In this episode of CEOs & ABCs, Kevin sits down with Becca Chambers, Chief Marketing Officer of Scale Venture Partners and one of LinkedIn’s most followed voices on authentic leadership, to explore what happens when you stop trying to fit a mold that was never made for you.

Becca opens with a story most high-performers will recognise but rarely say out loud: she started her career with a failed startup, a falling out with her co-founder, and a chip on her shoulder that quietly became her fuel. From there she built some of the highest-retention teams in the industry, not through metrics and mandates, but through psychological safety, a no-assholes rule, and the willingness to absorb the hard stuff so her team never had to.

What makes this conversation different is where that instinct came from. Becca went to a progressive Bay Area elementary school that invented the concept of EQ and taught emotional intelligence from kindergarten on. That foundation shaped everything: how she leads, how she parents a neurodivergent son who is now one of the most self-aware kids you will ever meet, and how she thinks about building environments where people can actually show up as themselves.

Kevin and Becca also get honest about the season she is in right now: too much on her plate, not enough in the tank, and still finding the pockets of presence that will actually matter. No tidy resolution. Just real.
This is a conversation about authenticity, emotional intelligence, and the quiet power of building a world where round pegs do not have to apologise for being round.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why imposter syndrome is a signal that you are in exactly the right place
• How psychological safety gets built in practice, not in theory
• What a no-assholes policy actually looks like when it gets tested
• Why emotional labour is a leadership skill that rarely gets named or credited
• How one progressive elementary school taught EQ from kindergarten and why it changed everything
• What to do when your child’s struggles force you to rethink how you define success
• Why neurodivergent kids, and leaders, often outperform when the environment finally fits them
• How to give your team and your kids autonomy without losing the guardrails
• Why context switching is one of the most underrated skills you can teach a child
• How to stay present as a parent when you are in a grinding season professionally

Top Takeaways:

• Imposter syndrome means you are learning while doing. That is the goal. When it goes away, it is time to go bigger.
• Functional teams do not show up for shareholder value. They show up for each other. The shareholder value follows.
• Psychological safety is not a feeling. It is a decision you make every day about what you allow and what you absorb.
• Emotional intelligence starts with knowing yourself. Everything else is downstream from that.
• Your kid is not who you want them to be. They are who they are. Your job is to help them become the best version of that.
• Presence is not about volume of time. It is about the quality of the pockets you protect.
• When I say no, they know it means something. That only works if you are not saying no all the time.

About Becca Chambers:

Becca Chambers is Chief Marketing Officer of Scale Venture Partners and a LinkedIn Top Voice known for candid, high-engagement content on authentic leadership, psychological safety, and showing up as your whole self at work. She has built and led some of the highest-retention marketing and communications teams in the industry across cybersecurity, enterprise tech, and venture. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two kids, and is a vocal advocate for neurodivergent employees and children.