01/05/2025
I don’t think I’ve ever posted anything about how I started The Cat Butler.
For anyone who doesn’t know or who is finding us the for the first time, here goes!
15 years ago I was working for an International Consultancy firm as a Stakeholder Engagement professional. I’d been a lot for work and I was working as part of a bid team, working towards winning a huge project worth hundreds of millions of dollars; the pressure was intense.
My body was wrecked, I wasn’t looking after my health; I was burnt out. One morning I couldn’t get out of bed, I couldn’t stop crying and I was in physical pain - hello nervous breakdown.
After taking a break and sleeping for three weeks, I walked back into work and resigned. I was done with corporate.
I thought, if I never return to a corporate life, what will I do, how will I pay my way?
Our cat Geordie would stretch out along our window ledge and rest in the sun and I said to him, “I’d love to look after you full time” and that sort of planted the seed of the idea.
I’ve always been a giving person, very service orientated and playing in my head were the words ‘cats’, ‘service’
I popped up to Sydney and hang out with a dear friend for while and one day I met her at her work and while she took a call, I got chatting to a colleague of hers.
She asked what I did.
I said I’d been thinking about caring for cats in their homes, doing their food, water etc and she said “like a butler service but for cats” and that was it!
I came home to my now husband and said what about The Cat Butler!?
I registered the name, my dear friend’s husband designed the logo and I printed my first flyers.
To my absolute and ongoing delight, our vet (then the Cat Clinic Prahran) took a flyer and said, if we hear good things Helen, we’ll let people know about you ❤️
My dear friend Kim was my very first client with her baby cat Gypsy George and then some of my husband’s work colleagues followed with their .
Bookings continue to come in and I’m often overwhelmed with gratitude.
What a journey so far; there’s probably a book there!
Thank you for reading and following, hope we can be of service to you.
Helen ###
