Welcome back to Girl, Take the Lead! — the podcast where we reimagine leadership, challenge the status quo around aging, and share the stories that help us break cycles, find our voice, and trust our own becoming.
Today’s episode is a stunning way to close out the year.
Our guest, Laura G. Patac, is an entrepreneur, author, poet, and former global corporate executive who has lived and worked in seven countries across five continents. After 25 years in sales, operations, and product leadership, she stepped into entrepreneurship — and the transition cracked open a profound identity crisis that reshaped her understanding of purpose, courage, and value.
Rather than hiding the cracks, Laura learned to honor them — and ultimately, to treat them the way the Japanese art of kintsugi treats broken pottery: not as flaws to conceal, but as golden seams that make us more whole, beautiful, and true.
Her journey — and her writing — will move you.
In this intimate and heartfelt conversation, Laura shares how storytelling, poetry, and reflection helped her rebuild a self beyond titles and corporate identity, and how she now empowers others to do the same through her books Stories with Purpose and her newest release, Whole Not Perfect.
Together, Yo and Laura explore:
✨ What Happens When Your Title Disappears
✨ The Five “Aha Moments” That Defined Her Leadership Journey
✨ Why No One Is Coming to Save You
✨ Storytelling as a Tool for Reinvention
✨The Kintsugi Metaphor
✨ Moving From Insight to Intention
✨ Redefining Success After Corporate Life
✨ What She Would Tell Her 20-Something Self
🌟 Memorable Quotes
“Every person coming into your life is teaching you something.” – Laura G. Patac
“Nobody is coming to save you. You have to save yourself — and the answers are inward, not outward.” – Laura G. Patac
“Your cracks are not wounds. They are the golden lines that make you whole.” – Laura G. Patac
“I help people not just tell stories — but become a story.” – Laura G. Patac
“Purpose is what gets you out of bed in the morning. Values are how you move through the world.” – Yo & Laura
📚 Explore Laura’s Work
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/laura-g-patac
🎁 Free book: https://www.storiesholdpurpose.com/book
📧 Contact: laura@empower-quest.com
📘 Books:
• Stories with Purpose: Your Story Has Purpose Too
• Whole Not Perfect — a powerful guide to embracing your strengths, cracks, and future story
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