Marti Grimminck, Founder and CEO of International Connector - Empowering Global Youth

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: Hi! I'm Shannon, Lucas.

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): And I'm Tracy Lovejoy. We're the co-ceos of catalyst constellations which is dedicated to empowering catalyst to create bold, powerful change in the world.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: This is our podcast move, fast, break, burnout, where we speak with catalyst executives, about ways to successfully lead transformation in large organizations. And I am so happy to have time today with my good friend Marty Grimink. Welcome, Marty!

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International Connector: Thanks for having me.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: A little bit of background. So Marty is a global business, executive social entrepreneur, keynote speaker and futurist designer. She's the founder and CEO of international connector which provides generation insights and workforce development solutions. She leads projects for corporations and governments on future work, research and workforce development programs.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: She is known for her global and diverse reach, engaging young people across 190 countries. She has brought the amazing insights that her company provides to our catalyst leadership trust community because those insights are so valuable for us as catalysts thinking about how to create that better future. And we're so grateful to have her as an advisor in that context for the catalyst leadership. Trust. So welcome, Marty.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: Let's start off with having you tell us a little bit about your journey, maybe sharing a few career highlights that you're proud of, and how that might demonstrate your catalyst nature.

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International Connector: It's always a. It's always a tough one. I'm like where to start. And I think in when I think about my journey.

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International Connector: it's

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International Connector: it's definitely always been that

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International Connector: pace of a catalyst. Right? You're. I'm always been jumping towards wanting to do 8,000 projects, or, you know, seeing the solution in front of me that I just have to go and design and put forward. And so.

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International Connector: although in my mind everything has always been interconnected, that sometimes I think people are always like, How do you talk about like, how do you have this project and this program and this social impact thing going on, and that going on over there. And they don't necessarily see how they're all interlinked. But in my mind it's like clear as day.

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International Connector: so I don't know if that quite answers it, but that has always driven me, is finding interesting solutions and pulling others in and creating creating new projects or new businesses or new platforms.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: I think. Oh, sorry, just really quickly. I think it's super helpful for the audience, because it's like you can feel seen like Oh, there isn't a step by step guide to having my career like I can sew together those connect those dots. Sorry, Tracy, over to you.

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): And and so it sounds like you're already beginning to help us look at, examine this word, and so what is

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): catalyst mean to you?

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International Connector: It's a great question. I mean, I I think it's the from my perspective. It's it's the person who can kick, start something and get something very action oriented right? There's

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International Connector: it's not just having the idea. But it's actually just taking those steps to make that happen. That's how I see it. And that doesn't necessarily mean that you're an entrepreneur, right? Or that you're that person or think that directional. But it it is about making something happen and taking the steps to to create a solution, to create a program, to create a company, whatever those pieces are.

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International Connector: and talk.

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): Yeah, it makes perfect sense. It's I don't. In the book we talk about definition of catalyst right to someone who has the vision. But it's not the visionaries, only

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): it's the people with vision that like can't stop themselves from tripping into action, which I'm hearing you say with even better words than we use. So I just love it.

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): And so for you. How does being a catalyst support the journey you've had? And now you're at this executive level. What does that mean for you?

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International Connector: I I think that that's just how I've had to do business right. I early in my career I I was in a different industry than I am now. I was a producer in entertainment, and so I was constantly building something from scratch right? Getting new shows off the ground. New events, new productions right and at the highest level, and

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International Connector: just being able to vision what a end piece would look like before you had any staff in place like no actors, no creative team, any of that, and being able to take it all the way through. Really, I I think.

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International Connector: was really aligned with how I work even today. But then, moving into a business, I started working with companies and internally, but I realized that my energy level to just see something all the way through wasn't going to mesh.

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International Connector: And then I was making life choices about where I want like, how I wanted to raise kids and how I wanted to work and continue to be at what level. And so for me it was this very logical step to bring that all together as an entrepreneur, and as like starting a business, and where I started with the business. It wasn't in the same intention exactly of where we are now.

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International Connector: but we went along with the journey of what was coming along and what we were developing, and the new programs and products and services that were coming about. So I feel like every step of the way of how I've worked and how our company has developed through the years has literally just been that catalyst journey. It was like, we're working on this. But we see this solution and this opportunity that people are asking us about. So let's move over into here. Even just

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International Connector: I, we're we are known for our work right? With younger generations. And even that came about in a catalyst way. Right? We were working on impact programs with young people all over the world. And it was sort of at this height of the millennial craze, like companies

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International Connector: trying to figure out, what are they going to do with millennials? And it started with a phone call from somebody I knew that was that had seen our program and was wondering how we engage so many young people all over the place when they were losing millions on campaigns that they put out.

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International Connector: and so the disconnect of like not understanding millennials. And then

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International Connector: and the fact that we had engaged so many just really was what brought about all of our expertise in the market research and workforce development that we are doing today. So it's amazing how just those little conversations, I think, can have turned into next stages.

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): And I'd love to Shannon's point right? It's following what's emergent to lead you to the next thing as opposed to some ladder that had to have been there to follow in your career. Thank you for sharing those those moments. That's incredibly interesting.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: Yeah. And it's interesting. Because especially now with you as a CEO of the organization, the skills that you're articulating like being able to see the vision doing the sensing a little bit of fearlessness. I don't want to say there's no fear, but we're going to go. Take that 1st step, and we're going to do it. And then the openness to like you get the phone call. And you're like, that's not exactly what we do.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: But I can connect the dots and figure it. So I hear those are some of the catalyst superpowers that I've helped you as an exec. What have been some of the challenges being an executive catalyst. And how have you dealt with them?

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International Connector: My God! There's been so many.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: One or 2, Marty, one or 2 we have a short time.

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International Connector: Is this therapy? No.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: Yeah.

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International Connector: There, you know it actually as much as there's a fear like lack of fear in some ways, or you know I I will jump in 10 feet into it and and go full force and know that we're gonna get there. But

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International Connector: I think

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International Connector: it's been getting people along that journey right, and and having enough a confidence in that ability to bring everybody on that journey.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: Hmm.

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International Connector: Which is different than.

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International Connector: Knowing we're gonna get there knowing the vision, knowing the solution and not just convincing people. But it's having the confidence to convince everybody that this is the right, the right steps. So even the people who call you right, you still have to.

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International Connector: You still have to take them on that journey, and you still have to take them to where this is and why, you know. Let them understand that and get them on embedded into the process, too. So I think that is one. And

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International Connector: I think sometimes as well, that

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International Connector: you can come up with ideas that maybe the market isn't ready for yet right. We were talking about millennials and as much as everybody was interested in millennials. And a lot of these products and ideas and programs came out of that. Actually, I feel that what we were saying back then is more relevant or

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International Connector: people understand it more now as we start talking about Gen. Zs than they did back then.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: and.

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International Connector: So. And it's not just because we've grown in our, you know, in the number of years that we've been in business. But it's just. I think the market is more understanding, because they've seen the effects more and more. And so they understand where they're having problems in their workplace. As a result of not understanding. Younger generations are bringing our generations in, and those shifts and changes.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: So fascinating. The 1st one is really interesting. The confidence cause, you know, we can seem arrogant sometimes, as we like, you know, cause we? We will believe so like your millennials. We need to talk about this thing that is coming to people. And yet you get the call, and it's a little bit tangential to what you do, and the word that came to me was the imposter syndrome.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: Because I hear you're like I'm willing to jump in and 10 feet, but I might not have ever done it before. So I'm just curious like, how did you? How did you overcome some of those feelings? Or how did you develop confidence over time?

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International Connector: I. I feel now that we just have such a body of work, and I

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International Connector: and I think the work stands for itself now. But

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International Connector: it is

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International Connector: a challenge, because I never I I wasn't even when we were doing something great.

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International Connector: And even now I feel like we talk about maybe 1% of all the things that we're doing right. And and so a. And I don't think that's lack of confidence now. But

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International Connector: it's sometimes trying to figure out what's the story that you're putting out there? Because we do. We do have the ability to create solutions in a lot of different directions, and again, for me everything is really intersected. But that doesn't necessarily mean that that intersection is clear to everybody else, and so that I don't know over time it was.

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International Connector: how do I?

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International Connector: How do I show the right examples of what we've done to show that the path that we're talking about is, gonna lead them in the in a new direction that they wanna go right. So pulling examples from our portfolio, but then also pulling the right data in, and that has

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International Connector: built the confidence. I think that I needed to say no. We really do know what we're talking about like. Come with us on this crazy journey, cause you're gonna you're gonna be really happy. You did.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: So how do you know which story or data to pull to? To land that with the customers.

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International Connector: Yeah, it's a good question. I really spend a lot of time listening

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International Connector: and and listening to what

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International Connector: you know, even though I've seen the repeat of a lot of the same problems over and over again. With clients and with new, you know, potential customers. I hear the same things over and over again. But I'm not making that assumption. It's like, I really need to listen.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: Into what.

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International Connector: They're saying, really understand the context of their company and what they're up against, or like. Why, this is a challenge for them right now and then start to piece that together. Because even though everything like we again, we have like repeatable products. But we also have really customizable things, and so

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International Connector: I think it's fun to be able to take. I've heard this little dot, and I've heard this, and I hear this same challenge, but yet we can approach it slightly different. And that's what I that's for me very exciting.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: Yeah, it's reminds me of something I heard yesterday. It's the difference between being interesting being versus interested. It's like being interested in the person. Because your work is very interesting, Marty, and everyone should look at what you're doing because your insights are insane, the access that you have that's so interesting. And yet what I'm hearing you say is, I need to be really interested in the person who's in front of me to help me connect the dots.

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International Connector: I. And I think that's just how I work, though, too. Right? I'm you know. I'm much more of a relationships person, and you know for better or worse on how that is when you build a business. But

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International Connector: I feel so strongly about the clients and the people in my network right, and that I've built these relationships over a long period of time. And I value that right? So it to me. It's super important to understand what they're you know what the situation is and what they're talking about. And then, you know, I just I also whether they're asking me or not.

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International Connector: I'm like, oh, this idea, or or have you thought about this? And I'm like, Oh, wait! Maybe I should step back and not throw in 8,000 solutions. But that's just also the nature of me.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: And totally authentically, you totally. The other challenge that you brought up is also super interesting and kind of connected to maybe where you just ended. But you're like, there's this being the head of the curve. And so when you started doing this work, people were like.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: why are we talking about that. Who are millennials, what? And now you know, you are in a very hot spot where people are really looking for your insights. But it's not easy to be at the front end of that, especially when you're starting your own company, and maybe feeling the imposter syndrome. Walk us through like what's your advice to Catalyz? Or how did you overcome the challenges of being ahead of the curve for so many years?

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International Connector: I. You know I really enjoyed the work right? So we just kept

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International Connector: we would, even if it was a smaller step right? I was never afraid of taking a small step with somebody. And, in fact, I still suggest that with people who are maybe not sure

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International Connector: what they're gonna get out of learning about younger generations like you don't have to dive in completely, but I feel like just, you know. Take a little taste of what this is, and and then evaluate it yourself, and see where that benefit is. And and I think that that was what

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International Connector: drove us further right is that we were also watching that from our standpoint, right? We got bigger and bigger, and what we were doing, and bolder, and what we were doing, and more creative and how we were doing it, because we saw the value right away. And we saw the transformation among corporates that we were working with right, that you could see the light bulb go off

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International Connector: and so

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International Connector: see? And then, seeing how they would change the way they were working, based on the what we were bringing to the table. So I think all of that again. It's it was just the experience of building it and building it with the right people right.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: Okay.

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International Connector: We can't necessarily build something. We we were lucky we approached people after you know. Some people approached us. Then we went. Okay, well, let's approach others to develop this further. But let's approach people that we can have a conversation

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International Connector: with about this right? Like not everybody is, gonna get on a call and wanna deep dive into like innovation. Conversations. And but when you find those people who wanna have those big picture conversations, it's pretty magical.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: Yeah, it.

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International Connector: So how can you move that further and like and almost brainstorm together? And that's where a lot of the magic and the confidence would come.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: Amazing, and one of the sort of a double click down that I'd love to get your opinion on, cause. I think you've been advising organizations. But there's like the pace of change is crazy right now. There's like the constant market and competitive shifts that are happening. There's this pressure for organizations to become agile and fast while also having to keep the lights on. All from your context while they're dealing with

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: like different ways that employees are showing up with these generational preferences, and I'm wondering if you have advice for organizations, how to navigate kind of that, the ambidextrist organization that they need to have, with so many variables from an employee base.

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International Connector: And that

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International Connector: I I think

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International Connector: they

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International Connector: gosh! I could say this in so many different ways. That's the pause here. I believe that they need to look at

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International Connector: at true like flexibility, and and not just

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International Connector: oh, I can work at home today, or I can work at the office. That's not really what I'm talking about. But how do you really start to think about a workplace and work loads like, or what people are tasked to do, what their jobs are in a more flexible way. Because you are.

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International Connector: you are dealing with a more transient

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International Connector: workforce. Right? You're dealing with a more spread out workforce. Right? People are gonna be at home. Some people are gonna come in, some people never met because they're always virtual, right? And I and I, and that shifts and changes.

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International Connector: how you lead an organization, or what happens with this right? And now people are hiring in different parts of the world because they can

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International Connector: right? And

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International Connector: and that's a great thing. Cause you're bringing in these different perspectives and these different things. But it's also a hard thing, because you'd have to have

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International Connector: a different style again, of management or understanding what you're doing. So the more flexibility that you can create with your team and with your company and thinking about flexibility in a creative way out of the box way, I think, is one area I would probably sit on and then starting to look at

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International Connector: understanding the different

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International Connector: ways that different generations work within the workplace. And you really do have differences right? I mean, Gen. Xers. There's still some baby boomers in the workplace, right? So very different work style, if you look at, especially Gen. Xers from millennials and then millennials to Gen. Z's

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International Connector: so I think, understanding

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International Connector: what each group brings to the table, and and the way in which they're speaking.

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International Connector: You know, in initiating things and their work styles, and then figuring out how to how to mesh that together.

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International Connector: that and and where the benefits are from the different generations, can really add a lot to your play, to your your company.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: I love the depth of that answer. Thank you for sharing that. It's you know, when we work with organizations.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: we're like a 1 size fits all approach to change doesn't work, and that's like a top level thing. But I think you know increasingly the you know, the insights that a 1. Size fits all to any segment of your employee. Population doesn't work in the ways that it did. Certainly in our Gen. X. Gen. X. Generation. So.

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International Connector: Well, just to follow up on that. It really doesn't, because

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International Connector: they you have generations that are growing up with different sets of technology, right? And you know, when I grew up, I wasn't born into a world that had personalized computers or cell phones right? And so that alone changed a lot. Right? Then add in social media, then add in AI, right. These are really distinct shifts in our in the way

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International Connector: in which younger generations socialize, and the lens that they bring and the tools that they use.

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International Connector: So

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International Connector: you can't

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International Connector: necessarily mesh that with

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International Connector: how the other generations, you know, think, and again like, put a lens on how they start something. So you really need to think about the differences and how that affects

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International Connector: what you're setting up in your company.

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): I'm going to continue to mine you for this amazing wisdom.

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): So, turning from helping organizations and thinking about your peers at the executive level catalyst peers in our journey as catalysts. Right? There's a lot that we learned that open up the opportunity to be there or set another way. There are behaviors that catalysts can exhibit that can stop us from getting there. And so I would love to hear from you the wisdom that you've learned about. What do we need to learn to be successful as catalysts in executive positions.

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International Connector: I I believe it's for me at least. And that's really the lens I can give you is is the communication side to it right, bring, making sure that everybody

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International Connector: understands the vision of it. So

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International Connector: for me, though I still struggle with that. And so it's easier for me to to actually create something. Put a shell in front of people.

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International Connector: And I'm I, you know I will. 100% roll up my sleeves and be like building something on a website or putting little programs together to show how the interactivity is gonna happen, or something right? Something to bring it to life. Because that's how I think that's how I can show others what it is.

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International Connector: And if you can't show others what it is, or explain it in words.

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International Connector: That like. That's the skill that you need. You have to be able to do that. So I always see that endpoint. But I have to figure out all the images or the pieces, or the something. You know the words to bring everybody along. And so I think that that is a huge skill

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International Connector: that catalysts need.

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): From my world and background. We talk about that as the word is prototype, as you build a prototype. And so I'm wondering what are the different ways that you have learned to prototype a vision. That's not just words. So I'm hearing you coding. But what can that look like?

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International Connector: Yeah, it's funny. I cause I'm such the theatrical background, right when I would.

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International Connector: And I actually had a mentor in when I was back at at Tish, at Nyu, and she said to me,

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International Connector: She like stopped me because I was, you know, having this moment of like I don't. You know, I don't know couldn't articulate what it was, and she said to me, She's like you actually think in pictures. I see it all the time.

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International Connector: And she said.

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International Connector: put the pictures down like, create the patchwork.

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International Connector: and then fill in the gaps. And so it's funny. Yeah, I don't necessarily say prototype. But for me again like I can picture it so the pictures there, and I have to patchwork it. So I I use tools like I love things like Canva and Miro that have allowed me like I'm not a designer, so I've

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International Connector: find, you know, some tools that were always just too hard, and I can't draw it. But once I got these types of tools, I can literally start to put things together. And that has helped me to create the frameworks or the pieces that I need to then help others see what I'm trying to say or create and build.

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): So your brain, not just pictures, but it sounds like you see the connections between pictures.

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International Connector: Yeah, is.

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): So you're helping build out a process and a framework that you give to people to say, if this, then this, then this, then this.

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International Connector: Yes, that is probably more linear than.

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International Connector: and then the way I do it. But yes.

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): Was interesting because we talk about vision broadly, right? This idea that it's an imagined destination. And so you you're you're kind of creating this intermediary of like, okay, but you gotta help them understand? Then it sounds like you're helping them understand connections between and what it, you know, might look like to help get there, and so it's a much more thre

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): rendering of something versus just saying. One day we'll live on Mars.

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International Connector: Exactly. Yeah. A 100%.

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): I love it, I.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: I have to say, Tracy. I don't know if you'll if this will resonate with you, Marty, but you just held me connected, Dot, which is, when I was a network engineer, I was introduced to the tool Vizio.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: which is literally a systems. It was really before Powerpoint and anyone were using. But it was designing exactly for that. As like system flows forcing a system, thinking which I think is really interesting, like, how do you surface systems thinking in a way that can bring other people along. I love that connection.

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): Absolutely.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: You ready for the fun? One.

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International Connector: Maybe let's see.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: Love to hear who are your favorite catalysts, past or present? And why do they stand out to you.

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International Connector: That is such a hard question.

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International Connector: I think, as I again like I feel

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International Connector: it's the patchwork stuff like I don't know. I like pull things from different

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International Connector: people in different situations. So I always feel like there's not like one embodiment. But I've always been amazed by

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International Connector: the people who

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International Connector: are doing that are taking social good and combining it with business. So I mean, that's just like a personal

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International Connector: pre preference from my standpoint. And so I've always really admired that as well as

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International Connector: people who are really forging ahead on an innovation and an innovative path. So I that's not under specific answer, but those are those are the attributes that I get very excited about, and seeing that happen.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: And you are dedicated to supporting. You know I've witnessed that for years which is just so lovely that you get to lean in to help people do more of that.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: Yeah, to our listeners. Really, if you get an opportunity, if you're curious about, like, you know, revisioning your workforce and all of the beautiful insights. I can't say enough. We love having Marty's research in our Samudra and catalyst leadership, trust, ecosystem, and our members always love having you, and rave about what you bring. So thanks, Marty.

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International Connector: Thank you. It's really the youth

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International Connector: they say so. It's always great to have them there.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: It's great to have them there, totally the reverse mentoring. We need more of it to our listeners. Thank you so much for listening. If you'd like to learn more about how to create bold, powerful change in the world, be sure to check out our book, move fast, break, burnout, or go to our website at catalystconstallations.com dot.

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): And if you enjoyed this episode like we did, please take 10 seconds to rate it on itunes. Spotify stitcher wherever you listen to your podcasts, and if you have a catalyst in your life, hit the share button, send a link their way.

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Shannon Lucas - Catalyst Constellations: Thanks! Again.

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Tracey Lovejoy (she, her): Thanks, Marty.