Discover the enchanting world of Cathy Nesbitt, the founder of Cathy’s Crawly Composters, Cathy’s Sprouters, and Cathy’s Laughter Club, in this transformative episode of Spark and Ignite Your Marketing. Cathy shares her journey as an “accidental entrepreneur,” tackling global issues like food waste and mental health with her trifecta of worms, sprouts, and laughter. Tune in for insights on building a purpose-driven business, harnessing media for authority, and finding joy in the smallest and sometimes wiggliest places.
Three Key Topics Covered:
- Sustainability in Action: Composting and Beyond: Cathy shares how worms can transform waste into nutrient-rich soil, offering practical solutions for anyone passionate about reducing their environmental footprint. Her perspective proves that even small changes, like indoor composting, can make a massive impact.
- The Intersection of Passion and Business: Hear Cathy’s candid reflections on how she turned personal interests into a thriving, multifaceted business. Learn how she identified her unique audience, pivoted through challenges, and stayed committed to her mission of creating a better world.
- The Healing Power of Laughter: Cathy dives into the benefits of laughter yoga, a unique practice blending fun and cardiovascular health. Her dedication to spreading joy through this technique underscores its importance in combating today’s mental health challenges.
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Transcript:
Beverly:
Did you know that nearly 30 percent of the waste sent to landfills consists of food scraps that could be composted? Composting, especially with worms, yes, we’re talking about worms today, offers an eco friendly way to transform this waste into valuable, sustainable food. Nutrient rich soil. Welcome to another episode of Spark and Ignite Your Marketing. I am your host, Beverly Cornell, and joining us today is Cathy Nesbitt. She is the founder of Cathy’s Crawly Composters, Cathy’s Sprouters, and Cathy’s Laughter Club. With over 300 media appearances and a wealth of expertise in sustainability, Cathy has been on a mission to inspire healthier, happier, and more sustainable lifestyles through worm composting. Sprouting and laughter yoga, Cathy, it’s so wonderful to have you here. And I think that is the first time I have mentioned the word worm on my podcast. I am a gardener. I’m an avid gardener and the power of the worm is really important. It aerates the soil, does so many beneficial things for my little pretties, I call them. So I know the power of the worm. Talk a little bit about how you got here though. That’s quite an interesting mix of things that you do. Talk about the sparks that got you here right now.
Cathy:
Beautiful. Yes. I’m a juggler. Stay tuned everyone. They all go together. So my working title is Cathy Crawley Laughing Bean Queen. And I’m located in Ontario, just north of Toronto, largest city in Canada. Our landfill closed in 2002 and we started to export our garbage to the US. Even though we’re a pretty large country. It’s because governments are short sighted. They only have a three or four year window to make their mark. So when it filled up, they’re like, Oh, my gosh, it filled up. What happened? What are we going to do now? And Michigan is the trash capital.
Beverly:
I’m from there originally from the little North of Detroit. We used to go and hang out. In Windsor all the time when I was 19. Very familiar. And I do know that we have a trash thing.
Cathy:
Really thought shame on us as Canadians for shipping our garbage out of the country. And I had a solution. As you said in the intro, 30 percent of our garbage or more can become composted. That’s what I wanted. So what I’m proposing is indoor composting with worms. It’s funny because I don’t come from a background of entrepreneurs. I come from an employee family.
Beverly:
Do you? Interesting. I don’t come from a family either. And I was a very much an accidental entrepreneur.
Cathy:
Accidental entrepreneur. That’s a great way to put it. I was a secretary, so I would change jobs every year. I would get bored. And I would just quit my job and knowing I would get another one’cause I was that good at that time. So back to the worm. I had a solution for indoor composting. I would have a table wherever I could have a table to educate people. And I didn’t know that people don’t buy what they need. They buy what they want.
Beverly:
Oh, yeah.
Cathy:
They didn’t want what I had. So I was like, Oh, you need this. I’m sure I’m animated. I’m fun to watch. And then it’s no, get out of here, I’m not having worms in my house. I realized I have a psych degree. I’m fascinated by people. And I uncovered that people might’ve been traumatized as children, after a rainy day or a fishing incident. And if you were traumatized as a child, you’re not looking to that as an adult.
Beverly:
Worms need a new branding. They need a branding campaign. It’s like the sharks. The sharks have a really bad rep too, but they’re really good for the ecosystem. So they just need a really good branding campaign.
Cathy:
Here’s a beautiful marketing piece for the worms. They have five hearts each. They need a branding ambassador because they have five hearts, 800 to a thousand worms in a pound, so that’s four to 5, 000 hearts in a pound of worms. It’s a lot of love and a great Valentine’s gift.
Beverly:
I do not want that Robert. Maybe we want it anyway, but not for Valentine’s Day.
Cathy:
Fair enough.
Beverly:
I love it. We do compost outside. We do not compost inside, but I love this concept because there are people are in condos and stuff, there has to be an option for them. Trash is something every single person makes on the planet. Yeah, talk about a sustainable business. There’s definitely a market need, Cathy.
Cathy:
What I realized early on was people didn’t want what I had, so I needed to do something else. And I took on school workshops. I don’t have any fear of public speaking. I know that’s a big fear that people have that. Luckily that’s not in my DNA. So I took on school workshops and then I was like, I just have to wait 20 years till they have buying power and it’s 22 years. I made it. Yay. Doing school workshops was so beautiful, setting up, going into the classroom, setting up a worm bin right in the class.
Beverly:
My son would have been all over this.
Cathy:
It’s so beautiful. It’s a great lesson.
Beverly:
We do like we hunt for worms like after the rain and things like that. And we put them in the shade or whatever. We save the worms and we know that they’re going to get dried out. We try to be nice to the worms as much as possible. And that’s all because my nine year old has a big heart and wouldn’t want anybody to hurt the worm.
Cathy:
We all play a role, no matter how big or small. In 93, when I bought my house, a teacher friend asked me to look after her worm bin for the summer. And I was like, Oh, I don’t really want worms in my house. But I come and I was an avid gardener and composter. So I took on the challenge and it was awful. I would open up the lid because they’re in a container. They’re not free range worms. So I would open up the lid, throw the food in and after the summer, I kept the worms alive. I got the black gold. I said, I would never do worm composting again. It was like, okay, that was my first introduction. Boink. I don’t want to do that. I got my psych degree, graduated in 2000, got a job at a group home working with challenged adults. They had ten homes and a farm and they didn’t compost. And I was like, What is happening here? So when I spoke to them about composting, the greenhouse manager said, why don’t we do vermicomposting? Oh, no, have you ever done something Beverly and you’re all excited about it And then it doesn’t work the way you want.
Beverly:
Yeah.
Cathy:
Yeah. But I realized, it’s an institution, they’re not getting worms anytime soon, they have to have meetings, see if there’s money for it, all those things. So I came home, started to do research, and wow, I was so fascinated with the red wigglers, the whole process. I had a switch from, ew, worms, to, oh my gosh, worms. Here’s the thing, red wigglers, they eat about half their weight per day in food scraps. They’re the original alchemists. They turned garbage into black gold. In North America, we’ve destroyed the soil with monocropping. So this is a way for us to regenerate the soil. This little worm is going to play a very important role going forward.
Beverly:
So what’s the sprout side of it? What kind of sprouts are you doing?
Cathy:
It looks like a spaceship, the size of a dinner plate. It’s food grade plastic with a mesh and how this sprout. It’s not connected to the worms at all. It’s not soil based. It’s hydroponic. And with water, it’s a whole different kind of system, but how they’re connected. In 2002, at my very first event that I was exhibiting, there was a gentleman selling the sprout grower that I now sell and I’ve been using for 22 years. And this thing’s flying off the shelf. Ha, it looks like it’s a spaceship. And when there was a break in the audience, I went over, I said, what is this thing? And he said, it’s a sproker. I didn’t know anything about sprouts or sprouting or why I would eat them or anything. He was 72. He’s 96 now. I didn’t know anybody that worked at 72. There was this man like running a business. Wow. I was so inspired by him. And he said, sprouts, you grow them, you eat them. They’re super foods. And now I’ve added sprouts. He said, if you’re going to do this, start your day with two tablespoons. They’re mung beans. The bean sprouts in Chinese food. They’re the fastest growing seed. They germinate overnight. They’re hydrating, alkalizing, regenerative, biogenic, and contain up to a hundred times more digestive enzymes than raw vegetables. For 10 years, this was my private health plan. I started my day. I thought everyone knew what I knew. So now here is my booth. Really confusing, worms on one hand, sprout on the other, worms and food on one table.
Beverly:
I think there’s some connection there. I’m a marketer. The sprout is helping turn your body into the gold that it needs to be more efficient, right? And it turns the soil to be more nutrient and efficient. The worms do. So I feel like it’s the same thing.
Cathy:
Thank you. Not everybody gets that. So there I was with my booth, my mung beans, my sprout and my worms. So this woman said what else can you sprout? And I said, I don’t know. And she said don’t you get sick of mung beans? And I said, would you get sick of feeling great and having tons of energy? This is my health plan. Then I thought. Gosh, as an entrepreneur, what do I care if somebody wants mung beans or they don’t? So the sprouter that I have it’s really designed for the larger beans. So chickpeas, lentils, fenugreek.
Beverly:
I’ve done the smaller ones. I’ve done like the alfalfa and some of that, I’ve sprouted those in the past. I’m a child of the seventies. My mother’s a bit of a hippie. So she was into all the stuff growing up.
Cathy:
I love it. Yeah.
Beverly:
It’s wonderful. My mother was, she’s a nurse too. So she believes in the power of natural healing and like Eastern modalities, but also Western medicine. There are times when it’s appropriate for both. She always would try something natural first. And if it didn’t work, then we could do something else. But I think exploring nature that mindset has always been my go to place first. I really resonate with this concept of feeding your body, feeding the soil, making that liquid gold in that sense. So there’s one more element of this though. There’s the laughter yoga. You have the sprouts, you have the worms, and now you also have laughter yoga. Three different sparks. Talk about that aspect of it. How did that come to be in this?
Cathy:
Back to 2012 I didn’t know we were supposed to listen to what the client wanted. I was like, ah, what do you want universe? I’m not sure what to do. I was introduced to Laughter Yoga and I was at a networking event and the speaker did a five minute introduction to Laughter Yoga. I jumped right to the fun yoga. It’s not doing yoga and laughing. It’s laughing as a cardiovascular workout, laughing for the health of it. The founder of Laughter Yoga, started in India in 1995. His goal is world peace. I believe with all my trifecta of offerings, I have world hunger and world peace solved.
Beverly:
Yeah, you do. I love when businesses are about wellness and joy and kindness and making the world a better place. You’re speaking my language. This is exactly where I want to sit and where I love to help. A lot of our clients are in those spaces. Is there something about the industry specifically that you feel like needs to be more open, people need to know more about, some awareness around it. Is there something that we should share with them today so they know more about what’s happening?
Cathy:
I think that It’s really overwhelming when we say the environment. I really think that if we chunk it down, just like whenever we have any big problem, personal problem, anything that we’re dealing with, we need to break it down into littler pieces. Instead of looking at, Oh my gosh, there’s the water’s polluted and the air’s polluted and our food’s broken, it’s too much. My focus is, what I can do right now, because that’s the piece that I feel like that’s what I’m passionate about. That’s what I love because if we talk about what we’re passionate about, that passion translates. Yeah. Passion sells. Yeah. Instead of just, starting a business like people go, Oh, what can I do a start a business where I make a lot of money? No, that’s the wrong approach. If you’re in it for money, get a job that pays you a lot of money, right?
Beverly:
I always say it goes back to your why. Why are you doing the thing that you’re doing? And just stick with your why. Stay clear on your why so it drives everything for you because there’s going to be low points and your why needs to feed you during the low points, whatever that looks like for you. It’s all about the why.
Cathy:
Just take pick something, that’s what I would say. If people want to do something for the planet for sustainability, do by example, change one thing in your house. If you never bring your reusable bags start there. I know it seems like a small thing. It matters. we need to be more engaged. If you want to do something, learn about one of these things. Learn about the thing that you’re passionate about because then when you have the statistics around it, it drives you because you’re like, holy crap that’s a big problem.
Beverly:
Yeah, we’ve talked about even raising bees to help with the pollination and things like that, because the bees are struggling and we could have a hive. There’s no reason why we couldn’t that’s one thing we could do for the environment. Yeah. So if you could just do one thing I think that’s great. These little small changes I think can add up. So the more you can do the less waste you can produce. And then maybe your kids will produce less. You’re like the catalyst for something. But education is huge. Is there somebody you follow or somebody that you have learned so much from about the environment or some of one of these things that maybe somebody could go and follow as well. Is there somebody else that really inspires you?
Cathy:
Oh, so many Beverly. There’s so many wonderful people. For me in Canada, David Suzuki is up there. He was ran a show called the nature of things since the seventies. He has an incredible story because in Canada we did horrible things to Japanese people. And he was in German camp, but then still. reveres Canada and, is marching on. He stayed over there as a journalist instead. In the States, you’ve got Dr. Elaine Ingham. She did a soul food web. And again, her whole story, like she wouldn’t say what they wanted her to say. So she had to leave the, her tenured position.
Beverly:
Wow. For a lot of people, they’re contrarian or they’re different. One of our clients is a natural dog and cat food store and everything in there is sustainable and organic and all the things. And you can read the ingredients on the side of the package and know what’s in it. And there’s no like things that are super transparent, very sustainable. So she’s a naturopathic doctor for animals. And The amount of uphill climb of education and even the medicine system says, don’t do that. They say, do this, which is bad. And there’s so much anti doing it the more healthy, natural way because it’s not where you make the money. And so follow the money and you’ll follow a lot of challenges. But the veterinary industry, very similar to the human medical field in the pharmaceutical industry, there’s a lot of money to be made. And if they fix you without all the things, they don’t make as much money. And we just believe them because we watch it and we learn and that’s what we would have told. And after working with this client for 13 years, I know so much about nutrition and animal nutrition and what they actually need to be healthy and not get cancer and things like that. There’s so many things that they come into contact with on the ground. But, Sometimes ignorance is bliss, right? When you know the truth, it can be a little disheartening about how big the machine is a little overwhelming. That’s right.
Cathy:
It’s really overwhelming. That’s why little pieces, little steps and be open to what’s happening and surround yourself with people like a support network, because it is a lot. When you start getting down the rabbit hole.
Beverly:
It is a rabbit hole because you just don’t realize because that information isn’t so readily available, but there’s so much information. And when you think about it, like everyone says, Oh, it’s alternative new age medicine. No, it’s the old stuff. It’s the old thing that we know works. We’ve been, how many generations we’ve been, it’s again, marketing, those evil marketers.
Cathy:
That’s where I come in with my three offerings, worms for amending the soil, right? Naturally taking our food scraps and paper and making soil. And when we’re composting and gardening, We’re slowing down.
Beverly:
You’re doing so many good
Cathy:
things. Yes. And then you’re growing your food when you eat the food that you’ve grown yourself. You don’t waste it.
Beverly:
No. And it tastes so much better for whatever reason.
Cathy:
So that’s a closed loop cycle there. And then the sprouts adding a little bit more nutrients into our life. Yeah. And then the laughter, because we do have a global mental health tsunami right now, it’s global. We can’t just take a pill and feel better. We can maybe for a moment, but, we’re spending a lot of money, and it’s not helping us. It’s really not feeding us. Yeah, laughter is the best medicine. And it helps us to connect. I was watching a seminar yesterday with Lynn McTaggart. She wrote a book called The Field, talking about, the field, like the energy field. She said in this masterclass isolation is for our health, worse than smoking, alcoholism, and drugs
Beverly:
Wow.
Cathy:
And what happened in 2020? The world shut down and we were all isolated. And I believe that we’re going to be struggling with the remnants. Now we’re on a spectrum of how anxious we are.
Beverly:
I would agree with that. With the naturopath that I work with, she talks about how our soil is depleted of vitamins. So if we don’t get all the vitamins that we need, it can cause us to be more anxious too. There’s a whole cycle that’s being fed into that as well, from our diet to the way we live now, and in our isolation society. I want to ask you about a couple things though. Okay. One is you’ve secured over 300 media appearances, TV, radio, a documentary. So from a marketer’s perspective this is such a powerful tool for your marketing toolbox because it builds authority. Like you talk about 10 years, everyone should listen to me now, right? All these things are building your authority. So talk about the power of the media and how it has helped you. Because I think a lot of small business entrepreneurs don’t understand why some of these can be so powerful.
Cathy:
Oh my gosh. Having somebody else write about you, interview you, talk about your business is so much more valuable than paying for an ad. You can pay for all the ads you want, maybe no one’s even looking at it. So for me it started, Way back in 2002, there was a garbage strike in Toronto. I was watching the news and people were lining up for hours to drop off their garbage. And I was like, oh my gosh, those people don’t compost, because if you compost it takes the stink out of garbage. So I decided to go on a road trip with my worms To educate some people and before going to Toronto, I sent press releases to the media outlets saying hey, I’m coming to town I have a solution That’s what they want to report about, right? What have you got? Children? Older people? Or a solution to a problem right now? Okay, I had all. Five minutes after sending my press release to the Toronto Star a reporter called me and said, Thank you for your press release. I wrote an article about composting last week, and I forgot about the apartment dwellers. Once you’re done at the transfer station, can you come to the star? I want to interview you. I was like, oh, yaaayy, Yup I couldn’t go and just right to the star, but I’m curious. I wanted to find out why people didn’t compost. And that’s a whole nother story. When you believe in what you’re doing so much you, Sometimes put yourself in dangerous situations, and I didn’t know that I was in danger, but I was. Because of safety in numbers, the transfer station had about maybe 80 to 100 picketers. So they’re shouting things at me, like really awful things. I can’t repeat them here. And there I was on my own. Girlfriend Bradford upsets the union. I had my company shirt on, like what was my husband thinking? Packing my lunch. Have a nice day. Why don’t you come with me?
Beverly:
It puts you in situations that you wouldn’t normally put yourself in because of that, but it’s the right situation. But yeah, that’s a little bit dangerous.
Cathy:
It was being recorded by a private investigator. So I knew that at least if anything happened, it would be recorded. Anyway, so that all worked out fine and July 18th 2002 I had my first article in the Toronto Star and I called up my husband. I was like, yeah I got an article in the Toronto Star and he said I’m on my way home. I just got downsized Like the same day. 20 years later, I’m like, couldn’t you have just cut downsize tomorrow so I could celebrate my article. Now we have no income. Yikes. And we sell worms by the pound without repeat customers. Oh no. And nobody wants what we have. So the media really got the message out, right? Toronto, that’s my market. People that live in condos. The media was powerful. It lent so many opportunities. So whenever I was exhibiting I would seek out the media. I was not shy. If they walk past my booth, I would go chasing after them with a handful of worms. Because if you’re a videographer, you love that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then it’s so unique, right? Like maybe they never told that story before. And yeah, I got so many opportunities because I wasn’t shy.
Beverly:
Is there been one particular media appearance or media story that has really affected After your business?
Cathy:
Oh my gosh. One that is really great, which is act right away. The media doesn’t have time to wait for you. They got a deadline. I was out for a walk and I don’t even know how this one came about, but I came home and there was a message on my machine from a producer of a TV show, and he said it’s Mark Murphy from, Ontario today, whatever, call me back. I’m like, oh, I gotta call him right away. Oh my God, I missed the media. I called him right away and he’s oh, congratulations. I left seven messages and you’re the first one to call back. So you have the spot, the season finale on the show. It was a farm show. And so they came to my house, professional crew. They stayed for four hours. Four hours For a seven minute spot. I would say that’s probably my most successful and it’s probably still repeating because they’re always looking to regurgitate content. That was a great one. And another quick one, was on Twitter. I said, I chose media as my marketing strategy and journalists hang out on Twitter so I had a tweet deck for my industry, I had red wiggler worms. Whenever anyone mentioned red wiggler worms, I got a note or whatever. One day I woke up and there was that thing. Someone posed a question. What happens to red wiggler worms in the winter? So with Twitter, like most social media platforms, you can see who’s the person. This person was a radio host in Chicago and a writer for gardening magazines. So rather than respond on Twitter, I sent him an email, on Twitter, you posted the question dah. I answered his question and I said, I would love to be a guest on your radio show. You got to ask for you what you want. They don’t know that you’re a great speaker and that you want to be on the show. Ask for what you want. So I said I want to be a guest on your show. This was Wednesday. His show was Sunday morning. And it was January, what do you talk about in January on a gardening show? Indoor composting with worms. Why not? So he said, Oh, how about the Sunday? And so I was on Chicago radio for an hour call in show. Nice. Then now I still have the clip and that’s the beautiful part about media, even though traditional media has gone away, but you get the link. It’s online. You can share that. It’s forever. And it gives you street cred. Then other people will find that and contact you.
Beverly:
Yeah. It’s an authority building machine for sure. Like you said, I think the thing that’s really powerful with social proof and media is that other people are talking about you. And so that just gives such legitimacy to what you’re doing that you can’t possibly say for yourself. So very powerful. What’s one mistake you’ve made when it comes to marketing? And what have you learned from it?
Cathy:
My very first event exhibiting, I thought we were going to sell out. My husband and I spent three weeks, getting all the bins ready, shredding all the paper, doing all the things I think we had 30 complete worm bins, which meant we had to pick 30 pounds of worms. And it was a lot. And, It was a two day event. It was an outdoor festival. Our tent broke that night. There was a big wind and it broke. And then nobody bought anything. Oh my god. I’m still feeling the humility, the shame of all of that. I thought everyone would want this because it’s so important. And it’s an eco fair! If not here, where? And then my husband, my in laws arrived, near the end of the show, and my mother in law was like, oh, I’ll buy a worm bin. And so after the show I said, they didn’t even get a family discount. Your mum paid full price.
Beverly:
A lot of family should realize that when they support a business, they should pay full price because you’re supporting the person that’s doing the business. Oftentimes I have friends who have wanted to give me a discount. I’m like, no, I’m here to support your business. Don’t do that. I have a lightning round, which has some faster questions. Talk about if Cathy’s crawlers composters had a voice, what word or emotion would resonate from its core?
Cathy:
Oh, it would have to be joy.
Beverly:
Interesting. So why joy? Why the joy for the worms?
Cathy:
Because they have such an incredible purpose. And they have five hearts, maybe love and joy. They have such purpose. So I think joy, because they have such an incredible Mission.
Beverly:
How do you keep your entrepreneurial spirit alive? What do you feed it besides being Sprouts?
Cathy:
Yeah, the sprouts for sure. And laughter and my grounding practices. I deal with worms and soil, but since 2020 specifically, take self-care very seriously.
Beverly:
As an entrepreneur, what kind of self care things should we be doing for ourselves?
Cathy:
The first thing in the morning I rise early, I go out, it’s about sometimes an hour, half an hour. And I just take time for myself. I go outside earth on earth, which means I’m barefoot connecting to the earth’s energy. First lights, which resets my melatonin. As long as there’s no snow on the ground. As long as there’s grass I’m out there even if it’s pretty cold or we’ve had a heavy frost. I’m out there, maybe a little quicker, and I do some stretches and some breathing. I do tapping and then I have a laughter buddy. That calls me and we laugh for two minutes full on laughing one minute of deep Diaphragmatic breathing in two more minutes. So that’s just five minutes, but it sets me up for okay world. What have you got for me? I’m ready. I know that sometimes people will maybe start a new practice, a healthy practice. And when they feel healthy, they’re like, Oh, I’m really busy. I don’t have time for that. But something has to go. I’m urging your listeners and watchers to say, no, cut something else out, cut out the Netflix or the Facebook Because we are so important. We are the most important in our life.
Beverly:
I love that. So good. What is one area of the running a business did you have to learn the most about?
Cathy:
I think it was that thing about people not buying what they need, buying what they want. Because I was thinking, wow, they need this so much. So I was in the way of the message. I think people might’ve felt judged and I would say I have world hunger solved. But it was a lot. I think sometimes we need to come back to earth and chunk it down so people can hear the message. Like we need to talk, sit, talk. That’s what I needed to learn to talk in a way that Maybe to listen more to the client.
Beverly:
Yeah. What they want, what are their fears and all the things? To say it in a way that they could hear what I was offering. the message has to resonate. So tell me the difference of how it is now versus then what do you say now to connect with them?
Cathy:
Now I’m focused more on laughter. Now it really does sell itself. I do get people just coming to me now and I am able to say it in a way that I don’t vomit on them.
Beverly:
I know exactly who you’re talking about. Asking good questions might be beneficial as opposed to just throwing up sales vomit all over them. So was there a moment, a singular moment or a time where you realized Cathy’s crawlers composters was successful? When you realize as a business person, as an entrepreneur, I’ve done it, I’ve made it. What was there a moment?
Cathy:
I’m not sure when exactly it was, but I remember I used to say that the worms ate better than we did and they brought rotting food and manure. And now that’s not the case. The worms get the scraps. There wasn’t a moment, just looking back now when people ask me how challenging it was, I feel like now in my laughter business, I’m at the place where I was at the, with the worm business. It’s needed. People need this. I laugh all the time. Do you really laugh all the time? If you really looked at your day, are you really laughing all day long? Cause I am.
Beverly:
I have a statistic about how often a four year old laughs versus an adult. And it’s a very big cavern in between there. A little kid, their joy is so different than an adult’s joy.
Cathy:
Since 2020, the Children are laughing less because they’re bombarded with doom and gloom and war and famine and climate, right? Our house is on fire and we’re flooded.
Beverly:
I totally agree with you that Zeke my nine year old was in kindergarten during COVID and my older son was a freshman in high school, both incredibly important social times in their lives. One is learning how to be like a human. Okay, because he has to share and all the things and then when is understanding social relationships and girls and romantic relationships and things like that, sense of self right in that and my nine year old is feral now, like he literally is a feral human being because he didn’t have some of those social structures that most kids have. It’s just interesting how everybody is at a different phase. Even us. My husband was in the military. So he was required to go to work. And I was home remotely working. I was already a remote worker, so it didn’t really affect me as much, but I remember like when he’d come home, I’m like, you better take off all those clothes and go decontaminate yourself before you come and talk to me. Cause I have not been existing in the real world. I had some anxiety about that. And it was very serious, because my youngest has some asthma things that he has to contend with, so if it brought into the home, it was maybe life threatening. It was just a very different time. And I remember having quite a bit of, like you said, doom and gloom and anxiety around what was happening in the world. And you’re right. Laughing is so healing. It can be really powerful. So what is your long term vision for Cathy’s crawlers composters? How do you think you’re going to continue to evolve and change we’ve become more sustainable? Become more aware.
Cathy:
I think the worm business is squirming away and the laughter is taking over. We were given one mission in life, and I know there’s many missions now.
Beverly:
Entrepreneurs are known for building things. Cathy, you build one. And when you find something that you’re passionate about, it’s hard not to build the thing and stay focused because you’re like, but I love this too.
Cathy:
Oh my gosh, Beverly, you still get me. When I was at the group home working with challenged adults, I loved it. And, but I couldn’t work with management, so I needed to leave and now it’s come back around and I’m doing laughter with folks with support needs and older people. My long term goal for my laughter practice is I’m creating a program for young adults with Down syndrome specifically to be laughter leaders, to laugh, to bring laughter for their demographic and not just for Down syndrome, but for For the whole spectrum. And so what do I see? I see a whole A lot of laughers out there, a whole bunch of people who just know that we need to laugh every day and take laughter as a serious cardiovascular workout for our health.
Beverly:
Gosh, the people that I’ve known with Down syndrome are some of the most joyful people I’ve ever met. So I can imagine that this feels extremely comfortable for them.
Cathy:
Another piece about folks with down syndrome, the things that I’ve learned since this vision was given to me in 2020, folks with down syndrome don’t sweat like the general population. They have doughy bodies, so they get overexerted when they do physical activity. They’re chill. They’re like, Oh, I’m so tired. Until a good song comes on and they jump up and they’re dancing around. They have a thing called gummy ear, so they don’t hear properly. So if you say computer, they might just hear pewter. And what they repeat is pewter, because that’s what they heard. They do have a lot of health challenges.
Beverly:
One of our friends right now, our dear friends from high school, their son is going through some cancer treatments. Which is very common for children who have down to get leukemia and some other cancers. And it’s a lot. And I think that those parents need some laughter too. It’s very heavy stuff sometimes they have to deal with because they have so many health challenges and a parent, a caretaker for somebody who has so many health challenges can be Very stressful as well. So the more joy you can bring to people in that particular community, I think is amazing on so many levels. We need more joy in the world. That’s one of the reasons why we focus on people and the wellness and joy and kindness spirit spheres. Our goal here at BC and associates marketing is to help them magnify their impact, help more people because if more people can have kindness and joy and wellness. I have a wand. So I’m going to wave the wand and we are going to go to the past and we’re going to talk to young Cathy and we’re going to give her a piece of advice that she needed to hear.
Cathy:
I would say, follow your own path and ask for help.
Beverly:
Asking for help can be hard for those of us who think we need to solve all the world’s problems.
Cathy:
And following your path, I think that our society it’s getting better now, I think that people are learning. We’re directed in a way, you have to do this, take this course, and same with from parental pressures, maybe things they wanted to do that they didn’t have a chance to do. We do need to listen to ourself. That thing in your belly isn’t just indigestion, it might be your intuition.
Beverly:
So now I’m going to wave my wand. We’re going to leave young Cathy. We’re going to go into the future and talk about the legacy. What is the impact that you want to make at the end of this experience we have called life?
Cathy:
The impact I want to have is for people to realize the power that they have, the individual power that we carry. We give our power away all the time, thinking about what are they going to think of me? And no one’s thinking about you because they’re thinking, what are they thinking of me? So I really would love for people to stand in their power and embrace their magnificence. Surround yourself with supportive people. Don’t try and convert the naysayers. Just go with the people that are the yaysayers.
Beverly:
I’m turning 50 in April and I feel like this year is like a big year. I don’t know why 50 seems like a big number, but I’ve been very contemplative over the last year of the kind of life that I want to lead. The kind of legacy I want to leave behind. It’s so much more intentional now. It has nothing to do with anybody else. It has to do with the purpose and what I want to do and how I want to serve people, but it has all to do with the fire in the belly. It has all to do with sitting in your own power of what you think you should do. And for a long time I said yes to everything and never said no and had the boundaries of who is Beverly? And I pleased no one in that process. I was exhausted and stressed out and not my best self for sure. But now I told my husband, I’m so incredibly proud of myself for listening to myself, but also honoring myself and what I’m really supposed to do. Yes, I have a wand and yes, I like unicorns and yes, that makes it magical. And really embracing all of that fully, making the impact that I want to make on the world I feel so in alignment right now. I have a young team and we’ve talked a lot about being more intentional in their power. I’m trying so hard as a mentor to help them sit in their power because you’re right there’s nothing that can stop you when you are living that magnificence I literally awakened my magic and I want to help other companies awaken their brand magic. When you awaken your magic of your purpose, it affects all parts of your life. I used to wake up at 3 AM stressed. Now I wake up 3 AM. I’m like, Oh, I’ve got some ideas, like a whole different perspective of my life
Cathy:
Yeah. And work on yourself. That’s what I would say to people.
Beverly:
I’m going to bring you back with my wand to today. Back to right now, if someone’s listening, whether they’re a new entrepreneur or they’re a seasoned entrepreneur, what is one thing that you could say that they could do today? That may help them. Maybe find their passion or reconnect to themselves or maybe find that power.
Cathy:
Oh, go look after yourself. Go take some self care. Because we’re really busy, especially if you’re a new entrepreneur, you got all the hats on and you’re doing everything and you’re running here and then if you’re a woman, you’re looking after the household and the kids still got to do all of that too. So make sure to take time for you. When I first started my business, a piece of advice that somebody gave was if you’re a solopreneur and you’re working at home. You’re on your own. And if you’re having a block, you have a deadline, but it’s not working, you’re blocked, get out of your house. Go for a walk around the block, go out and get, do, get out of, change the scenery, at least for five minutes, go do some deep breathing And that really works.
Beverly:
Perfect. I go lay in the grass and not a lot of people know this about me. There was one person I interviewed, she’s a naturalist, she’s outside all the time. And I said, if I feel really stuck or I feel overwhelmed, I oftentimes will just go lay in the grass. Perfect. That’s beautiful. Like my whole body touched the ground, sun on my face, like I just need to stop the world for a minute. That’s it.
Cathy:
Yeah, get away from screens because, we’re on screens a lot.
Beverly:
One thing.
Cathy:
Yeah, it’s. Take care of yourself.
Beverly:
Yeah. I would say the same thing. Gardening is that for me, for sure. Going outside, seeing my pretties, that’s the thing that really helps me stay grounded and appreciate the outdoors and makes me go out to water them. And it forces me to leave the desk and go do the thing because they need some water or pruning or whatever. Before we go Cathy where can our listeners learn more about what you’re doing, what you’re up to. How can they connect with you?
Cathy:
My worm website is Cathyscomposters..com And I would love to invite your listeners to my laughter club. I have a free online laughter club. It’s every Tuesday, 9 30 AM Eastern 30 minutes of super fun self care. I incorporate tapping brain gym, just to help people get out of stress and into joy.
Beverly:
Love it. How many members are a part of the lab?
Cathy:
I get consistently 25 zoom squares and five of those are groups. Most of them are individuals and then four or five of them are groups, community living, support needs, long term care. It’s so beautiful. And I do have a lot of laughter professionals who come to my club because of what I bring.
Beverly:
Thank you so much for joining me today and sharing your insights. It’s been a unique podcast to say the least to all of our listeners. I hope you found today’s conversation as inspiring and connecting as I did. If you’re not quite there yet, it’s a road, it’s a path. You’re at your own pace, your own level. Don’t stress about it. Just take the next step. That’s all you need to do is take the next step. But I hope that you can find some positive inspirational moments from today that will help feed your soul. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Cathy or to myself if you’re looking for any more support or guidance. But please stay tuned for more inspiring conversations and stories and actionable tips for your business on future episodes of Spark and Ignite Your Marketing. Until next time, keep sparking and igniting.
