A Chat with Cath

Q & A with Cath

Most ‘professional’ fun in the past year?

Two things.

 ▪ Great fun to lead a leadership development workshop with 18 women entrepreneurs from as many countries who were in San Diego on a US Department of State exchange program.

 ▪  Appointed by Mayor Sanders as chair of International Affairs Board for the city of San Diego.  Oversee a board which links115 international, cultural and educational organizations.

 How has your work changed over the years?

 When I first started my company, a client would want to know if I did a certain topic.

 “Oh of course!” I would say, and then I would research and design a workshop for it.

 Those days are over. Now I speak only about that of which I am passionate.

However, a nice gift from those earlier days is that I have a lot to draw from for my current work.

 Another change? I used to pride myself in the fact that I could turn around even thee most unwilling student who had been told they had to attend my workshop.  One of my favorite evaluations said: “I didn’t want to like it but I did.”

Now, too much work. No more trying to transform the unwilling.

 The final difference in my work is my cartoon people.

Since they began coming out of my doodling-pen years ago, they continue to change.

The Dude and Dudette were the first. Here they are in 1997.

They are now joined by Flory, Gabe, Ollie and Queeny.
And there are others waiting their turn.

Ideal working conditions?

At my desk with pens and paper, next to an open window with a view of the water, including wave and bird sounds.

Following that, willing participants at my keynotes and workshops who are open to experiment, learn something, and have fun together.

What is one of your indulgences?

Colored pens, I have way more than one person should be allowed to have. Oh and chocolate. Pens and chocolate.

What was your first job?

Besides babysitting, I worked as a busboy, yes busboy, in a Niles, Michigan restaurant when I was 16. Now I guess I would be called a bus person. But this was before the second wave of the great wake-up call for women.

Favorite words currently?

Catalyst.

Sometimes.

Meliorism.

Why do you want to TuneUp humans?

You just never know when an idea is going to change the course of someone’s life and ripple forth to help our world.