#awinewith Cat Dunn
MEET Cat
Cat is an online business manager
Find Cat here:
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:07):
Kat, welcome to Spark tv. So good to have you here.
Cat Dunn (00:10):
Thank you for having me. I'm very excited.
Danielle Lewis (00:12):
I am so excited as well. I believe we were connected through amazing people on LinkedIn,
Cat Dunn (00:19):
So
Danielle Lewis (00:20):
I'm so excited to chat to you and learn more about what you do, not only to share it with my community, but obviously for me to learn more as well. So yeah, I'm so appreciative that you're spending the time with us.
Cat Dunn (00:34):
I'm very excited. Yeah. Any chat about women in business? I'm there.
Danielle Lewis (00:38):
Nice. I love that. Well, let's start by telling our amazing women in business who you are and what you do.
Cat Dunn (00:45):
So I'm Kat and I'm an online business manager, which I think some people still don't quite understand, which I don't completely get. I look at it as I am an office manager, but virtually and what I do is I manage a lot of aspects of people's business, so they get their time freed up to be an zone of genius and I prefer to work with coaches, so women in the coaching industry who have online courses and memberships and communities who do launches several times a year and things like that.
Danielle Lewis (01:18):
So cool. I think ubms are quite a new term. I think perhaps in the last couple of years where coaches and courses have kind of really spiked, it's become so necessary to have people to help you out on your journey
Cat Dunn (01:34):
Completely. So obviously if you are in corporate world, for example, which many of us have come from, you might see a job for an office manager, for example. So it's the same idea, but yes, virtually, I guess it didn't really need to exist until you know yourself as a business owner, you tend to wear all the hats, you're the marketer, you're the admin, and it becomes really, it's a lot of obviously parts to manage. So I accidentally fell into it because as much as I'm very experienced in the corporate world in a number of different areas, I started as a VA for an amazing coach and then naturally progressed, taken on more roles and getting more involved in the community. And then one day she said, oh, you're my online business manager. And I was like, what does that involve? So it's almost like she introduced it to me and then I started doing research and I was like, oh my God. Yes, it's definitely aligns more because it's less of the doing per se, but obviously you do get tasks done, but there's a lot of strategy involved. You get to be more involved in the business from a strategic level. You get to kind of be their right hand person and their extra brain, and I just love the idea of being more involved and helping their message and their community grow.
Danielle Lewis (02:49):
That's so cool. And I think it's so important. I was just having a conversation with another woman in business about being a business owner is a lonely road sometimes, and especially us women who work from home. It's so easy to get overwhelmed in your own head, spiral out of control a little bit. Having a wing woman is, and from a strategic level, not just a doing level is so important I think.
Cat Dunn (03:18):
Yeah. So that's why when it comes to working with clients, I really want to work with clients where I believe in what it is that they're either coaching or teaching other people that they're supporting and how they're trying to benefit their life. Because the more I can be involved and care about what they're doing, the more I'm like, yes, okay, how do we skill? How do we grow? How do we get your message to more people? Because personally, I went to therapists for some years and didn't really do much for me, and I know obviously it has its place in health, but I was kind of wondering, where's the gap? How do I dunno become exactly how I want to be if therapist's not working and there's no traditional medicines? And I literally stumbled upon coaching, which obviously has exploded over the past couple of years for many reasons, and it just changed my life.
(04:08):
It absolutely did. The idea that someone not only has your back, but they guide you to find the answers within yourself, it's not someone telling you what to do. It's like a mentorship. So when I started, everyone says niche down. When you're in business, who is it you want to work with? Who's you rather your client? It was almost like a no brainer that why wouldn't I work with coaches? Because if I can free up their time and they could spend more time actually coaching women who get the benefit and then they can help more women and they help more women and then more women around the world are just actually becoming exactly who they want to be. I mean, why wouldn't you want to do that? That's why I do what I do.
Danielle Lewis (04:45):
Oh my God, I love that
Cat Dunn (04:48):
Domino around the world.
Danielle Lewis (04:50):
No, but it's so cool to be intentional. I think a lot of the reasons why people are unhappy is because we kind of just stumble into the next thing and I'm talking all facets of people's lives and whenever I tell my story, I tell it like this. I went to school and I did well, I picked the uni degree, I got a full-time job. I started saving for a house. So I was just going through life, ticking all the boxes, doing all of the things that I thought I was supposed to do, and it was not intentional at all. And it wasn't until my eyes were opened up to the online business world that I started realizing that you could make your own decisions in life. I know it sounds so stupid as I reflect on it.
Cat Dunn (05:36):
Not stupid at all. No,
Danielle Lewis (05:38):
But it's like I feel like even when I worked, so my corporate career was with Telstra and it was just the type of company that you got a promotion every year or two and you kept getting pay rise. It's like why would you leave? It was just so good. But again, not intentional. I reflect on that and I'm very grateful for that experience. And I was in sales, so I've taken sales into my businesses and all that kind of stuff, but I feel like a lot of the reason why people are unhappy is because they're just going through life, ticking their boxes, falling into the next job. The next thing, even once you get into business, I fell into the exact same trap building my own business and then I was totally miserable and I looked back and I was like, oh, I've just been doing it the way I thought I was supposed to do it. I thought that I had to do it. And it wasn't until I actually forced myself to get really intentional about how I wanted my life to look and feel and what I was working towards that I actually became excited again to work on the business. So I love that you have actually kind of done that from the start. You've gone, this is the role. Who am I actually going to work with and actually likening it to a personal experience and bring that into your business? That's awesome.
Cat Dunn (06:57):
I mean it is in theory. I mean there's obviously been a lot of stumbling blocks along the way and I have worked with people outside of the kind of coaching realm. I've worked with photographers, interior designers, but most of the time it's people who the developing online course in a community and that's why I work with 'em. But I have fallen into the trap of maybe aligning with clients that I think are the right fit and then they're not, which is probably the biggest learning curve I've had. And I've only been in business two and a bit years and has evolved. I started as a virtual assistant and I quickly moved into OBM. A lot of people obviously say stick it out and do this, but that's why I was, I was more lit up by the idea of being more strategic and having longer term relationships with fewer clients. I mean my first 10 KA month when I was over va, which is fantastic, I had 11 clients and I got up at 6:00 AM and I was working until seven. And you kind of get a point you think, well, I might as well be in corporate if I'm behaving in this way because that's
Danielle Lewis (07:56):
Totally, yeah, where is the freedom
Cat Dunn (07:58):
Exactly. I mean I know that happens a lot where businesses are babies, we get really involved in it. We live and breathe it, and our family and friends are like, what on earth are you doing? Just go back to a proper job in commerce because you actually would work less probably and then at five o'clock you can switch off. But it was kind of like how do I take that passion but make it work for me by being a bit more aligned with who I want to be in my business and who I want to work with? And obviously teach about what an online business manager is to the people who require it. But at the same time, one of the things I hate about corporate is wearing a suit or wearing high heels or having a full face of makeup or having to be kind of one of the minions and all sounds really rude because some corporate people just look amazing and that's fantastic, but I just didn't want to JIT anymore. I was like, how do I bring in who I am to the culture of business? I mean right now I'm wearing a multicolor love,
Danielle Lewis (08:52):
Love the sweater sweater
Cat Dunn (08:55):
Kind of on brand colors a little bit. So good. So I've been in business two years and never really had a website, never really finalized my brand voice and who I want to be. So that's my focus right now. That's what I'm working on of I'm not your typical OBM and because I don't wear a suit, don't want to see 'em, I don't know what I'm doing. And that's kind of what I'm coming up against a little bit. I'd be in a co-working space and people would genuinely look me up and down because I'm really, yep, genuinely I've got the gym. So I've halftime in the active wear or I wear lots of boys t-shirts because I comfortable or I like the slogans and I still get that and I'm like, wow, okay, interesting. I am a business owner yet I feel small in the place where I was supposed to all be accepted, but I was like, but rather than shy away from it all given, I was like, well no, because I know I'm fantastic what I do, I know I'm knowledgeable. What I look like really shouldn't matter for my expertise. So when I do now I'm doing a new photo shoot because the photos don't feel like me at the moment that it's like I'm going to be exactly who I am, but I'm very good at my job, so I'm going to turn all bmm on a TED side. That's my end.
Danielle Lewis (10:07):
That's incredible. So talk me through this. I mean, I really understand that feeling of resistance where you're like, no, I know I'm awesome at this, but I'm coming up against these things. Have you gone through an actual process or even if it's just your own thought process or your own brainstorming, your own whatever to get to this point, to get to the stage that you're like, actually this is who I want my customer to be. This is who I am and who I want to be. This is the direction I want to take. Have you in your business, I know you started as a VA quickly to OBM, have you gone through a process where you've, I guess designed the vision for who you want to be in business or what you want your business to be about?
Cat Dunn (10:56):
Definitely. That's what I'm kind of focusing on right now because you sometimes get so swamped in the doing that you don't actually take a step back. You always think, oh, for the Christmas break I'll do some planning. So happy rest
Danielle Lewis (11:07):
A Christmas break. Yes, exactly.
Cat Dunn (11:09):
I even took an extra or two weeks off and I was like, I'll get loads of planning done. I was like, actually, I'm so exhausted, I just want a break. So I'm definitely doing that now. It's been a learning curve because I am, if anyone's into human design, I'm a manifesting generator, so I'm constantly doing loads of different things. I do a week in the life of OVM on my Instagram stories. And when you see my average week, I honestly don't know how I did all those things because I'm constantly in meetings or doing this and doing that. The other, and I guess for me what's been a great support is having a coach. I work with coaches all the time. I have a fantastic network of other like-minded business women. I've network a lot, so I have a lot of people I can reach out to and get that feedback because you hear a lot of things about you have to be exactly what your ideal customer's looking for.
(11:56):
You have to be in their voice, you have to solve their problem. And obviously there's definitely elements of that, but at the same time, you can do that without having to be a cookie cutter, having to look like everyone else. Why can't I manage our business but wear a leather jacket and wear a skull necklace? I love horror because I've got very strange interests for some people. But when I share on Instagram stories, something about a horror film for example, I get a lot of people contacting me because they're like, wow, I've loved it about you. Oh, I don't like horror. I'm such a war. I can't watch horror. And what's your favorite horror? They don't actually want to ask about my business. They want to ask about me because they're small business owners. We buy from each other. We want to know more about who we are.
(12:38):
And I can love crystals and journal and meditate every day and work with coaches, but also love to watch a slasher where someone, someone's killed by an ax murderer and love Freddy Kruger and West all next and go a rock concert. But then still be like, right, okay, in a client meeting, fantastic, let's plan out your lawns. Let's do this. How can I support you? It's trying to bring in all the facets of who I am, but so bring that into business in a way that's going to support clients, but I get to still enjoy it and not have to wake up and go, oh my God, I better put on a suit. Put on the
Danielle Lewis (13:13):
Mask. Yeah,
Cat Dunn (13:14):
Exactly. Put on the mask. I mean, somebody commented to me recently like, oh, I hate it when someone doesn't look like their photos. When they get their brown photos done, they look too made up and they don't normally look like that. And I thought, oh my God, what if I get my photos done and people hate them because normally on a zoom I'm wearing a boys and blue light glosses, whereas in my brand photo, I might not look like that. But then I was like, well actually, why do I care what they think? Because when I go into this brand photo shoot, I already have my Pinterest board or a clear idea what I'm going to wear and how it's going to look because I can be wearing a band for example, but I've got the biggest grin on my face because I'm literally being who I am. And naturally that will come through and I still upskill and learn how to use different systems. I always prepare for how I can best support the client, but how you look shouldn't come into it should be part and parcel of who you are, and that should attract the right clients as well.
Danielle Lewis (14:10):
I totally agree. And it's really interesting because I think we start to blend together as women in business and even the brand photo shoot thing, I feel like sometimes we take inspiration from each other's brand photo shoots and all of our brand photo shoots look exactly the same. Mine is me on a phone, me on a laptop. But so people often say, because I mean I think it's really hard these days to differentiate yourself, and I think there's a lot of competition in a lot of industries. It doesn't matter what industry, what job role, what service you provide. The thing that makes it so easy to stand out as being you is you being you just going, yeah, what is it about me that is unique and authentic and bringing that into the business, bringing that into your personal brand, I think that is the number one way to stand out in business today.
Cat Dunn (15:10):
Yeah, I totally agree. And obviously I've hidden, even when I used to join corporate roles, I used to be like, all right, I'll give it three or four months before I really show them who I'm as in it's like
(15:21):
It totally is months for the wrong person, but it's even just it. It's such a polarizing thing. I like horror or I like to meditate, so I'm called either a psycho or I'm called woowoo, and it's like, wow, these kind of judgments we have of each other that I try really hard not to do. Everybody should be allowed to do whatever makes 'em happy to a point. And I bring that into my business. It's even I have a big problem that I don't trust my gut and my gut has never ever steer me wrong. I've been in romantic relationships, I've thrown up for two years because it wasn't a good fit and I had no, oh my
Danielle Lewis (16:00):
God,
Cat Dunn (16:02):
About
Danielle Lewis (16:02):
Trust your gut.
Cat Dunn (16:04):
I know, I know. Because it wasn't a very good, it was a toxic relationship and I just honestly thought I had a health problem and my body was so desperate to get away from the situation and I completely ignored it. So now even if i's signing a new client, I'm doing a task that I can feel it and if I ignore it, it just gets really bad. It actually affects my health. So I was like, how on earth do I lean into this more? So I did a course on trust, my intuition, and from that I've actually learned that I do have, and this is going to sound woo woo, I love woo
Danielle Lewis (16:32):
Woo, don't worry. I'm into it
Cat Dunn (16:35):
For it. I have medium and psychic poets. I can read energy, I can pick up on things that other people can't, and I'm absolutely fine with it. I've seen ghosts before and people think either it's terrifying or I'm crazy and I don't mind. It's like I don't care if you believe it or not, it's just part and parcel of who I am and I'm accepting it. But for me, if I can use those intuitive powers, yes, powers as they call 'em, just even from a business of like, all right, first time you meet a client, if it doesn't sit right, don't go through with it or this offer doesn't feel okay. Oh, actually the way I'm selling myself just doesn't align with who I want to be. It's simple things like that, which I think obviously all of us have, but women in particular that good, you walk past the dark alley, do we do, we don't walk down it, do we? Which obviously is a different conversation, but as a intuition saying it's not safe and that's all it is, and we don't lean into that enough. And that's what I'm trying really hard to do and seeing where that leads me,
Danielle Lewis (17:32):
Oh my God, I just got goosebumps. This is so good because you're so right. I reflect on moments in my business where I have felt like this situation is wrong. This is not whether it be a hard conversation with an employee, whether it be a deal, whether it be whatever it be, and I've ignored it, it's blown up in my face, totally blown up in my face. In actual fact, I try and do that now if I feel a feeling, and it is usually in your stomach, I go, why? What is it? What am I doing right now? And am I having this feeling because I'm an avoiding? For me, it's usually I'm avoiding having a hard confrontation, hard conversation or something. I can even feel it if I am behind, if I'm behind on client work, I can even feel it before a client blows up.
(18:26):
I'm like, oh, this is in a spot where they're going to get cranky if I don't take action right now. So I know to just ship it out the door. I know if I ignore that feeling in a few days time, I will have left it for two days too many and they'll be cranky. So I just think you're so right. Learning to actually listen to your body and to your gut and to your intuition. It's like secret sauce in business. People say woo woo, and that's fine, but I'm like, no, if you can harness that, that's super cool.
Cat Dunn (19:01):
Exactly. And people can feel your energy as well, but if you're not aligned with what you're doing, it does come across and you'll suddenly notice a dip in sales or why don't I have as many clients now? Or why is that Instagram not working, that post working that normally would work? It is such a thing. And like I said, the films that you've got there, there you go. You've got the secret power. It's exactly what you have. And I'll be honest, I still ignore, I ignored it and I had a horrible situation literally yesterday with a client. I didn't ignored it for the past two weeks and we had that horrible conversation and I did feel really crap, but at the same time, so relieved because I knew it was right and I've ignored it for two weeks. I'm like, so it is definitely, it's a progression.
(19:42):
I'm not perfect. I stumble on stuff and I don't listen to it all the time, but it's definitely get a point now if I don't really start listening and making my business work for me as much as possible, I won't want to get up on a Monday and do the job and I might as well go back to corporate and just get some out with tell what to do and money that way, but that's not going to satisfy me either. So it's like if you don't lean in and listen, then eventually it will make you.
Danielle Lewis (20:06):
Yeah, I love that. I just think more women listened to themselves. We're actively out there seeking advice, seeking mentoring, and I agree. I think coaching's amazing. Community's amazing. You have to have them. No-brainers in business, but if we listen to ourselves a little bit more as well, it would not go astray.
Cat Dunn (20:27):
Yeah, definitely. That's probably the biggest lesson that I've learned. Don't have to be a business owner obviously to do it. It could be anything. You could be a mother, you could be single, you could be like, it doesn't matter anything, it's just any single decision. And I also would, maybe, it doesn't have to be human design for example, but anything you can do to kind of learn about who you are, personality tests or anything like that to find out how do you best learn or how do you best react to things. A manifesting generator, obviously it means I've got a lot of things going on once, so I'm kind of create things and I'm all over the place. I have three jobs for example, because I get itchy fingers.
Danielle Lewis (21:05):
I know the feeling.
Cat Dunn (21:07):
Lost my train of thought. Oh, but I even found out one really simple thing through that is if someone says to me like, oh, what do you want for dinner tonight? I get a complete block because apparently I don't respond very well to open-ended questions. What I need is the most with the choice. And I swear to God, since I learned that, even for example, my boyfriend, he says, what do you want for dinner? And I'll look at him, I go and he goes, all right, so got you have burgers, you have pizza. And I go, oh cool. I feel, and I actually feel the answer and I go all that. And it's really changed. It's such a simple thing, but I need people to, that's how I'm going to pick things. And also I'm supposed to pause before making a decision. I jump in, I'm definitely a go-getter, like let's do this thing now.
(21:49):
And then I end up regretting some things. Even just agreeing to go to an event, for example, three months away and then the day before I'm like, oh bugger, I need to sit with it. And I find it hard cause I'm so fast paced that my listeners to slow down and take a moment because sometimes that's how I end up with the wrong client. I'm just so excited because I'm, oh my God, they want to work with me or oh, I have space and then it blows up anywhere. Whereas we just took an extra day to go, this doesn't really fit, but however I can recommend this person that would work better with you. I would say myself a lot of heartache.
Danielle Lewis (22:23):
So I dunno, it's like the secret to being happier, isn't it? When you learn, do the work to figure out who you are. And it doesn't have to be perfect. I know we're all evolving, growing people, so you don't have to make decisions about your life forever. But when you learn about how you do respond best to situations, how you do make decisions, how you feel, actually knowing that about yourself and empowering other people to help you once you know that is just really powerful. And I love that in life too, right? It is that, don't give me the open-ended question, but you can say that to anyone. So if they said, what do you want to do here? Just like, and you can actually respond and guide them with, well, what are the best two options? Or we give me three choices and I'll tell you what we're doing. I do that too on the weekend. I'm like, tell me three things that we can do. I always say to my partner, shortlist them for me. So if he doesn't want to make the decision, I'm like, give me a shortlist and I'll make the decision. But I like that too. It's just helping people understand how best to interact with you, but that self-awareness to know how you show up best as well.
Cat Dunn (23:40):
And also if you get those short answers or options and none of them feel right, you can then suggest something else. So it's okay if none of them feel right. You don't have to pick one, you can come up with something else. And obviously that can apply to any situation, not just dinner for example, or going out somewhere. If anything, even in business, do these offers feel right? Do these systems feel right? A lot of people obviously as not be able, I specialize in set of systems and processes, writing standard operating procedures, make sure your business runs as smoothly as possible. What can we delegate? What can we automate? And a lot of people when they start working with me, it might be using one system and just assume that I'm going to come in and just redo everything and no once start, I'm going to start again.
(24:25):
It's like not necessarily. It could be that the system works, it just needs tweaks. It's almost like you're going to come in and you're going to fix everything that's broken, even if it's not broken. Just an idea. But you don't have to let you throw out everything. It's just a case of it could just be small tweaks or things that we could just do to make it partly better, which I do in my own programs all the time. I have a workflow that's been broken for ages and this is what I specialize in. Today's my to call with me. And I thought, oh, I have to go in manually do that. And actually it's worked because I fixed it. Well, hey, know what I mean? But I just assumed it was broken. I has been broken for a while because I couldn't figure out how to fix it in my own system and it worked.
(25:01):
It's like, all right, cool. It just needed to tin out. I didn't need to throw out the entire system, it just needed that small little step added. So now I can sit back and know, cool, that calls in, everything's so out of the emails have gone out and I can continue working. And obviously that's just freed up so much time. That definitely that felt's other thing as well, I always look at your own business. We've spend so much time taking care of our clients. The last thing on the pile is, for me it's marketing. My Instagram, I get really lazy about it, but it's just like spend some time, get that CEO day in the diary and just sit there where we light up. That's where you really want to be in your own business. I love CEO EO day.
Danielle Lewis (25:35):
That's my favorite.
Cat Dunn (25:36):
Yeah, exactly. I'm better at scheduling as well, but that's the thing. It's just if I love it that much, fall in love with it. Again, I send out an email to my list once a week. Half the time it's about woo woo stuff rather than actual business just because write what I want to want because I'm a writer. But next week I'm do five ways to date your business. Actually set aside time to date your business. Pretend you're on a date with it, pretend it you love it, pretend it's your partner because we need to give it some care and attention to TLC because why do you come a business owner in the first place if you ignore it?
Danielle Lewis (26:11):
So true. And I just love the idea of the small tweaks. I think that so often we get overwhelmed thinking we've got to rewrite the whole course or we've got to redo the whole email, so we've got to redo this, redo that. New systems, new software. And you're right, we don't have to, sometimes it is a case of plug the holes, optimize, fix the brakes, and then perhaps one day in the future we can come back and redo something. But getting started on the small tweaks does make over time this compounding effect to your business growth. And it's so much less overwhelming than trying to rebuild everything from scratch.
Cat Dunn (26:53):
Exactly. I think a lot of us, we have these massive to-do lists that we just stare at and it just that thing, it's overwhelming. It's like I cannot tackle all that. It just makes me feel sick. And then the immediate suggestion is like, all right, cool. I'm just going to outsource. But half the time you want to outsource without actually realizing what you want to outsource or who you actually need in your business. I've been on a lot of discovery calls, but after 15 minute chat I'm like, you don't need me. You need a social media manager or you need a website designer, you need a graphics or you need a virtual assistant. Sometimes people just need the doing done and that's absolutely fine. But Lisa helped you get there. I see you, I you, I'll work with you and say, what do you want? I dunno, I just want to be less overwhelmed. Okay. Right. That's stuff
Danielle Lewis (27:35):
That would be the dream. Thank you. Yeah,
Cat Dunn (27:37):
Yeah, exactly. Obviously that can work sometimes, but your to-do list is never done. And it's not just business. We all have lives, we have families, we have outside interests. It's not the write mine down. I have my to-do list in three different places. It just keeps staring at me. And I'm the same. I work in other people's businesses to scratch up their to-do list, but then mine just gets longer because I'm so busy in that business. But it's just like one thing every single day maybe towards a goal. And even if it's just like I want to create my first lead magnet and set up a three email sequence. All right, cool. So bring somebody and I just every day do one little thing towards that. You don't have to get it done and out, but by the end of the week, if you don't have time for it, we'll put too much pressure on ourselves.
(28:16):
Just do what you can at the moment to keep your customers happy, to keep your face out there, to keep marketing yourself. Stop jumping on every single social media platform if that's not what your audience is, and if you don't know what your audience is, all right, cool. Maybe your task is to spend some time in market research and I find out where they are, talk to people, look at hashtag and if TikTok scares you, don't go on TikTok. It's absolutely fine. It changes all the time. But yeah, it's so much pressure on to do everything and be everything, but no, what's going to move your business forward and what's going to light you up? Focus on that and just break it down. Break it down. Don't overwhelm yourself, just chill. Write to do list and put it away. Put it in a drawer for a bit. Breathe.
Danielle Lewis (28:53):
Yeah. My trick is I write my to-do list, just brain dump absolutely everything. And then I get a post-it note and I'm like, well, I can only actually physically fit one, two, or three things. So then I just put those on and then I close the to-do list and I was like, okay. Until these three things are ticked off, that's the only thing in your universe. The only thing that you actually have to worry about is that one thing I wrote down. And I find that now everything's out of my head, but I'm not looking at the entire 50 items going, holy shit, I don't even know where to start. Put the one thing on a post-it note, and that's the only thing I'm looking at. I find sometimes that's my little hack to help with that.
Cat Dunn (29:31):
I love that. I'm so going to steal that because sometimes says, please, please do. I use clickup in my own business. That's where I have my to-do list for my business. But it is actually, I like the pen and paper. I like having it there and you can cross it off. I love crossing off. I love taking off a list. My God. Oh yeah, me too. The organization part of me. Yeah, it's just like, oh my god. But I really like that a lot because sometimes as well, it doesn't not have to just be three business items. It might be like, oh, I have to, I've ordered a book. Alright, I need to go and collect it. So that could be on my list for today. Maybe that's what I need to do because it gets me outside and because the book, like something to do with business that I want to read or I want to weather this again, I need to have it in my bag.
(30:07):
It doesn't have to be absolutely just like, oh, this has to be something to the business and it has to get me seals and it has to move me forward. It could be something that helps you. So guilty of sitting in my desk and not moving, oh my god hours. And I love being active. I look at the gym, I love being outside and sometimes I'm like, I haven't left the house in three days and I don't even realize, and that's terrifying. So even if I post, it was like, you have to go outside for 15 minutes just so I have to take it off. Actually, I think that might help me. So thank you for the tip. I'm going to try that. Actually I'll do that today.
Danielle Lewis (30:38):
I'm so happy. I'm so happy. But I love mean even to your point, the CO time, the doing things for yourself, whether it is going to the post office to pick up the book or whatever, or actually reading the book or doing whatever those things. I think sometimes we feel guilty because it's not the email sequence or the website update or the social media content, but those things are actually mission critical to business. I think so I think you're right. Factoring them in, putting them on the post note and actually taking them as a serious action item is really, really important.
Cat Dunn (31:17):
Yeah, exactly. I'm really big on meditating and sometimes I'll go a week without doing it. I'm like, I don't feel so great. I don't feel like I'm really, my brain's working very well. You haven't done it. And obviously not meditation for everybody. That's absolutely fine, but you find what works for you because it is such a thing of filling your own cup because it does affect my business, it affects my energy, it affects how I feel and if I ignore it, everything just gets worse and my fine's also there and that's not the business that I want to have. But obviously you have to sort yourself first. Was it you put on your mask first? The plan mask, mask first, which too, so you need to find that one thing is for you and you need to try your hardest to even just five minutes a day get that thing done because it's going to absolutely just affect everything that you do.
(31:59):
You don't have to go and do an hour workout. It could just be something really simple like some stretches in the morning. I've got the retreats every year and I got those five days to myself. It's just like, it's amazing. I want to be, as soon as I got back to the real world, I'm going to be a different zen person. Nah, it doesn't out that way. I'm so flat back in a bad habits, but it's aware of how I felt and so I know how I can get back there and know what I need to do, get back there.
(32:24):
I like to go on business conferences, so if I'm going to one next month, but rather than just go for the conference, I'll go for the extra few days and I will do some client work, but I'll set up my calendar so I can get up to the beach or I can get up to there because I want to appreciate different parts of Australia. I appreciate why I'm there. So I'm like, all right, cool, do that. But I can't just rely on that once every few months. How every day can I just bring a little bit of something that makes me joyous. Right now I'm holding a crystal. It makes me feel calm, not making me nervous or anything. It's nice. It makes me feel it's rose quarts and it, it's got healing and love properties to it. It's just, yeah, what makes you happy? Squeeze balls. But
Danielle Lewis (33:01):
I mean, it's so true and I love that because you are spot on. I think we do all have our own rituals and our own things that make us get us back to a place of being a little bit more centered. But you are also right. We ignore them until we're at the point of why am I sick? Why am I feeling burnt out? Why am I crying for no reason? And it's like, oh yeah, I haven't got nothing yet. Like you said, I haven't gone up in three days. I haven't done this or I haven't done that. It's like, yeah, you've got to, you really need to be conscious as a business owner to incorporate the things that do fill your cup. Like you are so spot on there and it's, I know I'm guilty of it, of the feeling guilty looking after myself, but then I'm like, you're in idiot. You're all, I get so many good ideas when I read a book, all my best ideas have come when I've not been working.
Cat Dunn (33:55):
Yes, exactly.
Danielle Lewis (33:56):
In the pool or reading a book or going for a walk. I'm like, no. Good ideas come from just staring at a computer screen.
Cat Dunn (34:04):
Exactly. I'm a writer and the blank page is the most terrifying thing I've ever seen. And I sit down, go, I'm going to write now. It just doesn't work that way. I have to do something completely different because that's how my mind works. But it's learning that about yourself I suppose. Where does your mind work best? Because if you're going to force it out, it's going to either don't be great or you're just not going to feel lit up by it. So find your own little routine or schedule or anything that makes you feel alive. Anything. It doesn't matter what it is.
Danielle Lewis (34:30):
Yeah, and I think it's about that awareness. When you feel the feeling of zen, of excitement, of any positive feeling, what are you doing? Actually force yourself to stop and ask yourself the question, why am I feeling this way right now? And even do I actually think it's good to do that on the negative side as well, so you can kind of get a good little guide rails for yourself. But I think that idea of being intentional and asking yourself those questions is the key to unlocking those feelings and being able to tap into them on demand a little bit better.
Cat Dunn (35:06):
Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Even if you find a word you can say to yourself when you feel good, oh yes, you breathe. And it's almost like encapsulated. So like I say, I went to retreats, I remember how it felt. I remember those five days. I can feel like B listen and I can still remember how that feels. It's like, all right, cool. So I find things that make me feel similar to that. And obviously we don't all get five days every, so just to switch off, if I could get that in one moment, like say have a bath, read a book, go out inside and get to meditate, then that's what I'll do. Because as much as a lot of us don't miss the corporate world and didn't enjoy it when we're there, the one thing most corporate jobs did for us was give us a routine of you have to get out and go to work. You do get your lunch break, you do do this, that it's almost like you have to build that into your own business life. Because as much as we want to do our business 24 7, it's not healthy. Your laptop's here, but it'll be here when you get back or it'll be here if you go in the other room and have a nap or whatever it's you need to do, just set that routine for yourself.
Danielle Lewis (36:05):
Oh, I love it. Okay, well, we could talk all day. I can feel it. I can feel it. So let me leave you with one last question. So a lot of people who dial in are amazing women in business, and I guess just reflecting on your journey over the last few years on running your own business but also supporting other women in business, is there one piece of advice that you have either learned or been given that's helped you get through the rollercoaster that is business?
Cat Dunn (36:41):
I'm definitely going to say it's the community. It's who you surround yourself with. Obviously if you're starting out in business swamps, that's hard to find. But when I first started, I had the experience of being a va, but for me it was more like, oh my god, what's an a BN and how do I do tax and all those kind of things. So I spent a lot of time at Google trying to find a VA community I could join or someone who could be my coach and found one that I aligned with. And basically from that point, I've gone to networking events. I've joined different communities, I'm in different memberships, and I'm quite an outward confident person, so I don't mind being like, hi, I'm Kat. How's it going? And I know that can be hard for some people, but it's who you surround yourself with in terms of who's going to make you feel the best that you can feel, who's going to support your dreams?
(37:27):
Because I love my friends and family, but half the time, I mean OB I'm trying to explain that is just probably good. But there's so many business besties I've got even not even in the same business. It's not something even better because you get a different perspective. That's definitely what's got me to where I am. Even today, someone reached out, do you need any more clients? I've got someone who might be a great fit for you. And she did that because we've been in the same community forever. I've been in her membership before. She's aware of me, she knows my skillset. And yes, it's great that you might get clients from it, but it's not that it's we're in this together and women, my God, we are fantastic. We are just the most amazing creatures. I swear to God, we can do anything. And the businesses and the entrepreneurs and sole traders that I've met blow my mind. They make me want to be a better person every single day because I've found the communities that fit me and that allow me to shine weirdness and all horror and all. They just let me be me and they support me and love me, and it's from business and coaching. I'm in a coaching membership and the women there are just wonderful and supportive. So it's definitely find your tribe. I guarantee they're out there and they will get you better than anybody else can in your entire life.
Danielle Lewis (38:38):
You're absolutely incredible. Katt, thank you so much for sharing your journey and your wisdom and your insights with us. I know everyone tuning in will have gotten lots of value out of that, so I appreciate you so much.
Cat Dunn (38:53):
Thank you so much. It's so wonderful to talk to you and big shout out to all the women listening. We've got this.
✨ Thank you to IP Australia for supporting the SPARK podcast and women in business ✨
