All About Cath Sutherland

About me? Well I’m sitting here in one of my favourite cafés, on the other side of 50 (not the cafes name) and I’m reflecting on a great life so far.

I’m thankful that I only have first-world problems, that I love what I do, I am stretching myself and having fun!

Sure, there has been some big challenges, like desperately trying for 10 years to have a family, which didn’t eventuate, but if it did, I doubt I would be writing to you now.

I believe, shit happens to everyone, it’s just different shit at different times. It may be more appropriate to ‘find and replace’ – ‘shit’ with ‘challenges’, but it was shit.

I have so much to be grateful for; great health, fitness, adventurous travels, friends, family and an amazing partner. He is an action man and fitted a big criterion for me when I was 19. I wanted someone I wouldn’t get bored of.  Well, after 31 years of being together, he gets a big TICK!  He answers YES to everything, and I daydream, that if I asked him to join a scary cult with me, he’d say, ‘yeah, I’ll come!’ He’s flexible and adaptable.  My default setting is planned and strategic. He just does. And you know what? I am learning that a lot of the time, his way works. Don’t worry. Just do.

So how did I get here?

I grew up on a farm, feeding calves, singing to my chooks, riding horses and swimming in the local river.

As soon as I hit my teens, we moved to a regional town and lived across the road from the ocean. I would walk to my school on the hill, eat my breakfast on the beach and check out the surfies from my bedroom window.

In 1983 I  escaped my country town, to a cowboy town, Eagle Pass Texas, as a Rotary Exchange Student. Here, I felt like I was on a Western movie set and had friends called Guadalupe Gonzalez and Jesusita Fernandez. I was also proficiently schooled in Tex-Mex swearing, which makes watching Law and Order a richer experience.

Back to Perth, chewing gum and kilos heavier, I completed a year of an Arts degree and got selected for the Australian Film and Television School in Sydney. It was here, I met my husband to be (though at first, he annoyed the hell out of me). And, also indulge in my very unacademic passion, Advertising. I could recite any ad on television or radio verbatim. So, I became a Creative Director, writing and directing the production of ads for various capital city Radio Stations Australia wide for 8 years. As this was in the 80’s, and female voices were few and far between, I also became a professional voice-over and had a lot of fun excitedly reading ads with giggles on the end, (it was an 80’s thing).

At 23, in the midst of my gigs in Radio, I knew there was more to life, so I ran away to Kenya for 3 months to do community work.  This was with Operation Raleigh (check them out if you want to do the same, they’re great).  I camped out in the national parks, with an international bunch of young ‘movers and shakers’, living off army rations, with a two-way radio for communications and a Kenyan army ranger with a rifle to protect us. Climbing Mount Kenya and crossing the glacier up there is still a life highlight.

So was marrying James in January 1993, on the beach at sunset.

In 1995, James and I, a little motivated by paranoia that we could end up a boring married couple, quit our jobs, rented our house and flew for an adventure to Europe. It was amazing how many friends said, ‘you can’t do that!’

Together we drove over 20,000 kilometres around Europe, and through the deserts in Jordan and Egypt. After the rigorous 6 month, 24/7, relationship road test, we had well and truly validated our choice to be together. If our relationship could survive THAT, we knew we were solid. I learnt, I don’t have a sense of direction and James’ learnt that I am a better driver.

On my return, I jumped into all things marketing; including events management, promotions, sponsorship, public relations and marketing management. My last position was marketing manager of Airlink, Qantas’ largest regional airline, now called Qantas Link. During this time, I also went back to Uni and completed a Masters of Business Administration.

In 2000, I made the leap to create my own business and marketing consultancy. So, over the years I have facilitated organisations through their business and marketing strategies.

During this time, James and I were trying for a family.

I tried absolutely everything and anything to get pregnant.  Diet, naturopathy, kinesiology, hypnotherapy, IVF, and of course, trying to stay stress free. It was at this time, a friend suggested energy therapy from the Australian Stillpoint Institute.

I was a human cocktail of fertility drugs, on a non-stop emotional roller coaster, when I first met Melaney Ryan.  After the first session of energy therapy I felt grounded and back to myself.

What was that!?  I then, to protect my sanity and to prevent taking antidepressants, (which were dished out like tictacs), signed up for regular appointments. These kept me grounded, sane and functioning through the hormonal tsunami that lasted for years.

I wanted to learn more. What Melaney was doing was amazing. So, I signed up for her first class in ITA (Integrated Therapeutic Alignment). I have since completed ITA 1 (3 times), ITA 2 (2 times) and ITA 3.

I was facilitating business teams during the week and on the weekend, I was learning about energy therapy. The eastern philosophy that we are not just a physical body, but we are also a subtle energetic body. I learnt the health of the physical (functional body) impacts the health of our energy (emotional body) and vice versa.  It was for me, at the time, eye opening, paradigm shifting and made so much sense.

In class one weekend I thought, ‘I wonder if I can apply these eastern philosophies to traditional business?’.

So Melaney did help me give birth to a baby – a book called Creating Brand Energy – How to transform your business energy into market power.

When I started applying energy principles to business and marketing, things just started to fall into place. I LOVE it when that happens! I knew I was on the right path.

My book took me 4 years to write.  Theory is all well and good, but I needed to demonstrate how the Creating Brand Energy Process can be activated in business.  So, I put my model to the test with a range of businesses, some of which are case studies in my book.

While writing the book I came up with my new company name – Conscious Business. When you go through my process you became more conscious. You become conscious, of not only who you are as a business, but also your impact on your team, customers, suppliers, community, the environment and the global community.

When I told my friend in advertising, that I had just registered Conscious Business (2008), he screwed up his face and said ‘noooooo, don’t do it! People won’t take you seriously, it’s too white caftan, too hippy incense waving!’.  Well how things have changed! In just under 10 years, Consciousness, Conscious Business and Conscious Capitalism are common vernacular. Yay! (little toast with my tea cup there).

Today, I facilitate my clients through my unique process, which uncovers and reveals the real energy of your business. Soul searching and determining WHO you are as a business, is the starting point for everything to do with your business and brand.

Because of the weight of requests, I have developed my process into an online course for solopreneurs and entrepreneurs.

I invite you to come on a journey of self-discovery and develop your very own Conscious Business Blueprint, to guide your way.

We’ll uncover the unique – YOU!

X Cath

PS. To discover more about my Creating Brand Energy process and start building a powerful brand read this.