It's my birthday, here's a gift for you!
👋 Welcome back, aspiring corporate escapees, and entrepreneurs!
It's my 40th birthday!!!
My therapist asked me how I feel going into this year.
I feel excited and empowered, which isn't the line I expected to be writing at this milestone. Life is nowhere near what I imagined for myself professionally, and that's SUCH a gift.
A year ago I was wrapping up 15+ years inside corporate walls. Part of a Fortune 100 Chief of Staff team. A title and a company name that did most of the explaining for me.
Today I run my own brand strategy practice. And I made you something for the exact moment that taught me the most this year.
It's called the Pitch Stitch. My elevator pitch AI generator tool, used and loved by workshop attendees. It's officially out today, it's free, and it's built for the moment your brain blanks when someone asks what you do.
I'll walk you through it below. First, what year one of betting on myself taught me, and why this is the gift I'm giving you on my birthday. Plus a couple of summer invitations if you'll be in San Antonio or Lisbon.
-Lu
🧵 What's clearer at forty
The title and company name shouldn't be our identity.
In corporate I built strategies and comms for executives that influenced thousands of employees. I was excellent at it. But I was a more polished version of me than the one writing this letter. I muted my voice to fit the rooms I was in, and I was good enough at it that I didn't notice.
Year one of betting on myself blew that open.
Building Thread Studio has been a slow undoing of all of that. My culture, my family, the career plot twists, they all show up in the work now. The version of me that's gotten the most done in year one isn't the polished one. It's the one that finally sounds like me.
And here's the thing nobody told me about owning your story.
When you can clearly articulate your superpower, premium opportunities start finding you.
The leaders standing out right now aren't the loudest. They're the ones who can clearly articulate what they believe, who they help, why their experience matters, and the throughline connecting everything they've built.
That's the work I do now. I help legacy builders excavate the throughline they've already lived so their story finally lands.
Corporate leaders building thought leadership before they need it
Corporate escapees like me, transitioning into entrepreneurship
Seasoned founders whose brand has outgrown them in a way they can feel
I have so much more impact today than I ever did from inside. Because when legacy builders find their story, the work doesn't stop with them. Their breakthroughs ripple to everyone they go on to help.
That ripple is the part I love watching most.
🧵 For the chapter you're in
I'm watching the same climate you are. Layoffs everywhere. AI shifting every job description. Restructures hitting people who thought they were safe.
In every chapter, owning your narrative is no longer optional. It's how you land on your feet.
If you're still inside corporate, don't wait for a layoff to start building. The leaders landing on their feet are the ones whose name is already known for something specific.
If you're a fellow corporate escapee, the question isn't whether you can do the work. It's whether anyone can find you doing it, and whether what you tell them about it lands.
If you've been running your own thing for years, the climate is forcing every brand to mature faster. The version of you who built the business isn't always the version of you who scales it.
In every chapter, the work starts at the same place. With the words.
Owning your narrative doesn't start with a website. Or a logo. It starts with being able to say what you do, clearly, in your voice, when someone asks.
That's your elevator pitch, your starting thread. The full brand foundation, the comprehensive storybook your business runs on, gets built from there.
🎁 Here's your present
I’ve watched this my whole career. You take someone brilliant, someone genuinely great at what they do. The second somebody asks “so.. what do you do?” they freeze like a deer in headlights.
It goes one of two ways... they either overshare and unload the whole résumé on you. Or their shoulders drop and they shrink back to a title.
It was never a confidence problem. The words just weren’t there.
So I made you the Pitch Stitch, my AI elevator pitch generator.
It’s six questions, the kind that get you reflecting on who you really help and why it matters that it’s you. On the other side, you get a handful of ways to answer. Not “I’m a [title] at [company],” but something that sounds like you when you’re talking, not performing.
A pitch is one stitch, not your whole brand. It won’t untangle everything underneath, but it gives you words as a starting point.
And what I keep watching people walk away with is bigger than words. It's permission to own their story and finally say it out loud.
🎭 Step into the role your brand was made to play
Your audience is the main character in the story of your brand. Find out how you lead them to a transformation.
🗓️ Upcoming Events
Loose Threads to Your First Stitch
📅 Monday, June 15 | 11:00AM - 12:30 PM CT
📍Working Moms of San Antonio (In Person)
A hands on workshop for San Antonio women leaders carrying a personal brand idea, a business story, or a personal pivot that's been swirling without quite landing. We'll work with prompts, partner exercises, and worksheets you can take home, all designed to help you stop overthinking and finally make your first real stitch forward.
Make it stand out
The Corporate Escapee Club Meetup: Lisbon
📅 Tuesday, July 7 | 5:00PM (Lisbon, Portugal)
Turns out building something is a lot better with the right women around you. I'm hosting a cafecito meetup for women corporate escapees and solopreneurs. Coffee and the kind of conversations where the small talk falls away and you get to the why.
🪡 The Stitch to Remember
The company name used to speak for you. Now it's time for your story to.
Owning your story isn't becoming someone new, it's owning who you've been all along. The Pitch Stitch is one way to start. 🧵
