Many of us have dreams of being our own boss and starting our own businesses, and one woman has been able to make her dreams a reality with the help of a complete change of lifestyle.
Catherine White, 46, spent her teenage years washing cars in order to make ends meet and now she owns a £20 million business empire. Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, she said, “My childhood was so unstable, so I always wanted and needed to be independent. I didn't believe working for someone else gave me that and my future would still rely on someone else.”
At 24, Catherine started her first business from a desk in her sister's art school but she was struggling with a panic disorder at the time and would find comfort in junk food, which led her to follow an unhealthy lifestyle. After the company reached a steady point a few years later, she decided to go travelling and in the process, completely changed her outlook on life. The woman said the “dramatic change” of scenery helped her mental health significantly, and she was even able to cut junk food out of her diet — dropping her from a size 24 to a size 12 by the time she returned to the UK. And the business mogul (大亨) believes changing her lifestyle also helped her succeed in her career as she is no longer scared of making decisions or speaking in public.
This year, Catherine aims to grow one of the companies under her Freedom Services Group umbrella, Stella Insurance. She set it up in Australia for women. With each deal, the business donates $5 to a charity, and plans are underway to launch in the UK.
The now-millionaire said, “In my wildest dreams, I wouldn't have thought it could become the size that it has.”
