Catherine Wilson, Strategic Sales Director at Zilliant, turned rejection into fuel, and built a seven-figure sales career on her own terms.

Told she wouldn’t succeed, she doubled down on listening, empathy, and relationship-driven selling. By ditching the “boys’ club” playbook and developing her own style, she proved the doubters wrong, and redefined what leadership could look like.

Her advice? Trust your gut. Learn people’s patterns. And never stay somewhere that doesn’t see your worth.

Her mantra? Control what you can. Say no without guilt. And help the next woman climb faster than you did.

Read more from Catherine here…

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What has been your career defining moment as a woman in business?

Being told multiple times that I wouldn’t succeed in a role or position by my male leadership and then proving them wrong quickly with success.

I did it by building relationships and listening, then going and putting together offers that spoke in a customer's language or viewpoint, instead of just trying to force a sale.

I learned to sit in their shoes and think what would benefit them best vs. hardcore closing. Developing my own style vs trying to fit into the “boys' club” helped my success more than anything else.

From an economic perspective, this allowed me to go from bartending in my early 20’s and flat out broke to earning over seven figures. It’s been a rollercoaster, but I was taught early on there will be ups and downs so to enjoy the ride.

Were there any obstacles you had to overcome as a woman in business?

Given I’ve worked in a predominately male only industry and companies for decades, I could list a tonne.

Many times, I was only 1 of 3 women in our entire global sales organizations. When I was younger, it was trying to be taken seriously when they only wanted me to take notes, organize events and do a ton of extra work none of the guys were doing.

As I got older, no one ever pulled me aside to give me career advice until I was in my mid-30's.

They didn’t offer leadership roles to women, career advancement or any of the bigger accounts/deals to work on. I was always given the “challenges” no one else wanted to deal with.

What advice would you give to a younger woman looking to join your industry?

Believe your gut instinct/intuition. If it feels off, it is. Whether that be in a job, a company or out with individual people.

A second would be choosing who you work with will have more long-term impact on your career, mental health and happiness than anything else.

If you find yourself in a bad or untenable situation, then move on. Don’t stay and try to force anything. Also, learn about different people’s personalities.

This will help your career more than any other training as you can spot what makes a good boss or a narcissist who will ruin your work and/or personal life.

If you could do one thing to accelerate the pace of change for gender equality, what would it be?  

Pay women what they are due, stop paying us below what men are earning. In 20 years of my career, I still see this happen and it’s happened to me.

What compelled you to attend a Panelle event?

I am excited to get to sit at the table and have a real conversation about women in the workforce.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Control what you can control, keep learning whether it’s new skills, new technology, new industries. The world is going to change so you need to be able to as well.

What’s your go-to advice for preventing burnout?

Learn boundaries early and stick to them. Learn how to say no and put away the phone. Turn off the notifications unless it’s an emergency and tell people up front your preferred method of communication, as well as asking theirs.

Why do you think it’s important for women to help other women win?

Because no one else is coming to save you. We’ve got to help other women move the needle forward with each new generation.