Catherine Palin-Brinkworth was born and raised in New Zealand, travelling alone to Australia at age 20 with $100 in her wallet. Despite being the academic and artistic bright spark in her family, she had tried throughout her childhood to be ‘ordinary’, to fit in.

After being head prefect and college dux at school, Catherine’s direction was uncertain. She refused a Diplomatic Corps scholarship, and was rejected from nursing for health reasons. Office work led to an introduction to chartered accountancy, and then to a sales promotion.

After suffering a severe burns accident one week after her wedding, she joined a friend’s insurance business, originally in administration, then developing enthusiastically into sales and marketing management. Her successes led on to other management roles in breakthrough business development, before Catherine founded her consulting business, Progress Productions.

Catherine’s life has held plenty of challenges – from a severe disfiguring accident to being left as a single mother – and in 2001, she was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Now in remission, she counts every experience as a rich gift full of lessons.

Catherine learnt through her own leadership experience that when people grasp their own inherent greatness, miracles happen – in productivity, in relationships and in overall wellbeing. As a leadership strategist and professional speaker, Catherine is committed to helping people discover their own magnificence. With a lot of life experience and business success behind her, she helps people look at their challenges differently and shares profound and practical leadership models.