Letting Her Speak with Catherine Porth

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Hi, everybody.

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Welcome to another episode of Connect the Knox.

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I'm your hostess with the mostest, Julia

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Hurley, connecting Knoxville to the nation.

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Today's guest is Catherine Porth, North with a P, and she has

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created an amazing opportunity here in the Knoxville market

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and East Tennessee area for a company called Let Her Speak.

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And that's exactly what we're going to do today.

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Catherine, thank you for being with us.

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Tell our listeners about Let Her Speak.

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Uh, yeah, well, thank you so much for having me.

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So, Let Her Speak is a non profit organization.

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We started under a fiscal partnership with the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center,

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so we would not exist without their belief in what we were trying to do.

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It started actually just as a event in 2017.

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I had an idea when I first moved to Knoxville of recognizing that I was coming

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into contact with a lot of women across a lot of different backgrounds, fields,

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sectors, but they were all segmented by those backgrounds, those sectors,

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those industries, and it felt very much like we weren't connected as a city.

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Especially the women, but we were all talking about the exact same issues,

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the exact same barriers, and oftentimes if you are around the same people

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over and over again, and you get that hive mentality or that groupthink, it's

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really difficult to break out into having more innovative ideas or even trying

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to break the cycle and break the issues that a lot of women were facing.

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So I had an idea for an event.

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I interviewed a lot of women during 2017 to understand as a newcomer what

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had already existed in the city, what is something new that could exist

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that might be able to help break that cycle and how things had been done

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in the past, especially with a lot of new folks coming into the city.

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And in 2018, I started with an event, we

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called it the Letterspeak Women's Summit.

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And we sold out, we had 50 women there, six speakers talking about all

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the things that usually we're told we shouldn't really talk about out loud

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or we're ashamed to talk about out loud, mental health issues, bullying.

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Trying to talk through intergenerational issues of

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communication across generations and a lot of other things.

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And women shared their stories that they have never shared publicly

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before around a lot of different struggles that they've had and

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connected with the women that were there that everybody felt like

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they had an opportunity to speak, to share their stories, to be very

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authentic and real and open and honest about, I'm facing this too.

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Don't believe everything on social media or don't

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believe what gets perceived out in the public.

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I'm struggling.

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And, um, it worked so well that women kept asking me to do more.

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I was in grad school, so there was only so much

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I could do at the time as I was getting my MBA.

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But once I graduated and started understanding what it was I had built.

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By accident, really, and in 2020, because of the shutdowns, it ended

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up being a blessing in disguise for me, despite the horrible things

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that were happening in our communities across the entire globe.

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It gave me an opportunity to really reset and think about the

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fact that I had created something bigger than I had anticipated.

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And it was meant to be something that could be

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much larger than I was giving it credit for.

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And so from there, we launched into understanding that we're actually

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developing women to be leaders and that we need more women in leadership roles.

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We need those different perspectives.

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We need those lived experiences.

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And women need a stronger support system to support them

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in getting into those leadership roles and recognizing

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that they are capable of being leaders themselves.

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And along with that is understanding wealth and money and finances that

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comes along with it and asking for your worth and knowing your worth.

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It comes along with getting more involved in local politics and civics.

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in getting more, uh, in tune with our own

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well being and our mental health and wellness.

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So we've been launching a lot of programs to holistically look at what is the

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support that a woman in leadership needs to have a healthy leaders, empathetic

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leaders, and the leaders that our modern world is really searching for.

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I love that.

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So you came from a corporate background, I assume.

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That, uh, you also experienced some of the same

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ceiling issues, maybe is a good, glass ceiling issues.

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Witnessed it, experienced it, probably shared a lot

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of that conversation, was able to bring that with you.

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Tell us about your corporate experience and leaving corporate.

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How has that been?

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Yes, all of the above.

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Uh, I decided I was going to go into the business

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field in some way when I was, 13, 14 years old.

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So I started taking business classes when I was really young.

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I knew to be expecting that there was a glass ceiling.

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I always knew that that was something to be looking for.

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But what I was not expecting was that the mean girl

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mentality that is so pervasive when we're teenagers.

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does not stop the minute that you step into adulthood.

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It's still very much there.

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It very much feels like there's only room for so many of us at the top.

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The, the opening is so small and we don't necessarily encourage a

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culture of, well, why, why don't we widen that, that space that seems

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to be the limiting factor for us to get through that glass ceiling?

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But also the, the, all of the quiet work and the invisible work

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that women do, uh, that the planning of the birthday parties,

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checking in with each other, being the quote unquote mom in

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the group that takes care of everybody else and is the go to.

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I, um, took on that role in part of my corporate life, uh,

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several other women that were a little bit more mature, a

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little bit more set in understanding the world around us.

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We really became those touchstones of those,

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those moms in the group and planning everything.

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And you don't get promotions because of that.

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You, it doesn't come into your performance reviews.

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You don't get bonuses because you took care

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of the mental health of your employees.

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When really that should, very much be a part

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of, I feel like, a leader's performance.

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And so there was a lot of those factors that not only

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I experienced, but the women around me experienced.

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Um, I mean, in all honesty, harassment is still very much a thing.

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And we can't ignore that it is not, and it happens.

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And a lot of times anymore, it's more under the radar.

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It's not so, you know, it's, it's not like, uh, Mad Men where it's very obvious.

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Never want to relive that situation.

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Exactly.

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You know, it's not, it's not as obvious, but it is there and it happens.

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And women still continue to feel that they need to take on

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that burden of not sharing it because they feel shameful.

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that had happened to them.

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And so I ran into that with my colleagues.

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So yes, out of a lot of frustration was really channeled

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and that energy was channeled into creating Let Her Speak.

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It's not something that isn't discussed, I would say.

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It's something that really and truly solutions have yet to be found.

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And continuing to talk about it and shed light

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on it is a massive opening for solutions.

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Not problems.

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And that is something that we've always talked about in our family.

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My husband, God bless his heart, is surrounded by all women

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except for the two dogs who have been fixed, so there's that.

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And he is constantly surrounded by females and a different perspective.

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And even in his, um, leadership in our home, our conversation

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will still be very different on very specific subjects.

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And it's always a learning opportunity.

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to share a conversation.

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Our daughter is about to be 12 years old and her language patterns

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are starting to become prevalent around what is affecting her.

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And the girls, as you said, the main girl and

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junior husband, when I start, it doesn't stop.

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And some of the conversation and language patterns that we are learning as

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she is growing, um, are always a, always a challenge and an opportunity for.

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Um, for my husband to learn how to be a different

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kind of leader and be more female oriented.

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Like, for example, we went, we took a trip to, um,

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somewhere in South Carolina, very popular place.

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And now I can't remember the name of it.

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Anyway, we're there.

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There's a bunch of road construction.

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It's pouring down rain.

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We come out of the restaurant.

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We don't have umbrellas.

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There's no umbrella stores.

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We, we're going toward the path that we came down to get to the restaurant.

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My husband says, there's a shortcut, let's take that shortcut.

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And I said, no, I don't think we're going to take that shortcut.

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And it was where all the construction was, all these big walls, blockades.

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You couldn't see through it, you couldn't see past it.

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I don't know what was on the other side of it.

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And immediately, as a female, the very first thing I thought

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of was, I don't know who was on the other side of that.

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That's not the way we came.

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I didn't see any lights on that street.

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There's no restaurants on that street.

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I don't see any doors open on that street.

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This is a potential for danger.

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And he saw a shortcut and it was us versus him.

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And he was adamant that we take this shortcut.

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And I said, okay, well, we'll meet you on the other side of it then.

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We're going this way, you know, and when we got to the other

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side of it, he was waiting, he was very much a shortcut.

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I mean, we, he was waiting for us.

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And, uh, and I explained to him, I said, Hey, From a female perspective,

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this is why I was adamant that we went back the way that we came.

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And I understand that as a male, you were literally looking for the biggest

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and fastest solution you could come up with, and you were doing what you

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thought was the fastest route to get us out of the rain and take care of us.

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But in my mind, I saw a hundred other things that could have gone wrong

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with that situation because I'm a woman and your daughter is a woman.

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And these are the things that we have to think about all the

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time that doesn't even occur to you to have to think about.

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And just the look on his face of just sheer sad that he had it occur to

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him and that he's supposed to be the protector of his family, you know.

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And we have these conversations often and he is very

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conscientious of space now, unbelievably aware of where,

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where we are at all times and kind of the, the things.

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But these, that's just a pattern of behavior that women have to navigate

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through in a parking lot, or an elevator, and especially in the corporate world.

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So I appreciate and applaud your effort in that.

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What avenues since 2017 have you been able to take in the Knoxville

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market to forward that, that, um, change in groupthink, as you said?

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I think groupthinking is a very good Term for that term, what

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have, what have you been able to physically see, uh, or palatable

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conversation to share that's changed in the Knoxville market?

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I've seen a lot of, a lot of shifts and a lot of changes I've seen.

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Um, so I'm very intentional with the way that I

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curate the culture and the ethos of Let Her Speak.

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and the expectations of any woman that enters into a space that was curated

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by Let Her Speak, that we seek to understand, we allow every woman to

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speak, we approach every conversation with kindness and without judgment,

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and, and see the opportunities and the possibilities in every woman.

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that comes our way.

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And I've seen that any room that we curate that is a Let Her Speak

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space, it is amazing the, the hope and the positivity and the

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joy that springs out of the women that enter into those spaces.

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Um, because we firmly believe every human,

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um, deserves to be seen, heard, and valued.

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And every human desires to be seen, heard, and valued and that a lot of

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issues and a lot of traumas are rooted in not feeling seen, heard, or

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valued at some point in our lives and trying to overcome that in some way.

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And so it pops up in, in different ways that can be, um.

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that can be destructive to a lot of environments.

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And so the women that have come to our events or engaged in our programming

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or even, uh, listened to our stories that we share online or, uh, whether

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it's written or, or the recordings that we do, uh, a lot of women see hope.

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that where they're at isn't necessarily where they

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need to stay if they don't want to stay in that space.

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Uh, we've had women that have stepped out and realized that starting a business

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and having that, um, freedom was really what they were wanting to do, but

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they just didn't know if they had the right, if they could do it on their own.

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And so they found people to help support them through that.

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I mean, we've had women that, as I mentioned, they've never shared their story

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and now that is a huge part of the work that they do is to They had that safe

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space to do that, that brave space, and now they do it all over the world.

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They share their story everywhere that they possibly

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can because they recognize how powerful it was.

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You are seeing women hold their heads up a little bit higher, um, speak up a

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little bit more, especially in rooms that it's not all women because studies

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show that still to this day, even if there's gender parity in a room, and

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let's talk about a classroom, it is still very difficult for a lot of women

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to speak up, to answer a question, to ask a question in the room and without

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feeling shameful because they feel like they don't know 100 percent the answer

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or they, they feel like they, somebody might look down on them for that.

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And that's one of the things that we're trying to help shift is that's okay.

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And that one of the things that we can do as women in that room to

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truly what it truly means to support another woman is if there's

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only two of you in that room, what can we do to second each other?

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What can we do if we recognize that a woman had something

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to say and she got talked over that if we can, if we

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pull that, if we pull the conversation towards us.

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How can we redirect it back to her and

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say, Hey, you were about to say something.

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Um, and so I want to make sure that your point gets made.

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So can you please elaborate on what you were about to say?

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So there's a lot of those little things that we do to help support women,

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but also at the same time, you know, we're not anti-man by any means.

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I mean, I am, I'm married to a man, I have a son, you know, guys are great.

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And so we are very intentional again with, we

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are not here to bash the, to bash another gender.

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We're not here to say that one is better than the other, but that we all

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together, um, need to understand our part in overcoming these barriers

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and these obstacles and these inequities that exist in our society.

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And so I have conversations with guys all the time of helping

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them to understand similar to your husband of these things that

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you've never had to see or experience what that's like for a woman.

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Um, the things that, that because of who you are and,

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and, um, the gender you were born that you didn't have

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to go through a lot of the same issues that we did.

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So that was, uh, that's something that we're still continuing to work on.

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What kind of programming or support can we offer to help men be allies for us

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and to help, um, be more empathetic and understanding of these situations that

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they don't always see all the things that we have to see because we are women.

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We all know that real estate is location, location, location.

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pairing buyers and sellers with the right opportunities.

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We have the expertise throughout every Knoxville surrounding area.

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Call Just Homes Group today.

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From a very early age, I will say that oddly enough,

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I'm not sure how I was born with that mentality.

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And I am the person that, that will absolutely talk through you

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if you interrupt me in a meeting, especially if you're a man.

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The minute you think you're opening your mouth when I speak

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and I even see I'm going to keep talking exactly like this

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until you stop talking and then I'm going to finish my point.

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Been like that since about the age of five.

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Never understood how I ended up with that personality.

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Uh, but I really have spent a very large portion of my

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career helping other women in my sphere learn that trait.

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It's, oh, well, you need to get out of my seat.

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Or, you can get your own coffee.

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You can grab me one while you're up.

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Thanks, Stan.

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You know, things like that.

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You can be much, much nicer about it.

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But, throughout that, throughout my years of, of leadership, um, I have found

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that, finding a female ally in a leadership position is increasingly more

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difficult and I have focused a lot of my future toward the younger generation

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to ensure that they are pulled in a direction where they feel supported.

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Because I can say, throughout my years in banking, in the corporate

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industry, in politics, I did not get that support from other women.

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So finding your company in the Knoxville market is huge because we have a

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very small buckle of the Bible Belt, which I love, specific way of leadership

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in this, this area that has yet to encompass full-blown female leadership.

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What can the people in the community do to reach out to you, to help you?

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To include themselves?

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To be included?

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Uh, to contribute?

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What are you looking for?

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So right now we are in a state of expansion.

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So in March of this year, on purpose in March because it's Women's

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History Month, we established our and filed our paperwork for our 501c3.

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coming out of our fiscal partnership with KEC because

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we saw that this can be much bigger than Knoxville.

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And so we, um, we needed to really embrace the fact that this can be

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much bigger, and I need to believe and show that I know it can be bigger.

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So we need to put on our, our, you know, our big pants

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and say, okay, we're going to do this on our own.

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And, uh, part of what we are doing with our expansion is understanding that

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there is a continuum, much like we were, you were talking about of reaching back

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and supporting the next generation of women and girls that are coming behind us.

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And I've recognized that exact same thing.

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So while a lot of our core programming is really about helping women

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that feel like they got left behind, they weren't in, maybe they

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weren't in the Talented and Gifted program, or maybe they didn't

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recognize that they could be in leadership or their lives had, had

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them taking a lot of side roads for a while before they, they really

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started recognizing and seeing their own power within themselves.

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And, um, there's no, and they feel like there's no longer

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opportunities for me because I'm quote unquote too old.

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Or I, I should know all of these things by now because I'm

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in my, my thirties, my forties, my fifties, my sixties.

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Um, and in all, honestly, we're all learning all the time.

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Nobody has it all figured out.

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And so we want to give those opportunities to women to, um, to be able to feel

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like they are empowered and getting the education that they desire for that.

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But the continuum of how do we break that cycle, um, we're building out

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programming for preteen girls as well as women that are in that 18 to

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23 age range as well to help them, um, with the, the education and the

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bonding and the conversations that a lot of us that have now grown out of

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that, recognize, I wish that this would have happened much younger, that

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I didn't have to struggle this way, that I didn't have these barriers put

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up, that I put up myself because of the community that was around me, or

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maybe the, the types of people that were around me that weren't helpful.

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Uh, so from a support standpoint, we're going to be

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opening up very soon, um, opportunities for folks to raise

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their hands, to be a part of, um, advisory board members.

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as well as different committees and volunteerism with

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supporting these new programs that we have coming out.

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Uh, we also, um, of course, because we're on our

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own, fundraising is going to be, is a huge thing now.

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So any fundraising of, uh, donors, individuals, but we also, um, a part of

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our fundraising is that we do workshops for corporations, individual groups.

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Um, organizations, uh, all types of different

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environments and it doesn't have to be just all women.

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We do workshops for men and women, uh, across topics of imposter

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syndrome and understanding our strengths, our superpowers,

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uh, under looking at goal setting, but goal setting from the

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mindset of what we're doing every day is building our legacy.

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We all have a legacy to leave behind, and what we do every single

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day is building towards that, or it's taking away from that.

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Uh, and then we're working on a new workshop as well that's around

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embracing and celebrating failures, and that they're a necessity for growth.

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And so those workshops actually directly, uh, help fund our other programming

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that we do, that we offer for free, or that we offer at a very reduced cost.

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to ensure that um, financial barriers do not exist for the women that

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are really wanting our programming and, and wanting to attend our events.

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I love that.

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We have a, uh, conversation at the dinner

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table, tell me what you failed at today.

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Cause if you didn't fail at anything, you didn't try anything new.

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So you have to tell me something every day that you failed at.

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So I know that you tried something new cause

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no one perfects anything the first time.

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So, a fail, a failure is a failure forward.

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It's a learning experience.

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I love that program.

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Where can people find you online?

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LetHerspeakUSA.

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org.

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Okay, and this is your Knox, your, when is your 501c3 going to be through?

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Do you know how long that takes?

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I know that they're working on it right now.

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So, uh, yeah, we've been in conversation

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with the IRS to make sure everything's good.

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So it should be coming very soon.

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Well, they do move at a glacial pace.

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Is there anything that you would like to add to this podcast?

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You've been extremely helpful in explaining what Let Her Speak is.

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I fully am aware of your concept.

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And I'm impressed with the conversation, uh, albeit, uh,

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had not had an opportunity to meet with you before, but

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it is my endeavor to connect Knoxville to the nation.

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It is exactly what I have strived for for over a decade is to ensure

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that people are connected to what and who they need to be connected to.

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So put it out there for everybody.

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We have about 14,000 subscribers to this podcast

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and about 178,000 subscribers to our TikTok channel.

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What would be your wish, if you put it out there to the world it might

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come back to you, more than likely it will, what would be your ask?

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I want Let Her Speak to be in every city across the world that

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women are feeling that there's nothing out there for them.

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Um, especially those smaller secondary, tertiary cities,

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but also areas of the world, um, that women don't have an

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opportunity to, um, share their story to be seen and to be heard.

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Uh, and that's my wish is that this ethos And this dream becomes

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something that is shared across the world and that we're able to see a

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fundamental shift in what the future of leadership really looks like.

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I love it.

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Catherine, thank you so much for being with us today.

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Everybody, this is Connect the Knox.

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I'm Julia Hurley, connecting Knoxville to the nation.

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Until next time.

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Thank you for tuning into the show.

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Make sure to like and subscribe.

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00:23:03,180 --> 00:23:06,109
Leave a five star review on your podcast player of choice.

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00:23:06,435 --> 00:23:08,514
And if you would like information on moving

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to Knoxville, send me a private message.

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As always, this is Julia Hurley connecting Knoxville to the nation.