Catherine Plano – Quantum Co-Creation – Taking You From Where You Are, to Where You Want to Be
“It’s time we all stepped up and developed the mindset of a leader. All of us.’ – Catherine Plano
Catherine Plano is known in her community as an innovative leader and creative entrepreneur who specializes in helping people achieve their goals and dreams. She is passionate about assisting others to reach their highest ambitions and live a life that is rich and fulfilling.
She is a strong advocate and a leader by nature. Catherine thinks BIG, encourages possibilities, honors individual wisdom and strengths, and is valued for helping leaders build stronger and more effective teams that come to think strategically and engage in meaningful conversations that allow for reflection, change and growth.
Catherine is an International Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach, Leadership Development Professional, Queen of Transformation, a Creative Soul Adventurer, a Theorist and Provocateur of Change and an Agent of Philosophy.
Catherine has dedicated her entire life to helping others transform their own lives into greatness. Her experience includes more than two decades of working with renowned companies and touching 100,000 lives through spiritual and mental reinvention.
Catherine continues her mission by aiding companies and individuals in becoming aware of their limitless potential and using their extraordinary abilities to achieve their desired outcomes. She changes lives daily through working with international teams, executives, businesses and individuals from all walks of life, and inspiring as a motivational speaker.
Thank you for joining us, please introduce yourself to our readers.
Catherine Plano: Hello, my name is Catherine Plano. I am the founder of Global Rise & Thrive Coaching Academy and podcast host of the I AM WOMAN Project. Sometimes I’m also called the Queen of Transformation and the Modern-Day Alchemist – because I’m passionate about helping individuals like you tap into your greatest potential.
I work with current and future leader’s one-on-one, using the science of neurolinguistics, neuroscience and the psychology of consciousness. With my own personal experience to draw from, I help individuals to reconnect with themselves. It’s only once we are able to re-establish this connection and work completely with our hearts and minds that we can make the changes required to live meaningful, authentic, enjoyable lives.
My personal mission is to be a guiding light and a pathway to wisdom for the curious leader. It’s to help individuals take back control of their work and lives, bringing a little magic, spirit and soul with useful tools for merging the new age, quantum physics, metaphysics and science back into our day-to-day dealings as entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, executives, leaders, teachers, parents … whatever hat we wear!
Can you tell our readers in what ways you are disrupting your industry?
Catherine Plano: Currently the world is crying out for authentic leaders to truly make a difference. My mission is to help as many individuals as possible like you to transform and create a vibrant, fulfilling life by tapping into their superpowers, finding the leader within and drawing on their greatest assets to bring out their fullest possible potential.
This is how we change the game we call life!
It’s time we all stepped up and developed the mindset of a leader. All of us.
We tend to think of ‘leaders’ as being part of the workforce, or part of the political sphere. However, there are leaders everywhere, woven into every fibre that makes up the fabric of our society. Our inner leader shows up most when we are composed, focused, driven by inspiration, when we motivate those around us with our passion and our enthusiasm.
I believe that traditional paradigms of leadership are outdated and no longer suited for today’s high-paced, tech-savvy environments. We are at the cutting edge of new models of leadership that are changing the world for the better, growing corporations to new heights and creating healthier lives for all of us.
There is a real science and an alchemy approach to leadership. I have learned so much along my journey in leadership over the 27 years working with corporations and running my own company, and I am still learning. This is why I share my wisdom and those ‘aha’ moments and insights through my books, blogs, podcast, programmes and workshops.
Everyone has the potential to expand beyond your wildest dreams. So why not make a life, not just a living? Why ever settle for second best?
Don’t just survive. It’s time to thrive. Your inner leader awaits.
Did you become a disruptor by choice or by necessity? Tell us more about the journey.
Catherine Plano: A little bit of both. Wisdom comes after experience. When you create space and allow both knowledge and experience to dance within you, you really can find out WHO you are, what YOU stand for, and HOW you want to shape your life.
The thing is this so many of us and I am bold enough to say at least 99% of us are living life off the edge sort of speak, lost souls … meaning lost in the many personas we wear whether they are roles we play or how we identify ourselves. We’re parents, executives, we’re friends, daughters, sons, Uncles, CEOs …. And the list goes on … but who are we really? What excites me is when we start to peel pack the layers and find out what’s really underneath all the costumes we wear and the roles we play.
The great wake up comes to us all, eventually. When it came to me, I realised that I had lost myself in everything what we call life … Now, I’m discovering, little by little, every day who I am and what I’m really capable of.
Now for the main focus of this interview: Many readers may wonder what are the biggest challenges women entrepreneurs must overcome to be successful?
Catherine Plano: In my experience, the number one challenge is “Imposter Syndrome” and the fear of not being good enough.”
What this boils down to, particularly in high achieving individuals, is an inability to internalise their accomplishments and a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud.
This translates into fear of failure and crippling perfectionism, overdrive to achieve, comparing ourselves to others and setting more goals, thinking when this happens then everything will be fine, I’ll be happy, I’ll be able to do or have ……. fill in the blank!
Yet, even in all this busyness and aspiration there’s an underlying fear and a little nagging voice that keeps saying “you’ll never be good enough” … so we don’t ask for the promotions or salaries we want … and we continually feel unfulfilled, dreaming up new ways to reach nirvana.
And yet it’s a self-fulfilling cycle on a merry-go-round that never ends. And, ultimately, if not checked, it can lead to burnout.
You may feel that your achievements are due to luck or external factors, and not due to you or your ability.
How did you overcome these obstacles? Who helped you during these difficult times and how did they?
Catherine Plano: The Shadow work
I have researched and continue to research the shadow work, and this is how I was able to ‘own my sh*t! and transform into the authentic human being that I am today. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a superhero… I will say it takes courage and hard work to own up to yourself and the thing is, it’s never ‘once-and-done – it’s a never-ending journey’. I still find myself doing the cha-cha …. one step forward and two steps back… but when you can break through the BS you’ve been telling yourself all these years, real fulfilment arrives. And it can be life changing in the most wonderful way
How did these lessons shaped the way you conduct business today?
Catherine Plano: There are so many benefits, it’s hard to know where to start…
I now have the ability to;
- activate and use my intuitive intelligence every day
- back myself even when I am doing the cha-cha with self-doubt
- have the tools and skills to respond rather than react to things in business
- think holistically and paradoxically
- listen and connect to oneself and others
• lead through influence and inspiration, rather than through control.
What advice you wished you had received when you started, that you’d like to share now with aspiring women entrepreneurs?
Catherine Plano: It’s okay to be you. It’s okay to be authentic and its okay to get comfortable with being uncomfortable because that is how we grow.
Also – don’t worry about what other people think of you. Life is way too short to worry about what others think of you. Let me put it to you this way … If I polled everyone who read this article to ask them what they think of me they’d all have a different opinion anyway! I’d go crazy worrying about all of that – and it’s something I cannot control.
Your life is not yours if you care what others think.
The only thing I can control is how I show up in this world, so that’s where my focus and energy goes.
Out of all of your proudest moments as an entrepreneur, is there a particular one that stands out the most?
Catherine Plano: There are a few actually, and they do stem from me finding connection with myself, which is what I teach …. When I had the courage to say ‘yes’ to me and reclaim my life, I dreamt a whole new journey for myself. When I said ‘yes’ to being opened to receiving, the Universe showed me it would back me, if I backed myself. And when I was able to create time to take stock and celebrate all of my wins, and acknowledge the proud moments, recognising them as the product of hard work, dedication, focus, commitment and courage, rather than just cast them off as ‘good luck.’
What do you plan on tackling during the 2022 year? Share your goals and battles you expect to face.
Catherine Plano: Two things … sharing The Shadow Work (https://shadow.catherineplano.com.au/) techniques to others because people in our communities are in dire straits … currently experiencing stress, anxiety, depression, feeling lost, confused. The shadow work is such powerful work, it really is transformative – it’s about reclaiming ourselves and our own individual power, and that’s needed now more than ever in these times of disruption and uncertainty.
And then helping others lead from within with the Rise and Thrive Coaching Academy (https://www.riseandthrive.com.au/coaching/) … In this incredible time of turmoil people are looking for guidance, a little hope, inspiration, and perhaps some practical advice too, about how to move forward. We’re coaching coaches – all sorts of them life coaches, leadership coaches, spiritual coaches, wellbeing coaches – we are here and ready to help those people who are ready to help themselves.
I’m sure our readers will be very thankful for the insights you have shared. What is the best book you’ve gone through lately and please share some take away lessons from it.
Catherine Plano: The Hero`s Journey by Joseph Campbell was mind blowing, it really helped me put into perspective that there are cycles and rhythms, and I now call them initiations…
It goes something like this – life presents you with a series of challenges, so you’ll grow, so for example when we are faced with something fearful, it gives us the opportunity to crumble beneath the weight of it or learn from it and do it differently next time. This is why things repeat in our lives over and over until we break the pattern. We’re here to learn and to grow, and to discover what we’re really capable of.
The other thing that stood out for me in the Hero`s Journey is that it really is about the journey, not always the outcome.
Let’s say you say a big wholehearted `yes` to an opportunity that comes your way. You might be successful. You might not … BUT the experience is where the gold is… the magic… the ‘life’ itself.
When we win, we win, when things don’t work out as we’d hoped, we try again, or we realise — always with hindsight – that the loss, or the failure led to something else. Life is about personal growth, gaining insight, learning, being our best selves, and everything around us is here to help us do that … we just need to slow down, be free from distraction and be conscious in every moment.
We can’t predict outcomes, but we always have choices. I am the `yes` woman. I take on everything that excites or inspires me and then work out the `how` later even if it scares me, because when I face fear, there will be radical shifts that take place! Courage is on the other side of fear.
Thank you so much for your time but before we finish things off, I do have one more question for you. When was the last time you did something for the first time and what was it?
Catherine Plano: Aerial yoga and I loved it! I felt like I was training for a circus act –
It gave me an incredible sense of freedom and lots of childlike fun!
This interview was originally published on ValiantCEO.
