Leadership is not only defined by one decision or act alone. To become a successful leader, one needs to have proper planning, strong relationships, and commitment to a definite vision. Cynthia Washington’s career is an example of how proper planning, continual learning, and determination to make a difference can create effective leaders. As the Founder and CEO of LVL UP with CW, Cynthia’s career path has involved working for corporations and financial institutions before joining digital platforms as a renowned leader and social media influencer.
Cynthia grew up in Los Angeles, where she was surrounded by the energy and influence of the entertainment industry. Her parents encouraged her to do something else and take up a career in business. As a result, she attended California Polytechnic University, Pomona where she studied International Business and Marketing. She took up their challenge and set herself three ambitious goals: to work downtown in a financial district, lead an empire, and have a career in Silicon Valley. To achieve all those goals, she kept on working tirelessly.
Friendship with Purpose
Cynthia’s early ambitions were dreams shared along with two post-collegiate friends, Kobe Bryant and Marshall Mathers, widely known as Eminem, as they intersected before her Hollywood exit. Cynthia met Kobe, a rising NBA superstar, while she worked at The Staples Center where they became friends. She was in the same friend group as Travis Barker. She met Marshall at a local church festival where they watched Travis perform with his band Blink 182.
The trifecta: Eminem, Cynthia and Kobe, spent hours discussing the impact they hoped to make on the world. Cynthia and Kobe often spoke about the challenges faced by children who grow up without active father figures. They wondered how they could help create better opportunities for young people. Marshall had experienced this challenge firsthand, while Cynthia grew up in a more privileged environment. She spent part of her childhood on yachts playing with Barbies alongside Kourtney and Kim Kardashian.
Despite their different backgrounds, the trifecta shared a vision for the future. They believed their individual strengths could support a greater purpose and when combined would help change the trajectory of the world.
Kobe’s Mamba Mentality was in its inception. Marshall, a lyrical genius, was entering the Hollywood music scene and could contribute through his music. While Cynthia aspired to use her growing interest in business leadership, furthering her academic quest and living a socio-economic experiment at Columbia University. Over time, life led each of them in different directions. Cynthia focused on building her corporate career and rarely spoke publicly about those early conversations.
A Defining Moment
As a single mother and an executive, Cynthia worked for a Silicon Valley Medicare sales company operating in Utah. During this time, she encountered a business culture that differed greatly from the one she had experienced in California.
In California, Cynthia had received genuine support from her male colleagues. They encouraged her professional growth and even paid for golf lessons so she could build relationships and participate equally in business discussions on the course.
In Utah, she encountered what she described as a “good old boys club.” The culture felt unfamiliar despite her strong award-winning record of building compliant sales teams and developing future leaders.
A colleague once told her to stop viewing her leadership through the lens of gender and simply lead. The comment marked an important turning point. Cynthia recognized that the environment was not aligned with her values or leadership approach. She began working with an executive coach to develop a clear strategy for her next career move.
Turning Vision into Impact
The decision marked the beginning of her “Humble Quest,” what Cynthia now calls her mom mission. She took a strategic sabbatical with one clear goal: to learn from the best people in every industry she could access. Her journey connected her with trailblazers and innovators across Utah. Many of them remain close friends and collaborators today.
During this time, Cynthia applied to the CMO program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Although she was not accepted into the program, Kellogg recommended her to Columbia Business School. At Columbia, she studied Corporate Governance, Finance and Macroeconomics while living a socio-economic experiment.
Cynthia’s advisor at Columbia recognized the strong reach of her presence on LinkedIn and Instagram. The advisor encouraged her to turn that influence into a formal consulting business. The idea aligned with Cynthia’s values and purpose. She was raising her daughter, mentoring a growing group of high school students who studied in her home, and leading by example. This combination of encouragement, experience, and purpose became the foundation of LVL UP with CW.
Leading with Authenticity
LVL UP with CW has grown into a multidimensional platform focused on helping people and businesses grow with authenticity, purpose, and heart. Cynthia, now a multi-hyphenate, sees leadership as more than holding a title. She believes it means creating opportunities for the next generation while continuing to develop her own skills. Through LVL UP with CW, she supports local businesses across Park City, Salt Lake City, and within Silicon Slopes. She also uses her platform to highlight organizations doing meaningful work, bridge societal gaps, and strengthen communities.
Cynthia’s experience in corporate leadership and entrepreneurship has shaped how she defines success. Integrity, authenticity, and intention are the values that keep her grounded. She also remains connected to her deeper purpose and the reason behind her work. She credits her resilience to Grit and Sisu. Her mom mission began as a “Grind with Grit” journey. Sisu, quiet perseverance through hardship, helped her through some of the most difficult and lonely periods of her journey. Her journey has been documented in the book she authored, “Mind Matters: The Story of My Life.” By staying true to herself, Cynthia has earned trust among new social circles and in unfamiliar environments. She has also built strong relationships with brands, project managers, and industry leaders around the world who share her values.
Cynthia applies the same thoughtful approach to her work as a social media influencer. She does not measure success by likes or follower counts. Instead, she evaluates every partnership by asking whether it creates a positive and lasting impact while aligning with her values. Her schedule remains busy, so she selects projects carefully rather than accepting every opportunity. This disciplined approach helps protect the integrity of her personal brand and the brands she represents.
Applying Analytical Insight
Her ability to identify gaps and opportunities within complex systems has supported her career growth. She developed this skill through years of formal education and practical experience. Cynthia’s analytical skills have earned her a seat at Zions Bank, where she works within the Retail Banking Administration as part of the BSS team. She works directly with senior and executive leaders on special projects that affect clients, branches, and the broader organization.
Outside her corporate role, Cynthia serves on several philanthropic boards. She applies the same principles of clear communication, strong presence, and integrity that guide her work across all the teams that she serves. She understands that working alongside senior leaders requires more than strong credentials. It also requires preparation, professional presentation, and a clear focus on measurable business outcomes. These outcomes require integrity at every level and may include risk management, scalability, and client experience.
Cynthia values clarity because she recognizes that time is highly valuable in professional settings. She communicates with purpose and respects the time of everyone involved. Whether she is working in a bank, participating in a board meeting, or working with brand partners across digital platforms, she focuses on clear communication and meaningful results.
Clarity in Leadership
A few core principles guide Cynthia’s approach to leadership in a digital-first economy. She believes communication should be intentional and concise. She also values collaboration among people with cognitive and intellectual diversity; thus, creating a variety of perspectives, experiences, and ways of thinking to leverage optimal infrastructure. In her view, this type of collaboration helps organizations remain innovative and competitive.
Integrity is essential to achieving accurate and compliant results. Ethical leadership and consistent performance provide the foundation for long-term success. These principles help organizations move beyond short-term gains and build sustainable value over time.
Balancing AI and Humanity
As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the technology landscape, Cynthia focuses on two important questions: How does this technology serve humanity? How can the industry maintain balance across different areas of life? She strongly supports emotional intelligence and views it as an essential and necessary complement to artificial intelligence. She encourages technology leaders to invest in emotional intelligence with the same level of commitment they bring to computational power.
This focus on balance shapes her perspective on the future of AI. She is concerned about the growing volume of low-quality, AI-generated content in creative spaces. She believes the industry must protect creative integrity, strengthen cybersecurity, and establish effective regulatory safeguards for artificial intelligence. She also sees the rise of deepfakes as a serious challenge that requires urgent attention. At the same time, she recognizes the value of machine learning and prompt engineering when people develop and use these tools responsibly. In her view, technology should “level up” and support society while bringing people together.
This principle also extends beyond digital systems. She describes libraries as the original data centers and believes that preserving rare and historic publications is both a moral responsibility and a socially responsible business practice. As some organizations digitize or discard physical archives to train machine learning models more quickly, she views this approach as short-sighted. She believes organizations should be cognizant to the fact that not everyone has access to a computer. Therefore, return knowledge to communities rather than use it only to increase the memory and speed of a machine. This approach can create greater long-term value for both businesses and society. After all, the human brain is the ultimate investment.
Recognition and Future Leadership
Cynthia’s leadership approach has earned meaningful recognition. In 2025, she received the CXO Leadership Impact Award at the CXO Conference in Las Vegas. She also received the SheTech Champion Impact Award at the Women Tech Awards in Salt Lake City.
For more than five years, she has mentored thousands of high school students earning her the latter recognition. As a volunteer, role model, and a next-generation architect, she shows up authentically as living proof that ambition has no ceiling and encourages others to also pursue ambitious goals. She believes success is possible through dedication, consistent effort, and a willingness to learn.
For leaders managing competing priorities, she offers simple advice: trust your instincts and remain true to who you are. She encourages aspiring technology leaders to join organizations that create meaningful impact. If no such organization exists, she encourages them to build one. She also believes that finding purpose and fulfillment in one’s work is just as important as achieving professional success.
A Legacy of Purpose
Looking ahead, Cynthia hopes her legacy creates impact and reflects a simple belief: influence carries responsibility, money is a tool, and true power comes from the mind. She often reflects on a quote by Robert Ingersoll: “We rise by lifting others.” This philosophy has guided her since she began her mom mission.
She is grateful that her daughter, who was the stimulus for her mom mission, her daughter’s friends, and the collegiate generation are learning in this pivotal moment in time. They will harness the power of the mind and lead with emotional intelligence. She remains hopeful for a successful pivot for our future.
To share this philosophy with the next generation of technology leaders, Cynthia created the THINK acrostic that encourages leaders to work Together, Honor humanity by leading with emotional intelligence, Innovate with intention and integrity to build responsible solutions that serve society, Nurture future generations by mentoring, empowering and inspiring tomorrow’s leaders and Knowledge shared is collective wisdom for sustainable growth and long-term lasting change. Think: Use Your Influence for Good, the future needs you. These principles support responsible innovation and sustainable, long-term progress.
As the technology industry continues to explore the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence, her message remains clear: build boldly, yet always remember the people technology is designed to serve.
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