Meet Catherine Mattice | CEO

We had the good fortune of connecting with Catherine Mattice and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Catherine, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I received from a senior consultant when I was starting out. He said, “If you have competitors, you’re doing it wrong.” In other words, you should be so niche that no one else compares to you and your offerings. You should be so clear in your ideal client, and messaging to them, that they have no choice but to believe you are the only one they need to help solve their problems. Your point of view should be so unique that it speaks to others in ways no one else’s point of view does. I have followed that advice over the course of Civility Partners’ entire life, and it has served the company well. There are other culture consultants out there, talking about similar topics, but none of them do what we do in the ways we do it. We are unique, and this is something I am very proud of.

I also received advice from practically everyone I knew when starting out: I definitely should not start a consulting business focused on solving workplace bullying. Back then, no one had heard this phrase and they didn’t understand what I was doing. I ignored that advice, and learned to stick to my gut. I learned I am confident in myself and my ideas – a quality all leaders need to be successful.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Civility Partners is a strategic organizational development firm who works with clients to build positive work environments. Our services include executive coaching, corporate training, and large culture change projects. We help organizations with cultures of harassment, discrimination and bullying build up their employee engagement, performance management, management effectiveness, and more. We are passionate about reducing the pain we know thousands of people feel each and every day they are at work. Our genuine care for the well-being of employees fuels our work.

One of my greatest personal achievements is not only surviving, but growing and thriving, after being hit by a 120-ton trolley going 30 miles per hour. I don’t remember much, but according to the police report my dog bolted across the tracks and I ran after her – I can only assume I didn’t realize the trolley was right upon the intersection. Next thing I remember is staring at the ceiling of an ambulance and feeling scissors going up my jeans and then up my shirt, as the EMT cut off my clothes to see what the damage was. After 12 surgeries, 16 metal plates in my jaw and face, 42 screws, and “chicken wire” to hold my eye socket together, I’m lucky to be in the 30% of people who come out of trolley and train accidents completely intact. My surgeon joked that I’m also lucky enough to be one of the few who can claim I have a screw loose one day, and I’ll need surgery to screw it back in.

Leaders must absolutely be resilient, positive, and adaptable – and this scenario proves that I am those things and more. The surgeon told my family I would not be back to work for 6 months, but with no one else to pay my bills, I returned within 30 days. I was able to achieve that through my positive mindset. I knew I was lucky to be alive, and positivity is all I had to carry me through it.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Civility Partners

Website: https://civilitypartners.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/civilitypartners/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemattice/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CivilityCP

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CivilityPartners/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@civilitypartners