Asset Manager/Money Mindset Coach Auckland, NZ
Please introduce yourself. Who are you and what is your job/career?
Hiya! My name is Cathy Anderson and the best way to describe me at the moment is a multi-passionate company of one (highly recommend the book ‘Company of One by Paul Jarvis’). I work part time as an asset manager for private commercial property owners (I have been in the commercial real estate industry for 10+ years), recently started my own money and mindset coaching business Curated Money and a podcast with my friend Baz called ‘The Manner of Money’.
I am a minimalist who is passionate about personal development and removing the taboo that surrounds money conversations. When I am not working you will find me buried in a good book, obsessing over my French bulldog Winston and cooking up a storm in the kitchen.
Cathy's The Manner of Money Podcast that she does with her friend Baz
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A stay at home mum even though I never really wanted kids. I have always been obsessed with dogs – I had a robot dog toy growing up instead of dolls, so I guess that would be a lady of leisure - ironic given that I work and have a business by choice now!
Can you describe your profession to those who might have never heard of it before?
Since I have two main professions at the moment I will give you a run down on both!
Asset manager –managing commercial buildings (I work on retail and office but this can include industrial properties for others) and help identify and create value for the owners. I am also the main communication point between Tenant and Landlord.
Mindset and Money Coach – I help clients achieve money goals faster than they would by themselves by helping them keep focused and accountable. The easiest way to think about it is like having a personal trainer for your finances.
What was your process for choosing your career path? Was it a long journey or an easy one? At what moment did you know that you wanted to be in this profession?
Definitely a long journey! I feel into property by ‘accident’. I had no idea what I wanted to do as a career when I left school because back then I was already multi-passionate! My best subjects were maths, graphics design and biology which were a bit of a mish mash and I ended up in property because I felt pressured to choose something and just stayed by default for a while.
Deep down I could not see myself in property long term, however I had no clue what my ‘dream’ job was. Over the years I tried a few other things out that I have always enjoyed – cooking and interior design but knew that they were also not ‘the one’.
I then stumbled across my dream career by accident in my early 30s! Long story short – I went from living paycheck to paycheck all of my working life until I taught myself personal finances and my hubby and I ended up paying off our mortgage early when I was 34 (it took us 7 years to pay off our 30 year loan). During my journey, I had friends and colleagues ask me questions around money and to help them with their finances, and I realized that it was something I really enjoyed and got bucketloads of fulfilment out of.
Can you walk us through your typical day of work?
I work Mon-Fri 7.30am-12.30pm as a property/asset manager.
My day to day differs, but usually involves: meeting agents or tenants on site for viewings, drafting leases and other agreements, serving rent review notices, answering tenant queries, compiling information for owners and carrying out budgets for buildings.
I try to keep a structure of working on the admin side of my business and podcast from Mon-Fri 2pm-4pm. I also do coaching at various times depending on when I have clients booked in.
One of my core values is freedom and flexibility. Even though I keep a general structure day to day, I love having the ability to be flexible in catching up for a long lunch with friends during the weekday or hitting the beach or park with my Frenchie Winston on a sunny day.
What do you love most about your job?
Asset Management: I love the social interactions that this job gives me and the team I work with who are so supportive of my business and my biggest cheerleaders.
For anyone interested in asset /property management, what I love most is that no day is the same and I get do to a bit of everything. Also having the ability to be out and about at meetings/viewings is fabulous (cannot imagine having a job where I am sat staring at a screen all day). Because I work for private owners, it gives me the freedom to wear a lot more hats compared to a corporate setting (which I did previously work in as well). Example: I got the opportunity to do interior design work for building upgrades which was really fun - and also confirmed for me that I would not want to do it as a full time job! The ability to bring my dog Winston to work with me is also a bonus!
Mindset and Money Coaching: Seeing the transformation in my clients! Most of them choose to work with me because they are either stressed or feeling overwhelmed by their finances. To be able to help them reach their goals and see them go from stressed to confident and at peace is the most amazing feeling in the world and the reason why I started my business.
Read Cathy’s feature in the NZ Herald
What questions should someone really ask themselves if they want to get into your profession?
Are you getting into it because of the money or is it because you are passionate about the industry? I know it sounds cliché but for a long time I stayed in property even though I knew it was not the right path because it was in industry where I could make money and I had spent a lot of time on building up my reputation and ‘moving up the ladder’.
I realized when I hit six figures in my career that money was and never will fulfil me long term and that I really wanted to pursue a career in something that I was passionate about: where I felt like I was making a positive contribution to the world.
A good question to ask before starting a business would be: how do you need to set yourself up financially for the best long term outcome. Example: I didn’t dive head first into starting my coaching business and built a solid financial foundation first which took me around 2-3 years of planning. Long term I knew I would have better success if I created a (financial) runway to be able to start my business from a place of security (for me it was not needing income from my business to pay my bills).
I also have read about a few other business owners who worked part or full time gigs in other areas for quite a few years before going all in with their business which I think is something that doesn’t get enough air time. I also love the story of Bill Gates - from the day he started Microsoft, he insisted on always having enough cash in the bank to keep the company alive for 12 months with no revenue coming in. Risking everything for a business can be glamourised in the media, however I have read quite a few studies that show the main reason businesses close down is due to cash flow issues, so keep that in mind.
What did you study? How much schooling do you think is required to get into your role?
I did one semester of Health Sciences (pre-med) and knew right away that it was the wrong path for me! I graduated with a Bachelor of Property, then completed a Diploma of Culinary Arts (fancy way of saying I studied chefing for 2 years). I also have done a course on interior design and am a certified life coach.
In terms of what is required for property / asset management a degree is not a must have however for me it helped me get my foot into the door at my first job at Bayleys, but I know quite a few people who have excelled in this industry with no qualifications. Some companies require you to be a licenced agent since we do deal with lease deals and I was licenced for a while.
You also don’t need to be certified to be a life coach or to be a money coach, however if you are wanting to go down the route of being a financial advisor (ability to advise on and sell financial products such as insurance and investments) then that is something you do need to be licensed and qualified for.
Did you have any mentors that helped you along the way?
Not in the traditional sense. I learned a lot from many great people I worked with and also read a lot of personal development books and get mindset coaching. We are so lucky to have so many resources available to us in this day and age.
What was the biggest piece of advice that helped you get to where you are?
Learn to love and be grateful for where you are now, whilst also taking action towards the future you want to create. Don’t wait until you have achieved XYZ to be happy.
What do you think it takes to thrive in this role? What is the most and least rewarding part of your job?
Asset management:
-ability to handle a lot of different roles / put on many different hats (especially if you are working for private owners/smaller firms)
-ability to prioritize and adapt to new priorities at the drop of a hat (I love to plan out my day however also know in the back of my mind something urgent may come up and my plan is going to go out the window!)
- dealing with a wide range of people and ability to deal with difficult people and attention to detail as we deal with a lot of legal documents and numbers
- handle a high stress environment (I have literally seen quite a few meltdowns in the office and people not able to make it in this industry as they found it too stressful and fast paced)
Money Coach / Business owner
- Ability to wear a lot of different hats
- Self-motivated: I was a lot more ‘relaxed’ with not having a set schedule in the beginning and realized that I wasn’t creating the results that I wanted
- A passion for what you do and a strong enough why. Let’s be honest – working for someone else and collecting a steady pay check is A LOT easier! My why keeps me going day in and day out
- Ability to push yourself out of your comfort zone on a regular basis
Cathy’s interview with Fiona Ferris on being mortgage free
How is the flexibility? Work life balance?
I know that it sounds like I have my fingers in quite a few pies but to be honest this has been by far the favourite season of my working life.
I love the social interactions that I get from working as a team in asset management but the flexibility to finish and having 100% control of what I want to do from lunchtime each day has been life changing.
I am someone that can get a bit lost in work once I am in ‘flow’ so setting boundaries around working has been important. I have been making a conscious effort to not work after a certain time in the day and weekends so I can prioritize spending quality time with family and friends.
What tools/resources do you frequently use? Any tools you recommend?
Time blocking and scheduling is a must have for me – otherwise I tend to get lost in emails and not get the important things done!
Resources – books, podcast, youtube! There is so much out there to learn. Most important thing is applying what you have learnt to your everyday life.
Personal development has been a gamechanger for me. Realizing that I have the power to write whatever story I want about a situation and that my thoughts and reaction are under my control, rather than blaming external factors.
Any last bit of advice you’d like to share?
Never stop learning, move towards what is uncomfortable.
What would you say to someone who is looking to figure out what they want to do?
Give things that interest you a try – it could be just signing up for a class or grabbing coffee with someone who does what you are interested in. What is the worst that can happen – you realize that it is not ‘the one’ and move on to trying something else. Most importantly have fun whilst experimenting, you can’t do this wrong!
What are your future ambitions? What do you think it will take to get there?
To transition into working full time on Curated Money and The Manner of Money and eventually being location independent. I am in no hurry to get there and am learning to appreciate and enjoy where I am now.
It will take me trying new things, pushing myself out of my comfort zone and being okay with failing and making mistakes along the way.
If people have further questions how can they find you/contact you?
Cuartedmoney.co or search ‘The Manner of Money’ on podcasts