FEATURE
Cathi brings feminine touch to male-dominated industry
Daring to be different
You can complain you ’ re working in a male-dominated environment or you can dare to stand out and present a feminine side that turns your industry on its head .
WORDS : SARAH WALKER PICTURES : GRAEME ROWATT
T
he latter is exactly what 2023 Tees Businesswoman of the Year Cathi Harrison has done , with a determination to shatter stereotypes and redefine the industry as vibrant , inclusive and open to all generations .
Cathi has gone from being a freelance paraplanner to developing a one-stop business support service for the financial sector and creating an innovative tech platform , with plans to roll it out across other sectors too .
Having set out on a freelance journey , she now employs more than 50 people .
Her efforts in devising diverse roles within the sector reflect her focus on ensuring finance embraces individuals from all walks of life , with a particular emphasis on dismantling barriers that have historically hindered women ’ s progress in the industry .
However , Cathi , 40 , who is also a busy single mum juggling the usual school admin and demands of parenting with running a successful business , remains modest , as she says : “ There was no grand plan , vision or a big marketing strategy building towards developing what we have today .
“ The Verve Group has just grown organically and developed from my freelance business .”
From the very start of her career , Cathi always knew she wanted to work for herself but didn ’ t know in what role she wanted that to be .
Conscious that financial services was a very male-dominated environment , the pull to work for herself eventually took over .
“ I felt it was an old-fashioned industry and I could feel the ceiling and the limitations of what I could do if I were to stay within a firm ,” she says .
“ I just felt there was something about having control over my own destiny and being able to make my own decisions that felt appealing .”
Because she enjoyed her role as a paraplanner , she set out as a sole trader with Para-Sols , an outsourced paraplanning business .
“ It ’ s still a very unknown role outside of financial services – nobody ’ s sitting in school saying , ‘ I would love to be a paraplanner one day ’!” she admits .
Cathi explains that where you have a paralegal in law , you have a paraplanner in financial services .
The paraplanner is as qualified as a financial advisor but remains in the background doing all the technical work .
The advisor brings all the data back to the office and the paraplanner will research it and look at the best options for the client .
Cathi admits it was “ terrifying ” going it alone , offering financial advisors a paraplanning service for £ 25 per hour . Her first client only needed four or five hours a month .
“ There was almost a naivety to it ,” Cathi admits . “ I just thought , ‘ People need paraplanning support , why not pay me to do it on a case-by-case basis ?’
“ I ’ m far more confident now but at the time , the hardest bit was picking up the telephone to advisors and telling them about the service .”
The voice of business in the Tees region | 23