By Business & Finance 
Catriona Coyle, Managing Director, Simply Natural
Catriona Coyle, Managing Director, Simply Natural, takes on the Business & Finance 60-second interview challenge.
Q. What was your first job? My first job was when I was 16 as a waitress in Captain America’s in Dublin. It was a great place to work, and a highly-sought-after job to get and I still bump into people I worked with there. Q. What would you regard as your greatest achievement to date? My greatest achievement is starting my company in the midst of the recession and raising my two boys. Q. In three words or less, how do you define success? Practice makes perfect. Q. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? A friend told me a few years ago the Chinese proverb, “That the longest journey starts with the shortest step”. We are often daunted by the scale of tasks in business and life and that is a great antidote to negativity. Q. How do you motivate yourself and your staff? What motivates me is that every day brings a new and interesting challenge that I have to accomplish. Simply Natural is made up of mostly working mums. so we work around each other’s family commitments and there is always a great atmosphere in the office and it lends itself well to happy co-workers. I also leave my staff to do the job without much interference. Q. If you could step into the shoes of one business person for the day, who would it be and why? I would like to step in the shoes of wellbeing expert, Liz Earle, who created a brand that incorporates a lot of the same values I deem important to Simply Natural, particularly around ingredients and ethics. Q. How do you relax? Yoga, tennis, walks and my big love, dancing, and the odd glass of wine! Q. What’s your motto? Carpe diem. Q. What are your aspirations for the future of the business? We have been growing at 30% per annum and right now we have a few new brands, like Incrediwear, a supportwear brand, that should continue that growth. However, I would like to think that I can exit the business whilst I am still young enough to dance the night away.
A friend told me a few years ago the Chinese proverb, “That the longest journey starts with the shortest step”. We are often daunted by the scale of tasks in business and life and that is a great antidote to negativity.
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