Chief Change Officer
#284 Katie Curry: Mentoring Gen Z Without Losing Your Gen X Soul
Wed, 9 Apr 2025
In Part 2 of our conversation, Katie Curry flips the script—from navigating her own reinvention to mentoring the next generation through theirs. As a Gen X leader, she draws from both parenting and management to offer real tools for leading Gen Z with clarity, empathy, and pace. Katie doesn’t romanticize change—she makes it strategic. From book recs to career advice to community wisdom, this episode is a field guide for anyone navigating a multigenerational workplace—and still trying to grow on their own terms.Gen Z Doesn’t Want Hierarchy—They Want Honesty“We need to pick up the pace—and tell the truth.”Katie breaks down what Gen Z really wants at work: clarity, fairness, and feedback that isn’t sugarcoated. She shares how leaders must shift—fast—or get left behind.The Parenting Playbook That Works at Work“I don’t lead with answers. I lead with questions.”As a mom and a manager, Katie shares the same core strategy: focus, simplicity, humility, and curiosity. No, you don’t have to have all the answers. Yes, you still have to listen.Advice for the Anxious Overachiever“Find your superpower. Build the skill. Then learn how to pivot.”Katie offers Gen Z three rules for thriving in chaos: develop what makes you valuable, build a true community, and treat change as a skill—not a flinch.The Real Power of Community“Community isn’t a contact list. It’s people who remember you 20 years later.”Katie and Vince reflect on what lasting community really means—and how Gen X mastered long-haul relationships before the age of “likes.”The Art of Learning Without Losing Yourself“I consume books, podcasts, summaries—but reflection is where it all clicks.”Katie shares her three pillars of learning: exposure, synthesis, and solitude. She explains why quiet time is not indulgent—it’s essential._________________________Connect with us:Host: Vince Chan | Guest: Katie Curry --Chief Change Officer--Change Ambitiously. Outgrow Yourself.Open a World of Expansive Human Intelligencefor Transformation Gurus, Black Sheep,Unsung Visionaries & Bold Hearts.12 Million+ All-Time Downloads.Reaching 80+ Countries Daily.Global Top 3% Podcast.Top 10 US Business.Top 1 US Careers.>>>140,000+ are outgrowing. Act Today.<<<
Chapter 1: How did Katie Curry reinvent herself?
I grew up in Bulgaria. I grew up in communism and I grew up in a small town. My first big part of my kind of reinvention or transformation was coming to the United States and getting educated. I was traveling on a tour bus in New York City. I was going in downtown in the financial district and I said, you know, I would really love to work here one day.
She did, and many more things she has achieved since she made that move from Bulgaria to United States. Like me and a lot of people with strong finance background, we always talk about risk, the upside risk, downside risk, the risk tolerance, the risk appetite. How can we maximize return, minimize risks?
Chapter 2: What are the risks and rewards of career changes?
But when it comes to managing your life, your career, changes, direction, the way forward, while the risk factors are identifiable, a lot of them are not quantifiable. That creates a lot of anxiety, fear, unknown. Hence, some people just they put don't change at all.
You have to know yourself and know your risk tolerance. And your risk tolerance evolves over time, right? You may have a high risk tolerance early in your career. Maybe your risk tolerance is a bit lower when you're raising your family. And then you may be ready for another, you know, exciting move or jump later on.
So knowing yourself and, you know, for me, knowing myself and my risk tolerance was very important. The second part is I had spent a lot of years being very focused on outcomes, being very intense and intent about what I'm doing.
And I have now moved into a phase of exploration and looking at the various opportunities and being less focused on a precise planned path, but embracing these opportunities, embracing kind of the fun, the exploration, the curiosity, and even the magic. And that was a major shift for me.
I think it happened with experience, with age, where I was able to kind of embrace, like you said, both the hard and logical decision, but also these intuitive, exploratory, pursuing fun and pursuing, exploring outside of my comfort zone.
In this episode, we are switching gear, moving from her own career life and changes onto the changes we are going to see in the work market, in particular about Gen Z. According to World Economic Forum, by year 2025, about a quarter of our workforce will be Gen Z. So this is a force that we will reckon with. Katie is a mother of two. She got two Gen Z children.
At work, she's managing a workforce, spending across different generations. So what's her take on working with leading and motivating the younger generations at work? She's also going to share a couple of career tips for the younger generation to thrive in this era of change. And later, we'll take a sneak peek into Katie's personal learning habits and her book recommendation. So stick around.
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Chapter 3: How can leaders effectively manage a multigenerational workforce?
Let's get started. Katie, you and I are Gen X, but this era is a multi-generational workforce era. And you're a mother of two. In raising two young children, what have you learned from this personal experience and applied to working with and managing a younger workforce?
That's a good question, Vince. We do know that there's at least four actually generations now in the workforce and of course more coming. But I think as a leader, first and foremost, I look at people as humans and I try to see what they, try to understand what their needs are. How can they be successful in their role? What do they need? Is it learning and upskilling?
Is it just support and praise and recognition? Is it tough love that they need? But my kind of recipe for this is kind of four things that I always think about. What's my focus? Am I clear about what success looks like for this project, for this role, for this particular problem I'm solving? The next one is simplicity.
What's the simplest way that we can actually do this and we can solve this problem? And then the last one is having humility. As a leader, I cannot tell people what to do because a lot of times I don't have the answer. And sometimes I see leaders are afraid to admit that they don't have the answer.
Chapter 4: What does Gen Z really want from the workplace?
The job of a leader is to help emerge the answer from the group, whether it's, you know, emerging the answer from the team, from other teams, from the market, from best practices in, you know, our function or in our industry. But the role of the leader is to emerge the best solution. How do you like working with Gen Z? In terms of working with different generations, I love working with Gen Z.
There's a lot that has been said about Gen Z being entitled and being impatient. And, you know, there's, of course, certainly some of that. But I think as leaders, we need to pivot and evolve and be much more clear, much more transparent. And we need to pick up the pace. Pick up the pace in execution. Pick up the pace in rewarding Gen Z. Pick up the pace in promoting Gen Z. And...
Understanding that we're moving towards a meritocracy. Gen Z appreciates a true meritocracy rather than a, you know, a hierarchical culture. And companies that, especially those long established companies with hundreds of years of history, if they're not able to pivot and move into this more...
authentic, more real, more clear and kind of a faster moving way of leading, they're going to lose a part of their competitive advantage. So I'm watching this. It's an area of interest for me. Like I said, I enjoy working with Gen Z. They give me energy. They teach me a lot of things.
I have reverse mentors and I've had reverse mentors who are Gen Z and they teach me things that I have not known and I haven't experienced. And of course, I look to make it a relationship of reciprocity where I help them and guide them. And hopefully I have a bit of life experience, which has given me some wisdom and I can help them that way.
Over the years, I've helped Generation X, Y, Z with their different career and life issues. Sometimes, like you said, they're all humans, regardless of age and generations. Each generation, to be honest, has their own challenges and issues. I wouldn't say Gen X, like us, we don't value or appreciate meritocracy versus Gen Z values more or vice versa.
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Chapter 5: What advice does Katie Curry have for Gen Z's career success?
Now, since you have a lot of experience at home and at work, working with and growing up with Gen Z, give them a couple of advice.
career-wise, or the flip side of this question, in fact, would be in light of the rise of this generation in the workforce, where the challenges you see hence your advice to them, how can they make the best out of the whole situation and make the impact they want for people around them, for the world, and for themselves?
I certainly see how difficult it is for Gen Z and for the generation coming after them as well. There's so much pressure for early achievement and knowing what you would do in your career and what major you would have in college. So I certainly appreciate how anxious they are and how challenging it is for them. And of course, as the workplace becomes more competitive as well.
But the pieces of advice I would have for them, one is to gain skills and, you know, think about and be very intentional about gaining skills, understanding what are you good at? What is your superpower? Now, when you're starting out in your career, you may say, well, I haven't got any superpowers.
And it's fine because it's a process of actually developing, finding what you're good at and nurturing and growing it and building skills related to that. So that's maybe one piece of advice I would say. Two is surround yourself with a good community.
People from different, with different experiences, different age groups, different generations, different views you would like to have if you're in business. You'd like to have friends that are artistic and they see the world differently from you. And surround yourself with people that will... expand the options and opportunities before you.
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Chapter 6: Why is community important for professional growth?
I have learned, and it's more recent for me, that I've learned the power of your community and the people that you surround yourself with. It took me a while to really understand, but one, it makes your life a lot more fun and richer and deeper, but it also challenges you to really think way outside of your natural box that you have for yourself.
So the second advice would be be intentional about your community and have a very diverse community. And then the third one is learn how to pivot. Gen Z will have, and I think about my kids, that they would have a long and varied career and they would try different things. A key part of that is the ability to pivot, the ability to handle change and not to be a
Of course, there's a natural kind of nervousness and anxiety about switching roles or change and switching industries. But building that mental toughness so you can look at change more from the lens of excitement than from the lens of fear. Let me summarize.
First of all, superpower. Keep learning. Second of all, humility. Choose the right one for you. Choose to be associated with people you want to be associated with. Third, the ability to pivot, the ability to handle change. This podcast is called Chief Change Officer. Of course, I believe in change. I myself, as I said, right now, going through the 18th change in my career and life.
I believe that everyone, regardless of your age, your gender, your culture, your background, your generation, wherever you are, whatever you do, you have the ability to change and change for good. For yourself, a new job, new career, new direction. For your communities, for the people around you, and for the world, whatever you're trying to do for the world. So yes, change. The ability to change.
One thing I like to add to this point is some people mistake change as private. And I found some people take it so lightly. It becomes a careless act of change as opposed to be a thoughtful strategy of making things better for you and for the people you care to impact positively. So the word privet and change, I like to draw the attention of the audience. Privet is easy.
Today you want to do this, next day you want to do that. Technology allows us to do it in a very, very cost-effective manner in whatever we want to pursue. But if you care enough about your life and career direction or the impact you care to make, You need to be thoughtful about why you do this today and change tomorrow. Why can't you stick around longer?
Build up the credential, the track record, the relationship or the network that a lot of people like to say, or the community before you quite quit. Change takes commitment. Change is more strategic. That brings us to the second point. Katie mentioned about community, for you to be part of a community, when it comes to building relationship, once again, it takes commitment.
Today's technology, we can be connected with anyone, everyone. Send an ad request, people say yes within seconds, but this is not a community, let alone having any kind of friendship or relationship. I care myself so much about community or being associated with people I wanted to be associated with or want to learn from.
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