Cat is an award-winning marketing leader and the incoming Director of Strategy & Competitive Intelligence at VisitScotland. Having studied International Business & Languages at the University of Strathclyde, she started her career in a small family-run manufacturing company running their marketing & sales function. From there, she joined a digital agency in Glasgow ultimately becoming Head of Strategy, whilst also volunteering on the TEDxGlasgow leadership team, delivering major 2500 delegate events at the SEC, as well as building a global audience for their talks. Her next role was inaugural Director of Brand Scotland, leading a first-of-its-kind, cross-public-agency initiative to build Scotland’s profile on the world stage. During her 2.5 year tenure, Cat led partner collaborations & multi-million-pound international campaigns, including the hugely successful Scotland is Open campaign in response to Brexit – a career highlight. Next she supported the establishment of a new Brand Scotland unit within Scottish Government Marketing and remains a key member of the partner Strategic Forum. Her head of department role in VisitScotland has seen her lead teams from UX and front-end development, content and creative, to PR and global campaigns – always with a focus on brand excellence and results-driven marketing.
What would you tell your teenage self?
Care less about what others think & what this means. The likelihood is they’re not even thinking about you & are also preoccupied with themselves. I am a people pleaser at heart, and I look back & realise just how much time I wasted worrying about other people’s opinions, which really didn’t matter.
As an old colleague used to say, “you do you”.
Biggest inspiration?
My mum – she is a bit of a superwoman.
She is an unshakeable character, distinguished by her generosity of spirit, her gentle and considered demeanour, and her impressive capacity for handling chaos and crisis.
To put it into perspective, my parents moved some 9K miles to South Africa in their early twenties (1970s) to work and, despite the distance from their support network, chose to start their family there. She went on to raise four children, whilst continuing her career as a doctor, making the big move back to Scotland, managing my dad’s dangerous hobbies (most notably motorbikes and the accidents that came with that), and providing a loving family home. If I can be half the woman that she is, then I’ll be doing well.
What makes you angry?
I really can’t abide rudeness or bullying. Kindness costs nothing. And, in any environment, mutual respect is absolutely essential to fostering happy, productive relationships.
What makes you happy?
Being with those I love. I feel incredibly fortunate to have a really special group of friends and family, who I know I can turn to for anything. My daughter, who is now three and a half, is the best life lesson. You can rely on a toddler to hold up a mirror to your soul and keep you in check.