I know it’s been a while. And I hope you’ve been well.

Since we last spoke in November (🤯 what???), I left my role as VP of Product after nearly a decade at the same startup and, for the first time in my life, stepped into a chapter I’ve never been before: One of space. Listening. Recalibration.

Which makes *now* feel like a uniquely special time to introduce my next guest.

Back in December, I sat down for an intimate chat with Kudzi Chikumbu, former TikTok Global Head of Creator Marketing, influential creator, and overall multihyphenate powerhouse.

At the time we spoke, Kudzi was in his own in-between — fresh from a season of rest and in the middle of crafting his next move.

The conversation felt illuminating then — but even more relevant now that I’m in my own season of transition.

Throughout my life, I’ve been inspired by leaders like Kudzi - those who seem to move between worlds with ease — one foot in stability, the other in a life that feels vivid, creative, and fully their own. From Deloitte to executive to candle influencer, Kudzi’s path hasn’t always been linear, but his energetic throughline has been remarkably consistent: to illuminate people’s lives.

His creative expression, it turns out, takes many forms.

We often focus on chasing “more.” But life – at its truest – is more like an art form. Beginning from a place of rest, starting with what feels connected and resonant, adding pieces - season by season - until we gradually create a frequency that others can step into.

That’s what my conversation with Kudzi felt like: an invite to reconnect to a new frequency.

From this headspace, we unpack what it means to:

• Create from space — using rest to reveal authenticity

• Build trust — treating your career as an offering

• Create your life forward — iterating from feedback

• Redefine success —Balancing risk, fulfillment, and building a multidimensional life and career that *truly* feel like us

I hope you enjoy the episode (and the fun edit!). Also - expect more posts soon - not just with guests, but also inspiration and thoughts from me.

Till next time 🫶,

Lucy

Note: Since our chat, Kudzi has released the full season of his new podcast “Not Just One Thing” - a powerful body of work on rewriting the playbook on the modern career. If you’re a multi-passionate leader looking to go deeper - check it out here!

🎥 Watch on Youtube (if you prefer 🙂)

Where to follow Kudzi:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kudzichikumbu/

• Website: http://kudzichikumbu.com/

• Podcast: http://kudzichikumbu.com/podcast

• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kudzi

• TikTok (SirCandleMan): https://www.tiktok.com/@sircandleman

I’m excited to share with you the 2nd pilot episode of my new 380 Podcast, where I sit down with inspiring leaders to get a unique, more holistic take on their approach to life, leadership, and success. If you missed the 1st episode with Patrick Burns (ex-founder, Oscar-nominated filmmaker), you can check it out here!

Today, I'm very excited to introduce my special guest Ian Yung. Ian is a senior growth and marketing executive with a diverse career journey, from serving as President of the largest audio manufacturer in South America to leading growth for major DTC lifestyle brands like Tonal, where he was most recently the SVP of Revenue. Ian’s career has been marked by his ability to drive profitable growth across industries, thanks to his keen eye for strategy (what’s driving your growth?), a genuine desire to help, and an overall passion for efficiency.

Now taking a career break and fresh off a renewing trip to Bali, Ian joins me to chat about his career journey to date, his strategy to drive broader impact, and his approach to finding balance.

📌 In this episode, we cover:

• Ian’s hard pivot from industrial engineering to lifestyle e-Commerce at the age of 30 (new country, new job!)

• How “trying to be helpful” created natural inflections in his career journey

• Leaning into creativity and resourcefulness as a competitive advantage - especially for startups

• Using each career transition to reflect on his drivers of energy

• Finding balance in life between leverage, pleasure, and purpose

🎥 Watch on Youtube:

📝 Some key takeaways:

1. It’s important to regularly pause and assess what energizes and fulfills you. After 9 years at AudiLab and ultimately selling the company, Ian used the opportunity to re-evaluate the best path to achieve his long term goals, ultimately deciding to move from Brazil to San Francisco to pursue growth-focused opportunities in a brand new industry.

2. Ian’s background in industrial engineering shaped his problem-solving approach, where he constantly sought ways to do things better and faster. This “high-functioning laziness” drove his efficiency-focused mindset, which allowed him to regularly identify creative, unconventional paths to growth. A competitive advantage, he notes, for resource-constrained startups.

3. A desire to be helpful goes a long way. Ian’s career naturally evolved because he sought to do what was best for the company - even if it was outside of his role. Combining self awareness and the needs of the organization, he removed himself quickly from positions where he would be unhelpful (”What the business needed was more product people, less growth”) and found himself in new roles as a result of identifying business opportunities (private labeling at Touch of Modern).

4. Finding balance between leverage, pleasure, and purpose for a fulfilling life. Ian emphasizes the importance of embracing joy and meaning in our experience, while striving to accumulate the necessary resources to achieve our personal definition of impact.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

00:34 About the Podcast

01:48 Guest Introduction: Ian Yung

05:50 Starting at Ford in Automotive Manufacturing

09:10 Becoming President of Audilab, the biggest audio manufacturer in South America

12:38 Pivoting to DTC and moving to San Francisco

13:33 Touch of Modern and the shift from Operations to Growth

28:32 Simple Habit and the Allure of Series A

35:12 The Importance of Fundamental Thinking, Mindfulness, and Diverse Perspectives

40:52 Career Transitions and Shift from Growth to Countercyclical

43:54 Black Tux during the Pandemic

45:32 The Importance of Strong Brands in DTC

52:25 Approach to Leadership

01:06:41 Career Break and trip to Bali

01:09:04 Balancing Leverage, Purpose, and Pleasure

01:16:18 Contrarian opinion: Being uncomfortable

01:18:00 Future Trends and Predictions: e-Comm consolidation

01:20:25 Ambitions / What's Next

01:24:21 Rapid Fire Questions

01:32:55 Final Thoughts and Reflections

Follow for more:

• Ian’s LinkedIn

• Lucy’s LinkedIn

• Level 380 Youtube Channel

• For inquiries: lucy@level380.com

I’m excited to bring you the pilot episode (1 of 2) of the 380 Podcast, where I sit down with inspiring leaders to get a unique, more holistic take on their approach to life, leadership, and success. If you’re interested and want to get involved in this series, shoot me an email at lucy@level380.com!

For this inaugural episode, I'm very excited to introduce my special guest and friend, Patrick Burns. Patrick is a dynamic product leader and ex-venture-backed startup founder whose career journey not only spans major tech names like Amazon, Snapchat, Google, and Discord, but also includes early experiences as a journalist, filmmaker, and producer of an Oscar-nominated documentary.

📌 In this episode, we cover:

• Balancing creativity and pragmatism in his professional and personal pursuits

• Transitioning from journalism to tech, with a focus on Product roles

• Finding his “sweet spot” experimenting with tech companies at different stages

• Co-founding and scaling a remote collaboration startup during the height of COVID

• His creative inspirations and approaches to harnessing creativity in life and work

🎥 Watch on Youtube:

📝 Some key takeaways:

1. Building a “habit” for creativity is about creating regular space for un-pressurized work. Doing this regularly and consistently gives us the freedom to tap into new ideas that ultimately lead to meaningful creations.

2. When starting something new in a rapidly changing market, it’s critical to focus on adaptability and market timing. As the co-founder of a remote collaboration startup, Commons, during the pandemic, Patrick found himself in a race against the clock to launch against evolving market conditions.

3. Knowing when to pivot is challenging, as breaking points are often important moments for perseverance. In both filmmaking and entrepreneurial pursuits, Patrick leaned into his long-term intuition to determine when to persist and when to shift direction.

4. Energy is energy - finding ways to stay energized and inspired is key. Whether it be at work or outside of work, we can all leverage creativity to get into a more energized and expansive headspace.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:10 About Level 380

01:41 Guest Introduction: Patrick Burns

04:45 Creating Time for Creativity

07:28 Early Career Journey - Music and Traveling

14:23 Being Broad and Shallow

16:16 Creativity as a Habit and Form of Meditation

18:42 Balancing Passion and Pragmatism

30:40 The Journey into Photography and Filmmaking

33:33 Cutie and the Boxer: The Documentary

38:46 Considering being a Full Time Creative

41:17 Transitioning from Journalism to Business School

42:04 Discovering the Product Management Role

45:26 First Product Management Role and Moving to SF

45:58 Joining Snapchat and Moving to LA

47:23 Experiences in Different Tech Companies

53:10 Founding a Startup During COVID

58:44 Importance of Speed and Timing in a Shifting Market Environment

01:03:13 Philosophies around Company Building

01:04:48 Intuition and Balance around Pivoting

01:08:30 Career Reflections - a Late Bloomer and Finding the Sweet Spot

01:13:03 Creative Synergy and Cultivating Energetic Headspace

01:17:46 Salsa, Rosalia, and Patrick’s Secret Skills

01:24:57 Rapid Fire Questions

01:35:23 Concluding Thoughts and Reflections

Follow for more:

• Patrick’s LinkedIn

• Lucy’s LinkedIn

• Level 380 Youtube Channel

• For inquiries: lucy@level380.com