Shining A Light On What Matters: Meet Jay Kattel, Founder of Lume Partners

Some people analyse businesses. Jay Kattel illuminates them.

As the founder of Lume Partners, Jay helps organisations see what they have missed in plain sight, then fixes it with practical moves that actually stick. His mission is simple. Shine a light on what matters. Cut the noise. Deliver outcomes.

A global lens that sees what others miss

Jay grew up across four countries, attended ten schools and speaks four languages. Nomadic childhoods teach you to observe before you act. Jay learned to read the room, spot hidden dynamics and ask better questions long before he ever led a transformation program.

That global lens is now a core advantage. He does not bulldoze change. He watches how a system really works, identifies the dominant forces, maps who gets impacted and then designs changes people will adopt in the real world.

Why “Lume”

Jay has always been fascinated by the night sky and by light. Lume is drawn from the Latin root for light. The idea is elegant. If you do not shine a light on a problem, you forget it. Leave it long enough and it bites. Lume exists to light up blind spots, then resolve them with clear, adoptable solutions.

The track record behind the calm

Two decades across private and public sectors have given Jay a rare mix of strategic and operational muscle. Highlights include:

• Listing work on the Australian Securities Exchange
• Process redesign that unlocked efficiency and revenue growth
• Talent acquisition remodels that reduced friction and improved quality of hire
• Director-level leadership during a major NSW Government merger
• Hands-on delivery across IT, audit, risk, compliance and service management within a PMO

He is not a slidedeck advisor. He is an implementation specialist who rolls up his sleeves and gets the job done.

The decision to build a business with a life inside it

After senior roles that most people would chase for years, Jay asked a harder question. What is success if you are not there for the people who matter most. He chose time with his family over more zeros on a payslip. That meant building Lume Partners with intention.

It also meant parking ego at the door. If he had to supplement income while building, he would. Uber. Shelf stacking. Whatever was needed. That clarity removed fear and sharpened focus. The result is a practice that serves clients without swallowing the rest of his life.

Numbers as compass

Jay sees life in numbers. Always has. That shows up in how he runs a P&L and in how he guides clients. Forget vanity reporting. He wants to know how every dollar comes in and goes out. Where value is created. Where margin is lost. What metric actually predicts the next risk. When you understand the numbers under the narrative, better decisions follow.

Listening is the power move

One of Jay’s core beliefs is almost unfashionable. Listen first. Many leaders arrive and flip tables on day one. Jay blocks the urge. He listens to understand why things are the way they are. Maybe the team already tried your bright idea and it failed for a reason. Listening shortens delivery time, saves rework and builds trust. Silent and listen share the same letters for a reason.

Mental health, boundaries and sustainable pace

Jay treats wellbeing as an operating system, not a poster on a wall. He trains three to four times a week, starts mornings with a 15 minute mobility routine and gets outside often. He speaks up when life gets heavy and keeps a short list of people to call. In teams, he normalises boundaries. No meeting zones. Focus blocks. Conversations instead of calendar marathons. Sustainable pace beats heroics that burn people out.

Where Lume Partners creates the most value

The sweet spot is organisations with roughly 100 to 2,000 employees. Big enough to have meaningful complexity and stakes. Small enough to move at speed without drowning in bureaucracy. In these environments Jay’s mix of strategy, delivery and people-sense lands cleanly.

He partners best with leaders who value experience over theatre. If you want a glossy binder, call a brand name. If you want a seasoned operator to co-design and implement the change with you, call Lume.

Practical over performative

Jay has strong views on the consulting market. With today’s tools, insight is not a monopoly. The advantage is not access. It is the ability to execute inside a living system with real humans who have competing priorities. That is where his career in transformation, mergers, talent, process and PMO becomes a force multiplier.

Cashflow, character and choosing clients

Running a boutique firm teaches you fast. Quote clearly. Scope honestly. Pick clients who pay on time and value the work. When he commits, he finishes. If a project expands, he talks early. Integrity compounds just like interest.

Life outside the boardroom

Jay is married with two kids, loves travel and adventure, and says yes to the occasional big walk for the sheer joy of it. He has trekked to Everest Base Camp and is known to head out the door and walk 45 kilometres because it felt like a good idea at dawn. Nature is his reset button.

What he wants leaders to remember

Do not obsess over being right. Obsess over seeing clearly. Different vantage points can both be true, like a 6 on the ground that looks like a 9 from the other side. Create space to listen. Protect focus. Measure what matters. And stop living for other people’s opinions. Your values, your integrity and your outcomes are the point.

How Jay engages

• Discovery and diagnostics
  Fast, respectful listening that maps reality, not wish lists.
• Prioritisation and plan
  Clear choices. Clear metrics. Clear owners.
• Delivery inside the business
  Shoulder to shoulder with your team. Knowledge transfer built in.
• Stabilise and scale
  Lock in gains, build capability, then expand what works.

Who should reach out

• CEOs and founders who want an operator’s brain on a strategic problem
• HR and Ops leaders facing a restructure, merger, or talent system overhaul
• Functional heads with a mission-critical program that must land cleanly
• Medium enterprises that need big-firm outcomes without the big-firm baggage

If you need someone who will shine a light on the real issues, respect your people and deliver results you can measure, have a conversation with Jay Kattel at Lume Partners.

Your business already has the raw material. Jay brings the light.