28/10/2025
I haven’t told anyone this before.
My first speaking gigs were perhaps rather unusual?!
When I first returned to the UK around 11 years ago (after sixteen moves in eighteen years of Army life) I knew I had to find a way to practice speaking, and so, I decided to (audition!) and then be available to give talks to WI groups (Women’s Institute)
I already knew I wanted to be a speaker about the mind (I’d recently published a book about emotional well-being and resilience) but I also knew I needed to practise speaking first.
So, I had to find a topic that would appeal to a room full of brilliant women out for a social evening!
The title I chose?
“Survival Secrets of a Military Wife.”
And apparently… it was unintentionally funny too! 🤣
Here are a few of my “survival secrets” that turned out to be useful life lessons:
✨ Write in pencil – plans will always change, so stay adaptable.
✨ Treat everyone as a friend until proved otherwise – we’re all in this together.
✨ Buy the best ball gown you can afford – go to every party; the highs will get you through the lows (and with constant postings of you or others, no one ever sees the same dress twice!).
✨ Get excellent at packing boxes and putting up pictures – you’ll need to move in and throw a party within a week, or you’ll never unpack.
✨ You can learn to do anything you put your mind to – I’ve been a physiotherapist, aerobics instructor, Army clerk, music teacher, counsellor, Pilates teacher, and many more.
Those early WI talks were the start of my speaking journey – and they taught me that humour, honesty, and heart connect with any audience.
❓What surprising stories or “life lessons” from your own past do you reckon you could you share with a WI group or similar?!
Or, if you’re a speaker – how did your journey begin?
Photo description: The photo shows a newspaper article of Cat and her family, published in 2014, about her publishing a self-help book called “Stay Calm and Content No Matter What Life Throws At You” based on her military and professional experience as an Army wife and relationship therapist)