UGLY TALK X LUMINARY: THE FOUNDER TRAP AND THE ILLUSION OF PROGRESS
This Ugly Talk explores one of the most common and least discussed challenges in entrepreneurship: the founder trap. When founders spend all their time working in the business instead of on the business, activity can start to feel like progress, even when it’s not.
Being busy becomes a comfort zone, and real leverage gets postponed.
🎯 Why You Should Attend
You feel constantly busy but unsure what’s actually moving the business forward
You’re the bottleneck and know it, but don’t know how to step out
You’ve hired people but still do most of the important work yourself
You want to grow without burning out or losing control of the company
You’ll walk away with clearer signals to recognize the founder trap early and real examples of how others escaped it.
🙋 Who You’ll Meet
Founders and small business owners navigating growth
Operators and side hustlers transitioning into leadership roles
Investors and funders who’ve seen this mistake up close
Builders who care more about progress than optics
🎤 Who’s on the Panel
Zanade Mann - CEO of Zanade Enterprises LLC
Named Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 100 Women of Impact, Zanade Mann is a marketing strategist who helps leaders and institutions across brands and government become consistent, trusted by their communities, and impossible to ignore. With over 17 years of experience at the intersection of education, economic development, and stakeholder engagement, she brings a rare depth of perspective, seeing patterns and possibility others miss. In 2025, she began building a creator pipeline that future-proofs professionals with 10+ years of expertise, positioning them to profit from the creator economy. Her work and perspective have been featured across national platforms including NBC, Fox, Cheddar TV, and Black Enterprise.
Gia Lowe - Founder & Dir. Strategic Partnerships & Experiential at The Glowe Group
Named one of Essence Magazine’s ‘50 Founder’s to Watch’, Gia Lowe is a purpose-driven, serial entrepreneur.
As a business leader, she designs dynamic event experiences and lucrative partnerships that span across beauty, lifestyle, tech, and entertainment industries. As a social-impact entrepreneur she’s the founder of The Glowe Group - an experiential marketing and strategic partnerships agency, co-founder of CGC - a community of 250,000 women & co-founder of CURLFEST, a beauty festival with nearly 30,000 attendees.
In the midst of transition, Gia is launching the “Stop Stalling on Your Calling” movement - a collective clarion call to disconnect from distractions and focus on flourishing.
This thought-leader & innovative founder has been featured in the New York Times, Cosmopolitan, ABC’s Nightline and Forbes to name a few. A Meta alum with over a decade of expertise, Gia has designed activations and executed partnerships with industry leaders such as Unilever, Target, Netflix, Coppertone, and Disney.
Announcing additional panel speaker soon. Stay tuned!
Moderator:
Cate Luzio - Founder and CEO of Luminary
Cate Luzio is the Founder and CEO of Luminary, a global professional education and networking platform addressing and impacting the systemic challenges faced by women throughout their professional journeys.
💬 What We’ll Talk About
The difference between being busy and building leverage
When founders become the biggest constraint to growth
Why delegation feels risky but doing everything is riskier
The mindset shift from operator to leader
What “working on the business” actually looks like in practice
🤝 Hosted by
Luminary is a global, membership-based professional education and networking platform founded with the mission to uplift, up-skill, and propel women and their allies forward through all phases of their professional journeys.
🤝 Media Partner
GREY Journal – Media partner spotlighting modern entrepreneurs (featured on Apple News + Google News).
🤝 Venue Partner
⭐ About Ugly Talk:
Started in 2019, Ugly Talk has been transforming business setbacks into breakthrough “aha!” moments by hosting unfiltered, no-nonsense events where battle-tested entrepreneurs share their raw lessons and insights.
With a growing presence in cities like New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Miami, we’ve built a vibrant community of thousands of founders and industry leaders making a profound impact on the entrepreneurial landscape.
Official Website: UglyTalk.com
📢 Important Notice for Ugly Talk Attendees
Admission & Confirmation
Attendance is by approval only. Approved guests will receive a confirmation email along with a calendar invite. Invitations are non-transferable. Additional event details will be shared as the event approaches.
Code of Conduct
By attending, you agree to:
Maintain respect and professionalism, adhering to all venue rules, policies, and applicable laws.
Refrain from harassment, discrimination, unwelcome sexual advances (verbal or physical), intimidation, or inappropriate photography/recording.
Report any violations to the event hosts immediately.
Violations may result in immediate removal from the event and exclusion from future invitations.
Liability & Risk
Participation is voluntary and at your own risk. The event organizers, hosts, sponsors, and venue are not liable for personal injury, lost or stolen belongings, or any other damages incurred during the event.
Media Consent
By attending, you grant the event organizers and affiliated entities the right to capture, use, and distribute photos, videos, and audio recordings of you for promotional, marketing, and other lawful purposes, including digital and print media, advertising, and social media. You waive any right to inspect or approve the final materials and release all claims related to their use.
Communications
By registering, you agree to receive marketing and promotional communications from Ugly Talk and its co-hosts, partners, and sponsors. You may unsubscribe at any time.
Agreement
If you do not agree to this Code of Conduct, please refrain from attending the event.
Official Event Page: [Link]