Kathie Thomas – Woman of Talents

This months inspiring woman is Kathie Thomas. She is an Australian mother who pioneered an industry Kathie is also a published author and popular speaker who has now embarked on a whole new career as a photographer.

 My name is Kathie and you probably don’t know me but I’m about to share with you briefly, my journey over the past almost 30 years.

I grew up in a poor household and always dreamed of running my own business and being in control of what I wanted to do.  But, when I became an adult, got married and had a family it seemed those dreams would not eventuate.  That is, until I met a doctor of psychosomatic medicine and his wife. They were in one of those MLM businesses and they talked about positive focus, self-belief, negative speak and all those things that go on inside of our heads that stop us from pursuing our dreams.

In going to meetings and listening to people speaking, and reading books that were about educating self my dreams began to rebirth and I dreamt of being home with my daughters and running a business from my home.  Please note – this was pre-internet and at a time when home based businesses were viewed as backyard operators or shonky business people.

I began my home based secretarial business early 1994 and managed to build up a small client base.  I spent time running from one client to another but was always home by the time my children returned from school.  Things were starting to happen.

Then the Internet entered the business scene and life and business turned a corner towards something I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams.  I became the founder of a brand new industry in our country, simultaneously with others in the US and elsewhere who had similar dreams of working at home and being present for family.  That industry is the Virtual Assistant industry and I became the mentor, guide and leader of a group of (mainly) women who are also mothers and who also wanted what I wanted – to work from home.  The industry began with former corporate secretaries but today has expanded to anyone with good computer skills: bookkeeping, graphic design, web design, database management, transcriptions, you name it.  For several years I was just enjoying working from home and being here for our girls and my husband as they came home each day.

However, children grow up, life moves on and thoughts tend to look forward again. There were other dreams I had as a young girl such as writing a book, travelling and being a photographer.  I’m thrilled to say these things have come to fruition.  I started writing articles for business magazines and then online for business publications and then blogs. Eventually I self-published ebooks on business and then published two print books based on blogs I’d written which grew out of a lifetime of experiences.  20 years ago I couldn’t have written those books – I just didn’t have inside me what was needed to write them.  And then, through this I got invited to speak at conferences and events, the latest being at Niagara Falls in Canada.

Today I am pursuing photography and recently had my first photo published in a newspaper in the sports column and have had another accepted for an online tourism site for Melbourne. Who knows where the future will lead but I’ll be doing things that are driven by passion, you can be sure!  Oh, and our recent trip produced over 4,000 photos. Do you think I might have the bug?

Photos by Kathie.