Catherine van der Meulen is made of all things strength, empowerment, strategy & style. As the Founder & Director of Entrepreneurial Women With Purpose, Cath walks the path of #KindnessWarrior daily & leads others with a secret sauce of clarity, vision, & strategy.
To know Cath is to know a woman who lives to help others. And, let's face it, her choice of super-power is AH-MAY-ZING!
She's an educator & connector extraordinaire. She's a powerhouse of conversationalist.
And she's someone we're happy to have in our conner.
Here's to strong coffee, strong values, & one hekuva playlist to get us all through our days!
Q&A With Catherine van der Meulen:
1. What three words best describe you?
Educator
Empowerer
Creative
2. Why those three words?
Educator - a constant quest to share what I have learnt and bundle it up in a way that entwines academia, heart and soul.
Empowerer - a constant life focus to draw out of people their greatest qualities and highlight to them how to use them for the greater good of the world.
Creative - for me creativity is less about being an artist but more about being an artist of my mind to be creative in my approach, ideas, solutions and decisions.
3. What did you want to be as a kid?
An air-hostess!
This was probably my first sign of my great love of travel and adventure.
4. Tell me about compassion & how it shows up for you daily.
I spend most of my days connecting with people from all walks of life - from business owners, to government officials, to kids on the school run and one thing that I love to do is get to the heart of who they are, what they are passionate about and whats going on in their lives. If we get to a place of authentic truth it allows us to be compassionate to other peoples needs and how we might be able to support each other on this journey called life.
5. Who inspires you most in your daily life?
My children.
They see everything through inquisitive and curious eyes with great wonder. They are not consumed by the noise, the world at large, its all just about their little worlds. I would love the human race to get back to that child like state and re create the possibilities
6. Name a moment in your life when you were courageous!
Making the decision to move to New Zealand.
7. What does kindness look like/mean to you & how does this manifest in your daily life?
Kindness is in every conversation, every smile, every look in another’s eye, every connection that we make with other things that are living and breathing around us. Learning first and foremost that to be kind to the world you need to be kind to yourself. It begins with us and then its very easy to be kind to humanity, to the animal world and the environment.
8. What motivates you to do what you do?
As a single mother I know that its up to me. To lead, to shine, to care, to educate and be every possible role model to the two most important people in my life. So its them that motivate me - to be constantly working on myself to be a better version of myself, spending my time committed to projects for the greater good and working with people that have a like minded attitude. 9. When are you happiest?
When I am lying in bed in the morning after my alarm goes off and falling in and out of the slumber.
10. We’ve all got a zinger of a power song what’s yours?
"Superwomen" by Alicia Keyes.
11. Introvert or Extrovert?
Extrovert but some of my hibernating state might shine light onto the Intro.
12. What’s one thing we could all do to change the world for the better?
Work on ourselves to be the best versions of ourselves, then share that experience with a neighbour and support them to go on that journey of self. One person at a time.
13. Name a deal-breaker for you.
Honesty and Truth.
Once broken I find it very hard to regain the love.
14. When did you last sing out loud? (Also, what were you singing?)
Just today actually. I even did a little dance move in the kitchen. It would have been something on my “Coffee + Chill” playlist but not sure which one. I felt like I clicked my heels after some wonderful and motivating conversations and some wins.
15. What’s your biggest hope for the world in 2020?
That we recognise what we are working through now not as a crisis but amazing catalyst for change. It needs to start now.
16. What’s your biggest fear for the world in 2020?
That we will forget how to be human.
17. You get one super-power, what is it?
That I can eat as much Whittaker’s Marlborough Sea Salt chocolate as humanly possible.
To find out more about Catherine, peep her online here:
- Entrepreneurial Women With Purpose: https://entrepreneurialwomenwithpurpose.com - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinevandermeulen/
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