Our Consultant Spotlight series lets us tell the stories of the people who make up the Lions & Tigers community. A Communications expert, Catherine Collins transitioned to freelancing 6 years ago after working in the nonprofit, agency and corporate worlds. She appreciates the flexibility that comes with working as an L&T Consultant especially as she cares for aging family members.
ABOUT CATHERINE
I’m originally from Cleveland, Ohio, but I’ve lived in Chicago, Detroit and New York City. My husband and I moved back to the Detroit area to be closer to our elderly parents who needed assistance. I studied Marketing as an undergrad and have a Master’s in Journalism from Northwestern University. I’m married to a great guy who I met at work when we were both on Ford Motor Company’s Youth Community.
FAVORITE CITY YOU’VE CALLED HOME
New York City. I hope to return some day!
PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE
I’ve been in the Communications field for more than 30 years. I started in nonprofit, moved to the agency world, then to corporate, and transitioned to freelancing six years ago. I’ve had the privilege of working for some of the world’s most iconic brands, including Dow Chemical, McDonald’s, Ford Motor Company, IBM and Microsoft.
I’m currently supporting Executive Communications with senior leadership at Microsoft. I’m helping manage the process for executive video engagements (which have grown exponentially with the pandemic). The work is intense – but a ton of fun thanks to my L&T colleague Lindsay Bealko and the amazing team we support at Microsoft.
TAKEAWAYS FROM WORKING WITH BIG BRANDS
Learn from every person you work with and every project you’re on.
WHY LIONS & TIGERS
I was introduced to Lions & Tigers by my current manager. I heard about the company and was very intrigued by L&T’s culture. When I started talking to team members, I was very impressed with how L&T truly support independent contractors. Working as a freelancer for major corporations, you must contract through an agency. L&T is truly unique in how it supports independent workers – they care about the work you are doing; they create a community for contractors that I haven’t found anywhere else, and they truly are interested in your long-term success as a freelancer.
AREAS OF INTEREST & PASSIONS
Professionally I love to GSD (Get Sh+! Done). I pride myself on being able to work through projects and provide great results without needing a lot of direction, management or handholding.
Personally, I love to travel, entertain, and go to baseball games. During the pandemic, I started needlepointing a belt for my husband with the logos of Detroit’s sports teams.
BIGGEST BENEFIT TO HIGH IMPACT, FLEXIBLE WORK
I have two – helping my mom and my father-in-law is probably the most important benefit of flexible work. I have worked at home, at my mom’s condo in Cleveland, in hospitals or rehab centers – basically I can work wherever I need to be while supporting family members. And travel – in the summer of 2019 I was able to accompany my husband to Lake Como, Italy, for six weeks while he was a Rockefeller Foundation fellow. I took a few projects with me but still had plenty of time to immerse myself in la dolce vita.
TRAVEL TIPS FOR ITALY
Lake Como is just magical, but I recommend spending at least a week there. Don’t try to cover it in two or three days and please don’t get talked into a day trip from Milan.
ADVICE TO OTHERS NAVIGATING A CAREER TRANSITION
A strong career in the corporate world really set me up for success as a freelancer. Almost all my work in the past few years stems from connections I made while I was working full-time. So my advice is, do great work every day and build a strong professional network. Always help others, both professionally and personally. And have fun!
Interested in joining Lions & Tigers? Check out our open roles here.
Having had the true pleasure of working with Catherine during her stint at IBM, I can say that there is no one more professional, creative and fun to have on a team. Lucky me, we became even closer as friends when she left the company, and reading this profile made me miss her even more!!!