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The Luminary Lens

The Luminary Lens

By: Rebecca Kaykas-Wolff
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Where heart meets strategy and stories spark transformation.


Host Rebecca Kaykas-Wolff—corporate marketing leader, salon curator, and champion of emotionally intelligent leadership—invites executives, artists, athletes, and innovators to share the pivotal moments that reshaped their lives and work. In relaxed, salon-style conversations, Rebecca uncovers the “why” behind each guest’s journey, exploring how they cultivate community, navigate change, and lead with empathy in demanding environments.

Expect:

• Candid dialogue that blends real-world business insight with soulful reflection
• Diverse voices from boardrooms, design studios, stables, and stages
• Practical takeaways for building purpose-driven careers, teams, and lives
• Short “Reflection” minisodes to help you turn inspiration into action

New episodes release every other Wednesday. Pull up a chair, join the conversation, and discover how intentional conversations can transform you—professionally and personally—one story at a time.

© 2025 The Luminary Lens
Career Success Economics Personal Development Personal Success Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Saddles, Strategy, and the Spirit of Polo with Megan Judge
    Jul 30 2025

    Welcome to The Luminary Lens, where heart meets strategy and stories spark transformation. In this episode, host Rebecca Kaykas-Wolff speaks with Megan JudgeOwner of Central Coast Polo and Head Coach of Cal Poly Polo, one of the most successful collegiate programs in the U.S.

    In this episode, Rebecca and Megan explore how polo goes far beyond horses and mallets—it becomes a training ground for life. Megan shares how she builds an open, development-focused culture that welcomes complete beginners and turns them into confident athletes. From the fundamentals of horsemanship to coaching philosophies that blend grit, adaptability, and community, Megan’s perspective offers lessons for leaders and learners alike.

    In this episode:

    • Coaching students with no prior polo or riding experience
    • Why early exposure and family inclusion are essential to growing the sport
    • Building a sustainable polo ecosystem: roles beyond players
    • Horsemanship, safety, and how many horses it takes to compete
    • The power of polo for leadership development and mental focus
    • Women’s rising presence in the sport and the shifting demographics of play
    • Why youth programs and instructor development are critical to polo’s future

    If you believe sports can build character, community, and courage, this episode is for you.

    Join the conversation using #LuminaryLens.

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    17 mins
  • Embodied Creativity: Movement, Meaning, and Leading Through Art with Dana Genshaft
    Jul 16 2025

    Welcome to The Luminary Lens, where heart meets strategy and stories spark transformation. Host Rebecca Kaykas-Wolff—a corporate marketing leader, salon curator, and founder of the Luminary Society—sits down with Dana Genshaft, choreographer, educator, and Artistic Director of SF Danceworks.

    In this layered and insightful conversation, Dana reflects on a lifetime shaped by motion—from early training at the Kirov Academy to dancing on the stages of San Francisco Ballet, and now leading one of the most forward-looking contemporary repertory companies in the country. She shares how dance serves as a language of connection, what it means to build culture with intention, and why investing in emerging artists is essential for the future of the arts.

    Rebecca brings her signature style of intentional conversation to uncover how Dana’s approach to leadership blends discipline with empathy, structure with stretch, and vision with community.

    In this episode:

    • How Dana’s artistic lineage shaped her identity as a dancer and leader
    • The difference between discipline and perfection in the creative process
    • Why contemporary repertory dance matters—and how SF Danceworks is reimagining it
    • The role of trust, play, and negotiation in artistic collaboration
    • Building administrative and emotional infrastructure to support working artists
    • What empathetic leadership looks like inside a values-driven arts organization
    • Dreaming future collaborations across tech, architecture, and immersive experience

    If you believe business and the arts need more curiosity, courage, and humanity, this conversation is just the beginning.

    Join the conversation using #LuminaryLens. For upcoming performances and more, visit sfdanceworks.org.

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    37 mins
  • Empathy in Action: Rebuilding, Sales Leadership and Showing Up Human with Roderick Jefferson
    Jul 2 2025

    What happens when a high-powered executive is forced to pause—and begins to truly listen?

    In this deeply personal and inspiring conversation, Rebecca Kaykas-Wolff sits down with longtime friend and sales enablement leader Roderick Jefferson to talk about what it really means to lead with empathy, live with intention, and rebuild from the inside out.

    Roderick shares the story behind his life-altering stroke and the profound transformation that followed. Together, they explore the evolution from hustle-fueled success to values-led legacy, the fallacy of work-life balance, and why EQ—emotional intelligence—is no longer optional in today’s leadership landscape.

    This episode is a masterclass in perspective, vulnerability, and redefining impact on your own terms.

    In this episode, you'll learn:

    • How Roderick reframed his definition of success through adversity
    • Why “give to give” has become his personal and professional mantra
    • The role empathy plays in high-performance leadership
    • Why transformation is essential (and what it really takes)
    • How younger generations are shifting the narrative on work and life

    Whether you're a seasoned leader, an emerging executive, or simply someone navigating big life shifts, this episode is an invitation to slow down, reflect, and lead with heart.

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    34 mins
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