're working on it right now.
(21:19):
So, uh, yeah, we've been in conversation
with the IRS to make sure everything's good.
So it should be coming very soon.
Well, they do move at a glacial pace.
Is there anything that you would like to add to this podcast?
You've been extremely helpful in explaining what Let Her Speak is.
I fully am aware of your concept.
And I'm impressed with the conversation, uh, albeit, uh,
(21:42):
had not had an opportunity to meet with you before, but
it is my endeavor to connect Knoxville to the nation.
It is exactly what I have strived for for over a decade is to ensure
that people are connected to what and who they need to be connected to.
So put it out there for everybody.
We have about 14,000 subscribers to this podcast
(22:03):
and about 178,000 subscribers to our TikTok channel.
What would be your wish, if you put it out there to the world it might
come back to you, more than likely it will, what would be your ask?
I want Let Her Speak to be in every city across the world that
women are feeling that there's nothing out there for them.
(22:23):
Um, especially those smaller secondary, tertiary cities,
but also areas of the world, um, that women don't have an
opportunity to, um, share their story to be seen and to be heard.
Uh, and that's my wish is that this ethos And this dream becomes
something that is shared across the world and that we're able to see a
(22:44):
fundamental shift in what the future of leadership really looks like.
I love it.
Catherine, thank you so much for being with us today.
Everybody, this is Connect the Knox.
I'm Julia Hurley, connecting Knoxville to the nation.
Until next time.
Thank you for tuning into the show.
Make sure to like and subscribe.
Leave a five star review on your podcast player of choice.
(23:06):
And if you would like information on moving
to Knoxville, send me a private message.
As always, this is Julia Hurley connecting Knoxville to the nation.
Hi, everybody.
Welcome to another episode of Connect the Knox.
I'm your hostess with the mostest, Julia
Hurley, connecting Knoxville to the nation.
Today's guest is Catherine Porth, North with a P, and she has
created an amazing opportunity here in the Knoxville market
(00:25):
and East Tennessee area for a company called Let Her Speak.
And that's exactly what we're going to do today.
Catherine, thank you for being with us.
Tell our listeners about Let Her Speak.
Uh, yeah, well, thank you so much for having me.
So, Let Her Speak is a non profit organization.
We started under a fiscal partnership with the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center,
(00:48):
so we would not exist without their belief in what we were trying to do.
It started actually just as a event in 2017.
I had an idea when I first moved to Knoxville of recognizing that I was coming
into contact with a lot of women across a lot of different backgrounds, fields,
sectors, but they were all segmented by those backgrounds, those sectors,
(01:10):
those industries, and it felt very much like we weren't connected as a city.
Especially the women, but we were all talking about the exact same issues,
the exact same barriers, and oftentimes if you are around the same people
over and over again, and you get that hive mentality or that groupthink, it's
really difficult to break out into having more innovative ideas or even trying
(01:32):
to break the cycle and break the issues that a lot of women were facing.
So I had an idea for an event.
I interviewed a lot of women during 2017 to understand as a newcomer what
had already existed in the city, what is something new that could exist
that might be able to help break that cycle and how things had been done
in the past, especially with a lot of new folks coming into the city.
(01:53):
And in 2018, I started with an event, we
called it the Letterspeak Women's Summit.
And we sold out, we had 50 women there, six speakers talking about all
the things that usually we're told we shouldn't really talk about out loud
or we're ashamed to talk about out loud, mental health issues, bullying.
Trying to talk through intergenerational issues of
(02:16):
communication across generations and a lot of other things.
And women shared their stories that they have never shared publicly
before around a lot of different struggles that they've had and
connected with the women that were there that everybody felt like
they had an opportunity to speak, to share their stories, to be very
authentic and real and open and honest about, I'm facing this too.
(02:37):
Don't believe everything on social media or don't
believe what gets perceived out in the public.
I'm struggling.
And, um, it worked so well that women kept asking me to do more.
I was in grad school, so there was only so much
I could do at the time as I was getting my MBA.
But once I graduated and started understanding what it was I had built.
By accident, really, and in 2020, because of the shutdowns, it ended
(03:02):
up being a blessing in disguise for me, despite the horrible things
that were happening in our communities across the entire globe.
It gave me an opportunity to really reset and think about the
fact that I had created something bigger than I had anticipated.
And it was meant to be something that could be
much larger than I was giving it credit for.
And so from there, we launched into understanding that we're actually
(03:24):
developing women to be leaders and that we need more women in leadership roles.
We need those different perspectives.
We need those lived experiences.
And women need a stronger support system to support them
in getting into those leadership roles and recognizing
that they are capable of being leaders themselves.
And along with that is understanding wealth and money and finances that
(03:45):
comes along with it and asking for your worth and knowing your worth.
It comes along with getting more involved in local politics and civics.
in getting more, uh, in tune with our own
well being and our mental health and wellness.
So we've been launching a lot of programs to holistically look at what is the
support that a woman in leadership needs to have a healthy leaders, empathetic
(04:05):
leaders, and the leaders that our modern world is really searching for.
I love that.
So you came from a corporate background, I assume.
That, uh, you also experienced some of the same
ceiling issues, maybe is a good, glass ceiling issues.
Witnessed it, experienced it, probably shared a lot
of that conversation, was able to bring that with you.
Tell us about your corporate experience and leaving corporate.
(04:27):
How has that been?
Yes, all of the above.
Uh, I decided I was going to go into the business
field in some way when I was, 13, 14 years old.
So I started taking business classes when I was really young.
I knew to be expecting that there was a glass ceiling.
I always knew that that was something to be looking for.
But what I was not expecting was that the mean girl
(04:51):
mentality that is so pervasive when we're teenagers.
does not stop the minute that you step into adulthood.
It's still very much there.
It very much feels like there's only room for so many of us at the top.
The, the opening is so small and we don't necessarily encourage a
culture of, well, why, why don't we widen that, that space that seems
(05:12):
to be the limiting factor for us to get through that glass ceiling?
But also the, the, all of the quiet work and the invisible work
that women do, uh, that the planning of the birthday parties,
checking in with each other, being the quote unquote mom in
the group that takes care of everybody else and is the go to.
I, um, took on that role in part of my corporate life, uh,
(05:35):
several other women that were a little bit more mature, a
little bit more set in understanding the world around us.
We really became those touchstones of those,
those moms in the group and planning everything.
And you don't get promotions because of that.
You, it doesn't come into your performance reviews.
You don't get bonuses because you took care
(05:55):
of the mental health of your employees.
When really that should, very much be a part
of, I feel like, a leader's performance.
And so there was a lot of those factors that not only
I experienced, but the women around me experienced.
Um, I mean, in all honesty, harassment is still very much a thing.
And we can't ignore that it is not, and it happens.
(06:17):
And a lot of times anymore, it's more under the radar.
It's not so, you know, it's, it's not like, uh, Mad Men where it's very obvious.
Never want to relive that situation.
Exactly.
You know, it's not, it's not as obvious, but it is there and it happens.
And women still continue to feel that they need to take on
(06:38):
that burden of not sharing it because they feel shameful.
that had happened to them.
And so I ran into that with my colleagues.
So yes, out of a lot of frustration was really channeled
and that energy was channeled into creating Let Her Speak.
It's not something that isn't discussed, I would say.
It's something that really and truly solutions have yet to be found.
(06:59):
And continuing to talk about it and shed light
on it is a massive opening for solutions.
Not problems.
And that is something that we've always talked about in our family.
My husband, God bless his heart, is surrounded by all women
except for the two dogs who have been fixed, so there's that.
And he is constantly surrounded by females and a different perspective.
And even in his, um, leadership in our home, our conversation
(07:23):
will still be very different on very specific subjects.
And it's always a learning opportunity.
to share a conversation.
Our daughter is about to be 12 years old and her language patterns
are starting to become prevalent around what is affecting her.
And the girls, as you said, the main girl and
junior husband, when I start, it doesn't stop.
(07:44):
And some of the conversation and language patterns that we are learning as
she is growing, um, are always a, always a challenge and an opportunity for.
Um, for my husband to learn how to be a different
kind of leader and be more female oriented.
Like, for example, we went, we took a trip to, um,
(08:05):
somewhere in South Carolina, very popular place.
And now I can't remember the name of it.
Anyway, we're there.
There's a bunch of road construction.
It's pouring down rain.
We come out of the restaurant.
We don't have umbrellas.
There's no umbrella stores.
We, we're going toward the path that we came down to get to the restaurant.
My husband says, there's a shortcut, let's take that shortcut.
And I said, no, I don't think we're going to take that shortcut.
(08:27):
And it was where all the construction was, all these big walls, blockades.
You couldn't see through it, you couldn't see past it.
I don't know what was on the other side of it.
And immediately, as a female, the very first thing I thought
of was, I don't know who was on the other side of that.
That's not the way we came.
I didn't see any lights on that street.
There's no restaurants on that street.
I don't see any doors open on that street.
This is a potential for danger.
(08:48):
And he saw a shortcut and it was us versus him.
And he was adamant that we take this shortcut.
And I said, okay, well, we'll meet you on the other side of it then.
We're going this way, you know, and when we got to the other
side of it, he was waiting, he was very much a shortcut.
I mean, we, he was waiting for us.
And, uh, and I explained to him, I said, Hey, From a female perspective,
this is why I was adamant that we went back the way that we came.
(09:10):
And I understand that as a male, you were literally looking for the biggest
and fastest solution you could come up with, and you were doing what you
thought was the fastest route to get us out of the rain and take care of us.
But in my mind, I saw a hundred other things that could have gone wrong
with that situation because I'm a woman and your daughter is a woman.
And these are the things that we have to think about all the
time that doesn't even occur to you to have to think about.
(09:33):
And just the look on his face of just sheer sad that he had it occur to
him and that he's supposed to be the protector of his family, you know.
And we have these conversations often and he is very
conscientious of space now, unbelievably aware of where,
where we are at all times and kind of the, the things.
But these, that's just a pattern of behavior that women have to navigate
(09:55):
through in a parking lot, or an elevator, and especially in the corporate world.
So I appreciate and applaud your effort in that.
What avenues since 2017 have you been able to take in the Knoxville
market to forward that, that, um, change in groupthink, as you said?
I think groupthinking is a very good Term for that term, what
(10:17):
have, what have you been able to physically see, uh, or palatable
conversation to share that's changed in the Knoxville market?
I've seen a lot of, a lot of shifts and a lot of changes I've seen.
Um, so I'm very intentional with the way that I
curate the culture and the ethos of Let Her Speak.
and the expectations of any woman that enters into a space that was curated
(10:42):
by Let Her Speak, that we seek to understand, we allow every woman to
speak, we approach every conversation with kindness and without judgment,
and, and see the opportunities and the possibilities in every woman.
that comes our way.
And I've seen that any room that we curate that is a Let Her Speak
space, it is amazing the, the hope and the positivity and the
(11:07):
joy that springs out of the women that enter into those spaces.
Um, because we firmly believe every human,
um, deserves to be seen, heard, and valued.
And every human desires to be seen, heard, and valued and that a lot of
issues and a lot of traumas are rooted in not feeling seen, heard, or
valued at some point in our lives and trying to overcome that in some way.
(11:30):
And so it pops up in, in different ways that can be, um.
that can be destructive to a lot of environments.
And so the women that have come to our events or engaged in our programming
or even, uh, listened to our stories that we share online or, uh, whether
it's written or, or the recordings that we do, uh, a lot of women see hope.
(11:53):
that where they're at isn't necessarily where they
need to stay if they don't want to stay in that space.
Uh, we've had women that have stepped out and realized that starting a business
and having that, um, freedom was really what they were wanting to do, but
they just didn't know if they had the right, if they could do it on their own.
And so they found people to help support them through that.
(12:14):
I mean, we've had women that, as I mentioned, they've never shared their story
and now that is a huge part of the work that they do is to They had that safe
space to do that, that brave space, and now they do it all over the world.
They share their story everywhere that they possibly
can because they recognize how powerful it was.
You are seeing women hold their heads up a little bit higher, um, speak up a
(12:37):
little bit more, especially in rooms that it's not all women because studies
show that still to this day, even if there's gender parity in a room, and
let's talk about a classroom, it is still very difficult for a lot of women
to speak up, to answer a question, to ask a question in the room and without
feeling shameful because they feel like they don't know 100 percent the answer
(13:00):
or they, they feel like they, somebody might look down on them for that.
And that's one of the things that we're trying to help shift is that's okay.
And that one of the things that we can do as women in that room to
truly what it truly means to support another woman is if there's
only two of you in that room, what can we do to second each other?
What can we do if we recognize that a woman had something
to say and she got talked over that if we can, if we
(13:23):
pull that, if we pull the conversation towards us.
How can we redirect it back to her and
say, Hey, you were about to say something.
Um, and so I want to make sure that your point gets made.
So can you please elaborate on what you were about to say?
So there's a lot of those little things that we do to help support women,
but also at the same time, you know, we're not anti-man by any means.
(13:44):
I mean, I am, I'm married to a man, I have a son, you know, guys are great.
And so we are very intentional again with, we
are not here to bash the, to bash another gender.
We're not here to say that one is better than the other, but that we all
together, um, need to understand our part in overcoming these barriers
(14:05):
and these obstacles and these inequities that exist in our society.
And so I have conversations with guys all the time of helping
them to understand similar to your husband of these things that
you've never had to see or experience what that's like for a woman.
Um, the things that, that because of who you are and,
and, um, the gender you were born that you didn't have
(14:28):
to go through a lot of the same issues that we did.
So that was, uh, that's something that we're still continuing to work on.
What kind of programming or support can we offer to help men be allies for us
and to help, um, be more empathetic and understanding of these situations that
they don't always see all the things that we have to see because we are women.
(14:51):
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From a very early age, I will say that oddly enough,
I'm not sure how I was born with that mentality.
And I am the person that, that will absolutely talk through you
if you interrupt me in a meeting, especially if you're a man.
(15:35):
The minute you think you're opening your mouth when I speak
and I even see I'm going to keep talking exactly like this
until you stop talking and then I'm going to finish my point.
Been like that since about the age of five.
Never understood how I ended up with that personality.
Uh, but I really have spent a very large portion of my
career helping other women in my sphere learn that trait.
(16:00):
It's, oh, well, you need to get out of my seat.
Or, you can get your own coffee.
You can grab me one while you're up.
Thanks, Stan.
You know, things like that.
You can be much, much nicer about it.
But, throughout that, throughout my years of, of leadership, um, I have found
that, finding a female ally in a leadership position is increasingly more
difficult and I have focused a lot of my future toward the younger generation
(16:23):
to ensure that they are pulled in a direction where they feel supported.
Because I can say, throughout my years in banking, in the corporate
industry, in politics, I did not get that support from other women.
So finding your company in the Knoxville market is huge because we have a
very small buckle of the Bible Belt, which I love, specific way of leadership
(16:47):
in this, this area that has yet to encompass full-blown female leadership.
What can the people in the community do to reach out to you, to help you?
To include themselves?
To be included?
Uh, to contribute?
What are you looking for?
So right now we are in a state of expansion.
So in March of this year, on purpose in March because it's Women's
(17:11):
History Month, we established our and filed our paperwork for our 501c3.
coming out of our fiscal partnership with KEC because
we saw that this can be much bigger than Knoxville.
And so we, um, we needed to really embrace the fact that this can be
much bigger, and I need to believe and show that I know it can be bigger.
(17:31):
So we need to put on our, our, you know, our big pants
and say, okay, we're going to do this on our own.
And, uh, part of what we are doing with our expansion is understanding that
there is a continuum, much like we were, you were talking about of reaching back
and supporting the next generation of women and girls that are coming behind us.
And I've recognized that exact same thing.
(17:52):
So while a lot of our core programming is really about helping women
that feel like they got left behind, they weren't in, maybe they
weren't in the Talented and Gifted program, or maybe they didn't
recognize that they could be in leadership or their lives had, had
them taking a lot of side roads for a while before they, they really
(18:12):
started recognizing and seeing their own power within themselves.
And, um, there's no, and they feel like there's no longer
opportunities for me because I'm quote unquote too old.
Or I, I should know all of these things by now because I'm
in my, my thirties, my forties, my fifties, my sixties.
Um, and in all, honestly, we're all learning all the time.
Nobody has it all figured out.
And so we want to give those opportunities to women to, um, to be able to feel
(18:37):
like they are empowered and getting the education that they desire for that.
But the continuum of how do we break that cycle, um, we're building out
programming for preteen girls as well as women that are in that 18 to
23 age range as well to help them, um, with the, the education and the
bonding and the conversations that a lot of us that have now grown out of
(19:02):
that, recognize, I wish that this would have happened much younger, that
I didn't have to struggle this way, that I didn't have these barriers put
up, that I put up myself because of the community that was around me, or
maybe the, the types of people that were around me that weren't helpful.
Uh, so from a support standpoint, we're going to be
opening up very soon, um, opportunities for folks to raise
(19:25):
their hands, to be a part of, um, advisory board members.
as well as different committees and volunteerism with
supporting these new programs that we have coming out.
Uh, we also, um, of course, because we're on our
own, fundraising is going to be, is a huge thing now.
So any fundraising of, uh, donors, individuals, but we also, um, a part of
(19:47):
our fundraising is that we do workshops for corporations, individual groups.
Um, organizations, uh, all types of different
environments and it doesn't have to be just all women.
We do workshops for men and women, uh, across topics of imposter
syndrome and understanding our strengths, our superpowers,
uh, under looking at goal setting, but goal setting from the
(20:11):
mindset of what we're doing every day is building our legacy.
We all have a legacy to leave behind, and what we do every single
day is building towards that, or it's taking away from that.
Uh, and then we're working on a new workshop as well that's around
embracing and celebrating failures, and that they're a necessity for growth.
And so those workshops actually directly, uh, help fund our other programming
(20:35):
that we do, that we offer for free, or that we offer at a very reduced cost.
to ensure that um, financial barriers do not exist for the women that
are really wanting our programming and, and wanting to attend our events.
I love that.
We have a, uh, conversation at the dinner
table, tell me what you failed at today.
Cause if you didn't fail at anything, you didn't try anything new.
So you have to tell me something every day that you failed at.
(20:58):
So I know that you tried something new cause
no one perfects anything the first time.
So, a fail, a failure is a failure forward.
It's a learning experience.
I love that program.
Where can people find you online?
LetHerspeakUSA.
org.
Okay, and this is your Knox, your, when is your 501c3 going to be through?
Do you know how long that takes?
I know that they're working on it right now.
(21:19):
So, uh, yeah, we've been in conversation
with the IRS to make sure everything's good.
So it should be coming very soon.
Well, they do move at a glacial pace.
Is there anything that you would like to add to this podcast?
You've been extremely helpful in explaining what Let Her Speak is.
I fully am aware of your concept.
And I'm impressed with the conversation, uh, albeit, uh,
(21:42):
had not had an opportunity to meet with you before, but
it is my endeavor to connect Knoxville to the nation.
It is exactly what I have strived for for over a decade is to ensure
that people are connected to what and who they need to be connected to.
So put it out there for everybody.
We have about 14,000 subscribers to this podcast
(22:03):
and about 178,000 subscribers to our TikTok channel.
What would be your wish, if you put it out there to the world it might
come back to you, more than likely it will, what would be your ask?
I want Let Her Speak to be in every city across the world that
women are feeling that there's nothing out there for them.
(22:23):
Um, especially those smaller secondary, tertiary cities,
but also areas of the world, um, that women don't have an
opportunity to, um, share their story to be seen and to be heard.
Uh, and that's my wish is that this ethos And this dream becomes
something that is shared across the world and that we're able to see a
(22:44):
fundamental shift in what the future of leadership really looks like.
I love it.
Catherine, thank you so much for being with us today.
Everybody, this is Connect the Knox.
I'm Julia Hurley, connecting Knoxville to the nation.
Until next time.
Thank you for tuning into the show.
Make sure to like and subscribe.
Leave a five star review on your podcast player of choice.
(23:06):
And if you would like information on moving
to Knoxville, send me a private message.
As always, this is Julia Hurley connecting Knoxville to the nation.
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