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In this Field Note, documentary photographer and narrative strategist Lindsey Lerner sits down with Cat Addo — a social impact strategist who has spent nearly twenty years helping brands and nonprofits find their voice, from the music industry to her current role leading strategic partnerships at Comic Relief.
The conversation surfaces a distinction that reframes how high-achieving, high-capacity people experience praise at work: the difference between being known — admired for your finished output — and being seen — recognized for the discipline and reaching it took to get there. Cat traces that distinction back to a ballet studio in San Diego, where she trained at eight years old under a demanding German teacher who called her good, period, long before the rest of the world started calling her work great.
The episode also explores Cat's path through the music industry, seven years in strategy consulting, launching her own firm, and now nonprofit leadership — along with a quieter admission near the end of the conversation: the self-consciousness that can come with caring visibly about your work, and the privilege of even having the choice to care that much in the first place.
This is a conversation about invisible labor, first-generation identity, imposter syndrome's less-discussed cousin (being praised for the wrong thing), and what it actually means to feel recognized — not just successful.
What You'll Hear
Why "this is so great" can feel hollow, even when it's sincere
The ballet lesson that shaped how Cat approaches every project since
Cat's first-generation upbringing and how it shaped her relationship to belonging
The real story behind Cat's decision to leave her agency job while newly pregnant
The stigma around caring "too much" about your work — and the privilege of being able to care at all
Lindsey's own parallel: fifteen years learning to notice what other people miss
About Cat Addo
Cat Addo is a social impact strategist, brand and narrative consultant, and the founder of Issue Space, a content and event series for purpose-driven professionals. She currently serves as Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships at Comic Relief, working to end childhood poverty through the power of comedy. Her background spans nearly two decades across the music industry (Universal Music Group, Reservoir Media), strategy consulting (Purpose), and independent practice through Cat Addo LLC.
About Field Notes from the Work (and the Wild)
Field Notes is a documentary practice by Lindsey Lerner braiding portrait photography, oral storytelling, and anthropology — exploring the interior of a working life. New Field Notes publish weekly, alternating between full Field Notes (photo, essay, and audio story) and Field Notes Radio conversations.
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A full day Field Notes workshop in NYC. Info and registration here.
A room built to hold what usually stays invisible. Strangers meeting each other as people instead of titles. Enough of them in one place that something shifts by the end.
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