#134: When "Fine" Isn't Enough: How Catherine Clark Chose to Rebuild Instead of Tolerate
Hi! New here? I've spent the last 20 years at the intersection of behavior change research and coaching. On The Uplifters Podcast, we share diverse stories of trailblazing, change-making women who are doing big, brave things in the second half of their lives, and showing us how we can too!
Listen to This If...
You’re tolerating a “good enough” relationship or work situation
Traditional business structures feel constrictive
You’ve ever believed it’s too late to make a big change in your life, work, or relationships
Your old ways of doing things don’t feel right for right now
This Week’s Featured Uplifter: Catherine Clark
Catherine Clark had built something remarkable over 25 years—a thriving branding agency with blue-chip clients like Starbucks and PepsiCo, a business partnership that functioned smoothly enough, three kids she adored, weekends in Vermont. The kind of life that makes other people nod approvingly and say, “You’ve really got it figured out.”
Except the business partnership that had once generated magic and energy wasn’t doing that anymore. Not in a dramatic, blow-up kind of way. There was no conflict, no betrayal, no obvious reason to change anything. Just this quiet fraying. The thing they’d created together simply no longer functioned in a way that served them.
I think I got myself a little trapped for a little while. When you’re able to navigate [difficulty] well, you can put forward a harmonious experience on the outside, and people love it. So when you’re that person inside who’s actually not happy, it’s doubly difficult to admit to it. You don’t get a lot of empathy because everybody wants to believe the image that you’re putting forward. I think a lot of people end up trapped in these things and it’s difficult to admit to it, and it’s difficult to admit to it with kindness.
This is where so many of us get stuck. We’re not in crisis. We’re in something harder to name—a slow leak of energy, a partnership or situation that’s become more depleting than multiplying. And because we’re women, because we’ve been trained since childhood to tolerate, to navigate, to make things work, we stay. Catherine grew up watching her parents stay married through conflict, absorbing this lesson: “The art of living was to navigate those things. It didn’t necessarily occur to me that maybe we can step away from these things and find harmony elsewhere.”
When things are sort of working, it can be incredibly scary to give that up for something filled with unknowns. So, Catherine focused on what she knew for sure, learning she’d gained from 50 years of living. She knew from working with elite athletes at the Oklahoma City Thunder how to prepare for uncertainty. She understood from horses what movement through difficulty looks like. She’d spent 15 years studying Gyrotonics, learning how to expand rather than contract under pressure.
She didn’t have to guess what would happen if she rebuilt. She didn’t have to start from scratch or follow someone else’s playbook. She could be surgical about what to keep and what to release. She could design something entirely her own.
So she chose to move. She shuttered her successful company and started a new one: custom-built for this moment in her life and the time we are in. At Creatris, her new agency, she’s created a team of what she calls “ambidextrous brains”—people who are strategic and creative, organized and artistic, beautiful misfits who never quite fit in boxes but can work magic when given room to stretch. She eliminated everything that doesn’t serve: no more PowerPoint decks (nobody’s asked for one yet), no more seeking perfection, no more stopping and starting projects. Just flow and movement.
I love Catherine’s story and am so excited for you to hear it. It’s the permission slip and the roadmap so many of us have been looking for.
XO,
Aransas
Listen to my full conversation with Catherine on The Uplifters Podcast.
Resources & References Mentioned
Gyrotonics - A movement practice combining tai chi, yoga, and dance that teaches how to move with grace and expand the body
Thích Nhất Hạnh - Buddhist monk whose teachings on impermanence (the ocean and wave metaphor) influenced Catherine’s understanding of change
Caroline Weaver - Catherine’s nominee for the podcast; Creator of The Locavore (a guide to local businesses across all NYC boroughs)
Lift Her Up
Want to support Catherine’s mission of bringing fluidity and grace to the business world?
Visit Creatris: creatris.co
Work with her if you need a branding partner who understands movement and preparation
Share this episode with anyone who’s feeling stuck in a successful situation that no longer serves them
If You Liked This Story, Check Out This One
Episode 89: Claude Silver - As VaynerMedia’s Chief Heart Officer, Claude created a role that didn’t exist—because she saw what was missing in corporate culture. Her new book Be Yourself at Work captures what Catherine understands intuitively: the most powerful teams aren’t built on people conforming to rigid roles, but on creating space for people to show up as their whole selves. While Catherine eliminated PowerPoint decks and built teams of “ambidextrous brains,” Claude transformed an entire agency culture by leading with empathy and emotional optimism. If you’re inspired by Catherine’s vision of fluid, human-centered work environments, Claude’s story shows what becomes possible when you make belonging and authenticity non-negotiable parts of how business gets done.
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