Katherine Chapman: A Woman Ready For Action
For Katherine, running a small business and raising her kids is all a days work.
Business woman, mother, partner, student and individual. Katherine Chapman speaks to Perth Woman magazine about her determination to succeed. "When it comes to living your life, you are your own judge, jury and prosecutor," Katherine explains.
A philosophy she lives by, Katherine has always believed that the only person your accountability rests with is yourself. While some people believe that our lives are governed by a higher power and others believe in fate and destiny, Katherine believes our future is what we make of it.
Born and raised in Perth, Katherine moved out of home at 16-years-old and decided that she wanted a better quality of life. "I came from a really low socio-economic area and a single-parent family. I decided when I was sixteen that I did not want that and I physically moved from my Mum's house and said 'this is what I'm doing,' and that's what I did."
What she did was take control of her life and take opportunities which helped shape the path she travels down today. "For me it was like I don't want that lifestyle, I don't want this and I don't want that, and I'm going to do this and this is how I'm going to get there." A small business operator, Katherine has always had a knack for enterprise. "I'll tell you something, I have always been entrepreneurial. Always. I remember getting in trouble for selling things," she recalls.
"I remember making toffees and toffee apples and all sorts of stuff and selling them in primary school and getting into trouble for it... and doing the 'how many jelly beans are in the jar' trick and people would pay 10 cents and back then that was a huge amount of money for a little kid."
Today, at the age of 37, Katherine runs Action Business Centre, a company she set up that helps small businesses and individuals with administration, bookkeeping and executive assistance needs. "Rather than coming in and just doing the books, we actually work with people; we're business administration management consultants. "A lot of our clients might turn over a couple of million dollars but they're small business operators and it's just themselves or their wives or families," she explains.
After starting out in only July 2006, Action Business Centre has grown and looks after clients both interstate and overseas. However, it hasn't always been smooth sailing for Katherine. Hardly a stranger to loss, her first test of courage came in high school when her best friend died in a car accident. Unable to finish high school, Katherine had planned on continuing her studies in college but her plans were once again put on hold after she was in a motorbike accident. "It was just one of those things; wet road, took the corner, was doing the speed limit but just slid out and had a major concussion and micro plastic surgery on the left eye," Katherine recalls.
After recovering, Katherine completed a Diploma in Hospitality and Tourism at TAFE, which paved the way for a successful career in the hospitality industry, where she built her contact list. Katherine then continued with her studies and completed a degree in marketing and advertising. She was also married and divorced by the age of 25, a decision that she believes she was too young to make at the time. "You don't even know yourself, you're still a teenager. Hormones are still running around, you're still experiencing things; you don't want to commit yourself to someone at that age," she explains.
"When you're starting a business it's difficult, especially when you're
a woman and you've got a family and you're studying, there's a lot of
hard times to deal with. "Women face the professional circles, the
glass ceilings, there are a lot of things that go on with running a
small business as a woman and as a mother," Katherine says.
A three-month holiday to Japan turned into a three-year stay, where Katherine was given the opportunity to work as an operations manager setting up bars, restaurants and nightclubs for Coca-Cola's Japanese food group called Celaria under the banner of 'Isn't it Management?'.
"I helped them put systems in place, training, marketing and PR, met lots of interesting bands and all that sort of stuff," she recalls. After being asked how she found the language barrier, Katherine explains she just took it on as another challenge. "Not a problem, I taught myself to read and write Japanese, which is a pretty big challenge but I think if you've got the right attitude and the right aptitude then anything's achievable," she states. "I just basically absorbed myself in the culture, identified certain things I liked about the way they did business and their culture and took it on board."
Currently Katherine is studying part time for a degree in accounting and small business and is also mother to a three-year-old daughter and recently has had a baby boy. Therefore the challenge today lies in balancing the role of mother, partner and businesswoman.
"When you're starting a business it's difficult, especially when you're a woman and you've got a family and you're studying, there's a lot of hard times to deal with. "Women face the professional circles, the glass ceilings, there are a lot of things that go on with running a small business as a woman and as a mother," Katherine says.
While Katherine's partner is away for work she finds herself juggling her time between work and home. "He's away three, four weeks and I'm by myself, so I'm Mum, Dad, partner, business partner,... I'm everything, it's a good challenge," she says.
When asked what the most difficult thing about being a businesswoman in Perth is, Katherine explains it's the expectations that not only others but you place on yourself. "I think within yourself, you struggle, you want to be a good Mum, you want to be a good partner and you want to be a good business person, it takes its toll. You're juggling so many balls and you have to make sure you've got a good staff behind you and lucky for me I have a great team of women working with me."
Katherine admits that family time is very important. "We've seen so many clients whose relationships have broken down because they don't have enough time, they're working too hard and don't have time for a holiday." Although she jokes that there are not enough hours in the day, Katherine makes it a priority to spend time with her daughter Bianca and son Ethan.
"For me relaxing is sitting down and reading stories to the both of them and then Bianca reads stories to both Ethan and I. We do colouring-in, painting and singing songs," she explains. Her advice to women who are looking to succeed in any small business industry is to be honest with yourself and have realistic expectations of what you can achieve.
"Don't ever be afraid to take risks. I've always had the approach that every failure is a step closer to success. To me, there is no such thing as failure," Katherine says. "The only limitations that exist are the ones that you put on yourself. If you want to get somewhere then get on with it."
Which is exactly what she plans to do. Katherine's next plan is to finish her degree and open up Action Business Centre's second office by the end of next year. "I've always done my own thing and that's got me into trouble sometimes," she says with a laugh, but if it means it's got her where she is today, then a little independence can go a long way.
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