We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kathy Sebuck. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kathy below.

Hi Kathy, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

For more than 25 years I worked in corporate tech sales and marketing leadership roles for startups and Fortune 500 enterprise software companies in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors like Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, SAP, and Amazon Web Services. In 2019 at the height of my career, I walked away from it all to launch my own business consulting company called Marchitecture (www.marchitecture.tech).

For many years I managed client projects as a side hustle and following 12 months of business planning, I was ready to launch a new chapter in my career. Three months later, the pandemic hit and as the world came to a grinding halt, I found myself with the opportunity to create a new adventure. After living and working in the DC Metro area for 18 years, I put my house up for sale in 2020, packed up my life, two cats, and drove across the country to California like a Thelma and Louise movie scene. My idea of living on lock down in a warmer climate like San Diego, provided a better opportunity to “play outside” year-round and keep me grounded during this crisis.

The pandemic brought with it many challenges and opportunities as I lost my Dad to Covid and published a book to share a different perspective I call Connected Balance^TM. My book, Waves of Change: Growth Mindset Tools for Connected Balance, offers ancient wisdom, historical tested concepts, business insight, and innovative ideas all wrapped up in storytelling offering several growth mindset tools I have used over the years to help fuel my own growth and success (www.kathysebuck.com). As I continue to work on my own personal alignment, I now provide business consulting services, mentoring, coaching, and teach workshops focused on Connected Balance, mindful leadership, business transformation, and storytelling to educate and drive business growth. In 2023, I celebrated my 5-year company anniversary as I work with all types of leaders to help them build their business (and life) from the inside out.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

AftI grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago in a family focused on education and sports as my parents worked in high school guidance counseling, and my Dad coached high school football for 56 years. After I graduated college in the early 1990s when the tech sector was taking off, I decided I wanted to be part of that wave of change. My marketing communications (marcom) skillset was instrumental to software startups in this new business sector, as I worked with executive leadership teams to develop messaging, customer content, and share success stories (before storytelling was a thing) to connect with target audiences and market products and services. Following that five-year stint with startups, I took that knowledge and went to work for several Fortune 500 tech companies over the next 20 years.

Marcom fundamentals such as branding, messaging, content development, channels, and tactics, are an integrated core function of a successful business strategy and often minimized or overlooked – especially in tech. Products usually lead a conversation in tech (can you say AI?), however, how things work is less important to a client or customer vs. the business impact and outcome realized as a result. My business consulting services focus on developing integrated marcom strategies that tie together these components and highlights the stories that solve customer problems, create impact, and business transformation. I work with clients to identify the “why, how, and what of a company’s business value, and apply that information within a bigger strategic framework to “build a business from the inside out” to achieve the best outcomes.

My interactive workshops focus on learning about and applying mindful leadership, personal alignment, growth mindset tools, storytelling, and communications fundamentals to create successful outcomes. As someone who grew up playing various sports, became a D1 collegiate track athlete, and a competitive age group triathlete for 20 years, it is these transferable skills focused on teamwork, collaboration, and a growth mindset that has fueled my business success. I am most proud of my book and helping develop the confidence and business success for my clients, startups, and students that I mentor and support. By developing clear goals, providing education, and sharing practical tools, I have the privilege of facilitating connected empowerment, personal growth, and business transformation to help people and companies thrive.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The lesson I had to unlearn was my definition of business success. It is no longer about reaching a certain financial level or title, it is about creating personal alignment and building authentic relationships through collaboration that creates my happiness and personal satisfaction. My favorite quote “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” attributed to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, really is how I approach business and life. When individuals come together to share information, stories, and best practices, it is amazing what can be achieved, and how fun it is to celebrate those accomplishments together.

Unfortunately, traditional business models are usually inefficient, siloed, and lack cross-functional collaboration, because they are hyper focused on immediate profitability. I have seen this model inside several types of companies, which usually is a smoke screen for poor executive leadership and lack of vision. Sacrificing people, self-care, and ignoring work-life balance for short-term gains, is not a sustainable business strategy and a key reason people leave jobs. History and a growth mindset teach us that anything is possible when a team has effective leadership that is people focused and includes team players that are curious learners. It is time to reimagine what is possible through connection and collaboration! :)

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Here is the suggested reading list from my book:

• After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again, Dan Santat
• Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One, Dr. Joe Dispenza
• Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, Jim Collins & Jerry I. Porras
• Change Your Questions Change Your Life: 10 Powerful Tools for Life and Work, Dr. Marilee Adams
• Deep Work, Cal Newport
• Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success, Adam Grant
• GRIT: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, Angela Duckworth
• Hardwiring Happiness, Dr. Rick Hanson
• Humor Me: America’s Funniest Humorists on the Power of Laughter, Anthology
• Liminal Thinking: Create the Change You Want by Changing the Way You Think, Dave Gray
• Manifesting Change: It Couldn’t Be Easier, Mike Dooley
• Miracles at Work: Turning Inner Guidance into Outer Influence, Emily Bennington
• Radical Forgiveness, Colin Tipping
• Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, Simon Sinek
• Swimming Lessons: Life Lessons from the Pool, from Diving in to Treading Water, Penelope Niven
• The Ascent of Humanity, Charles Eisenstein
• The Choice: Embrace the Possible, Dr. Edith Eva Eger
• The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, Don Miguel Ruiz
• The Missing Piece Meets the Big O, Shel Silverstein
• The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle
• The Quantum Leap Strategy, Dr. Price Pritchett
• The Universe Has Your Back, Gabrielle Bernstein
• The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself, Michael A. Singer
• Transformational Presence: How to Make A Difference In a Rapidly Changing World, Dr. Alan Seale
• Unexpected Awakenings, Sharna Langlais
• Walden, Henry David Thoreau
• You2: A High-Velocity Formula for Multiplying your Personal Effectiveness in Quantum Leaps, Dr. Price Pritchett
• You Are a Badass, Jen Sincero

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.marchitecture.tech/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebuck/
• Other: www.kathysebuck.com