Catherine is a Sunshine Coast girl. Her grandparents had a house at Maroochydore and her family had a farm at Diddillibah, and a house at Aspley. She  high schooled in Brisbane, studied accountancy and in her late teens immersed in  body language and went on to  top sales in the CBA Bank, she married, had 3 children in 3 years  and started 3 small businesses from home selling children’s toys, books and Pepito clothes.

When her husband wasn’t well they swapped roles and Catherine went back into the workforce, re-educated her self and decided to start a business that she would love.  Education and training has been something Catherine has always been involved in. Catherine started a training company, kicking off in the GFC and within a short time grew to employing 18 staff on the Sunshine Coast and 36 contract  trainers around Australia. From there, Catherine created a soft skill training company Auspac Business Advantage  (ABA) and  the company went International.

Catherine has won International awards for Leadership and Customer Service, the  Australian Institute of Leadership and Management award, and an Asia pacific award, for her conscious connection framework. She soon stepped up onto global stages speaking and sharing the knowledge she has  learnt through growing businesses and taking them global.  Some of the talks and trainings ABA deliver are; mastering communication and difficult conversations, how to use body language for business success, language for leadership and team development, and much more.

Catherine, you’ve had an exciting career to date and so many diverse roles… tell us about those roles and how you have evolved and changed direction over the years?

I started my career in the Commercial Bank of Australia; ”make a bunyip happy today, put your money in the CBA.” We were all very proud of this bank. We provided fantastic customer service. I started in debt recovery and I used to go across the bridge from Southbank to attend the courts in Brisbane.

After a couple of years, I chose to transfer to the north side of Brisbane to be closer to our farm on the Sunshine Coast which is where I grew up. During this time, I accepted a relief position while I was waiting for my new role. I worked in over 12 branches and loved the variety of meeting new colleagues and customers. I also discovered I was great at sales, and I topped sales for Queensland each month with multiple branches putting in requests for me to work in their branch.

CBA then merged with the Bank of NSW and we became Westpac. I undertook various roles and ended up on the Sunshine Coast as General Hand at Westpac Maroochydore. A commercial centre was created on the Sunshine Coast for our million dollar plus customers, and I was promoted to Managers Assistant Legal. It was a bit of a boys club back then but I really enjoyed the challenge of excelling in this environment. Westpac then took over AGC finance and this is where I met my future husband, on the 3^rd floor of 77 The Esplanade Mooloolaba, and the rest is history.

The bank was great grounding for customer service, building relationships, being disciplined, dotting your I’s and crossing your T’s, working hard and having fun. My background made it quite easy for me when I created my own business as I understood finance, service and the power of product knowledge. I had high standards and a strong work ethic, and the care factor for my customers was my number #1 priority as I had delivered customer training and product knowledge for years. When it was my turn to step up I understood the need to use all my skills, knowledge and belief ; I found the thrill of creating and running a business very enjoyable. So after the first year I had sealed just over a million dollars in deals face to face and I guess this was the start of The Million Dollar Handshake.

Your book ‘The Million Dollar Handshake’ has been a global success. What made you write the book and how has this affected how or what you present?

This is a big story, as I was never writing a book but I kept being told that this was something I needed to do, from about 2014. I was in Sydney at the time, coming back from a tv interview on body language. I was in a cab and received a call to meet with a lady from a book company who was interested in “The Million Dollar Handshake”. The taxi driver overheard the conversation and when I hung up he asked “Ma’am can I ask what you do?”. I replied “I’m a speaker/ trainer.” And he said, “No I don’t think that that’s what you do, I hope you don’t mind  that I overheard the conversation.” I was silent and then he continued “You’re an author.” And I said “No, I’ve only just started to write” and he said “Oh Ma’am, I’m going to tell my wife I had an author in the car today and I’m so excited!”.

So this was another shove to say, get this book completed and I did. It’s titled, The Million Dollar Handshake- the ultimate guide to revolutionise how you connect and communicate in business and life. I now conduct four face-to-face trainings based from the book and three keynotes which I have been delivering worldwide. The book has been bought by five publishers, translated into multiple languages and was awarded Business Book of the Year for 7 Dials by Orion books UK. I have just been advised its been purchased for the USA and Canada market for release at the end of Jan 2021. One-third of the proceeds from this book are going to the charity ‘Watoto’ in Uganda and this is now our 11th year of fundraising for orphans.

What career or personal achievement are you most proud of?

Personally having a family to love is the most important thing to me. I had a deep knowing that my children would always be ok in life if they followed their heart and used their natural talents and skills for good. How could we not be amazed at bringing another human into the world and loving unconditionally, allowing them to grow and then being there for them when they need? Being married for nearly 30 years and having a family makes me smile, but whenever I see them I also see the faces of the women and children in Uganda too. Having something bigger than just us makes me strive to be better and earn more, so there is more for me to share with those in need. Seeing my children stand on their own two feet and help others is the greatest gift. Being made a goodwill global ambassador was amazing, and being awarded my CSP (certified speaking professional ) in 2017 was also great. Only around 12% of the whole population have received this (CSP) accolade for professionalism for speaking and impact.

How can people overcome their insecurities to be confident enough to network and/or speak on stage?

If you are nervous, that’s ok, you may fall more into the reserved side of behaviours, but there are steps you can take to overcome nerves no matter who we are. The number 1 skill most needed on the planet today is communication. If your communication is not working for you then lets make it. You react before you speak and being conscious of this will help create more win-wins in your life. I believe in training, education and choosing the right mentor and coach to bring out the best in you. I have created a course where I take people through a process to build strong foundations in confidence, speaking skills and discover their purpose so they can share what they’re most passionate about.

You give a lot of time to a number of charity projects too. Tell us about these and why they are important to you?

When we lost nearly everything in the GFC and I started again, I wanted to give to charity. I felt if I was working so hard it had to be for a bigger cause then just recouping the money for the family. We all have our own reasons, that was my drive. We used to donate to different causes on the Sunshine Coast and then I started donating time to Shine, helping girls that may have been bullied, from broken homes or even abused. I completed around 10 of these graduations and I still use what I have learned from this today to help women unlock their value and worth. From this, the ladies involved were fundraising for Watoto so I started helping too and then in 2012 I went on my first mission to Uganda where we worked with orphans and mums. The funny thing was I started life as an orphan so it feels a like I have come a full circle now helping other orphans. In Australia if you need water you can get it, if you need food you can get it, if you need shelter or clothes you can get these things but in some parts of the world you still cannot. I want to help provide a fairer world to all and at least see basic human needs met. No one on this planet is more important than the next.

And what’s next on the agenda for Catherine Molloy?

I am working with many leaders around the world and have dedicated my research and training to my new book, The Conscious Leader; how to lead a life worth living through crises and beyond, which is coming out next month. I have collaborated with a team in the UK and Belgium, and we are creating The H.A.R.T Academy for leaders/ influencers wanting to excel and make a difference in their businesses and life.…stay tuned…

Favourite movie and why?

SO many… an old fave would be Pretty Women…no matter what happens in life no one can take your value and worth away. And who doesn’t love a happy ending!

What’s one thing that you do for yourself every day?

Walk – whether it’s a short one or a long one I get out each morning and at night I always spend a moment in the grass looking up at the sky … No matter what country I’m in, I always do these things.

What mantra do you live by?

When you Believe in Yourself Anything is Possible

To find out more about Catherine Molloy head to:

Website
http://www.catherinemolloy.com.au/

Facebook
@catherine.molloy1