Meet Catalina Margulis

We were lucky to catch up with Catalina Margulis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Catalina, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

What a great question!

I’d say it wasn’t that I found my purpose – rather, purpose found me. I was always a reader and lover of books and languages. And I was always told that I was a writer. So between my love of books and the gift of writing that others saw in me, I knew words and communication would be my path forward. But the question for me back then was, but what do I write about?

For a long time, I was a writer and editor for hire. Meaning I had jobs where I was paid to create words, content, on an assigned subject or for a particular brand or campaign. The content was meaningless to me and often uninspired, but the words themselves were my playground.

Then one day, as if by magic, a story appeared to me. A book about two women navigating the highs and lows of their life, along with their friendship, as they were turning 40. That story became my debut book Again, Only More Like Me, which is out now.

Throughout my book journey, through the highs and lows of getting this book published, I dove into personal development, which evolved into a spiritual journey. Along the way, people approached me to help them on their own book writing and publishing journeys, which led to my book coaching business, which led to my thought leadership consulting.

My first clients basically fell into my lap but it was no coincidence – I was doing what I love, and showing up to serve others generously and transparently. I fell in love with coaching and my clients appreciated me so much that they would refer me to their friends and family and so word spread from there.

So purpose – helping others write and publish their story, and writing books myself that connect people on deeper levels – essentially found me. My book revealed itself to me, just as book coaching evolved from a love of books and sharing that love with others.

Book coaching marries my love of words and communication, and also personal development and spirituality. To me, creativity and creative callings go hand in hand with spirituality – I’m not sure you can have one without the other. And those loves have given me purpose.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m a book coach and editor, and storytelling and thought leadership consultant. I help people build personal brands and thought leadership from their stories, to grow their brand, business and impact. I’m also a speaker who speaks on the power of story to transform people and organizations. And I’m an author – my book Again, Only More Like You – is out now, and explores friendship and personal reinvention.

If you have a story and are looking to publish, come find me! I have a newsletter where each week I share free tips and inspiration for writing your book, as well as advice on publishing, entrepreneurship, thought leadership and personal branding.

I also regularly host workshops and webinars on book publishing, in addition to my private coaching business where I help authors all the way from focusing their book idea, to writing and finishing their book, to publishing and marketing it and beyond!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Looking back, I think the most important qualities I’ve had that have helped me throughout my journey are 1) writing and editing, which are transferable skills that I’ve been able to leverage to create work opportunities for me in journalism, business content strategy, marketing, and now book coaching and editing. 2) A love of personal development, which has helped me learn and grow as an entrepreneur and person, seeing challenges as opportunities for growth, and instilling me with an even greater growth mindset than I already had, thanks to my parents. 3) Faith and generosity. In my experience, my generosity has only created more love and generosity for me and in the world. It’s never led to me experiencing less, it’s only made more available to me – but it took me a while to see that. Hence my spiritual journey. I think you need to have faith in order to be generous, to be able to trust that there’s enough to go around and you don’t need to hoard the toast, so to speak. I think many people are in scarcity out of a lack of faith. But when you have faith, it gives you the strength and courage to share and love with abandon, and that might be the most important quality of all.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

I’m choosing this question because I think a lot of people are facing this question now. I’m pretty sure that most of us are facing challenges and obstacles in our businesses and careers right now, for so many reasons. The pace of change is off the charts, and now we have AI to contend with, which is launching us into whole new paradigms we have no precedent for, to look to to chart our way forward.

The economy is struggling, and there is so much going on internationally as well, and countries rely on each other more than ever so that one country’s struggles deeply impact others.

So there’s a lot going on, and yes, it ripples down into our every day business interactions. And we’re all trying to figure out a way to navigate and choose our next best step.

Honestly, what I’m doing, and what has always served me, is prayer. Asking powerful questions to God and waiting and listening for the answers. That can come in the form of an epiphany. Something someone says to me during the day. Or literally an act – an email, phone call, or physical interaction that nudges me one way or another or gives me one powerful insight or another. And honestly, writing and creativity works the same way for me.

Just like writing a book, in life, we want to know how the story ends – sometimes before we even get started. But what I’ve found, what has worked for me, is taking one step at a time, and trusting the next step will reveal itself to me. I just need to listen, be patient and pay attention. And that’s what I’m doing right now.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://catmargulis.com
• Instagram: @catmargulis
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catalina-margulis-628bb851/

Image Credits

Andrea Gibson (photo of Catalina Margulis)