Meet Catherine Mclean

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Catherine Mclean a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Catherine, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?

Although it’s easy to feel pessimistic about the significant wealth gap between men and women, statistics do show that while women tend to invest less often than men, their investing habits often outperform men’s. This is why I am so passionate about teaching women how to invest in the stock market for faster growth. Because they can do amazingly well for their finances if they just take the time to learn how to invest.

Women investors tend to achieve slightly higher returns than men. A 2021 Fidelity study found that women earned, on average, 0.4% higher returns annually than men. This difference may seem small, but it can lead to significant compound annual growth over time.

Women also tend to save more of their paycheck than men, saving 9% of their salary on average versus 8.6% for men, according to Fidelity. This higher savings rate, paired with long-term investing, puts women in a very strong position to build wealth faster over time.

The trend of more women investing is growing. Fidelity reported a 50% increase in the number of women opening new investment accounts from 2019 to 2021. This growth is due to greater financial education, social media influence, and the rise of financial independence movements among women.

So although women invest less frequently and with smaller amounts than men on average, their strategies often yield better financial outcomes due to more disciplined saving and a goal-oriented approach.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I founded Trail to Freedom in 2021 just after my uncle passed away, the one who taught me everything I know about investing in the stock market for faster growth. He inspired me to start investing back in 2012, and I now have over $270k in investments because I lived beneath my means, bought high performing investments, and held them for the long term. This is what has allowed me to quit my corporate job at the age of 29 two years ago so that I could teach other women how to invest for themselves. Helping women grow their money faster through high-performing investments has been a passion of mine because our lives are more expensive than men’s in so many ways, and women deserve to feel safe and have more choices in life so they don’t have to rely on anyone else for financial stability and safety. Living in late-stage capitalism with stagnant wages is hard enough for the working class, but it is much much harder when women aren’t educated about personal finance. It is my mission to help women have more choices in life by prioritizing their finances. I offer 1on1 Coaching, free resources, a masterclass, and my signature Trail to Freedom program that gives women everything they need to know about how to start investing for faster growth and reach their financial freedom goal faster.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Getting to where I am today required me to stay curious, resilient, and generous. As a corporate woman turned entrepreneur, I needed to do a great deal of introspection and journaling in order to uncover my limiting beliefs relating to leadership and making money. I had subconsciously believed that it was safer, more humble, and selfless to work for someone else, and I had to release the guilt and discomfort around being my own leader. Getting started took a lot longer than I could have ever imagined, but staying the course and not giving up is what is allowing me to see the results I’ve been looking for. And lastly, being generous with my time and energy for the women I work with is truly what brings me the most joy in this work and is what allows me to connect with more women who need my help. To see them light up with joy as we work through their money plan inspires me to keep going and help more women do the same.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

My biggest area of growth for my business in the last 12 months is that my clients come before my product. I have learned to tailor what I offer to fit my clients’ needs and I overdeliver on what they are looking for. Word of mouth is so powerful when it comes to new clients, and if I can offer an amazing service, then referrals will come.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Leadership Development
Empathy Unlocked: Understanding how to Develop Emotional Intelligence

“Empathy is the starting point for creating a community and taking action. It’s the impetus

Productivity
Where do you get your work ethic from?

We’ve all heard the phrase “work hard, play hard,” but where does our work ethic

Productivity
Boosting Productivity Through Self-Care

When you have a never-ending to-do list it can feel irresponsible to engage in self-care,