St Patrick’s Day- Catherine Gabbott, Owner and Director of Suppawtive Health Solutions

In the lead up to St Patrick’s Day, we are recognising the contributions of Irish business people who now call Australia home. In this article we interview Catherine Gabbott, owner of Suppawtive Health Solutions.

What is your fondest memory of Ireland?

The winter snow was always one of my favourite times. Both as a child and as a teenager in college we would engage in snowball fights and have a lot of good fun and laughs doing so. As an adult, I really appreciated the history of Ireland. The vikings invaded Dublin in 988 and evidence of their habitats exists to this day. Ireland has a long rich history which is evidenced in its architecture and artefacts, like the Book of Kells which is housed in Trinity College. For me, the images of Dublin City evoke fond memories of growing up there rather than images of green rolling hills. This is because I am a city girl and always will be, Dublin will always be where my heart belongs.

What made you the business person you are today?

I originally started out in IT but have always had a love to work with animals. A few years ago I got the opportunity to work as a dog trainer with the RSPCA in Queensland. It was this opportunity that enabled me to realise a new passion in my life. It led me to study a Diploma in Animal Naturopathy and starting my own company.

I can’t pinpoint one thing that made me the business person I am today, but a lot of life’s hurdles helped me grow as a person as well as some great opportunities that opened the proverbial doors. I have always followed what I felt was right at the time and believed that I have the capability to do whatever I set my mind too. I believe that it is more this drive and belief in myself while doing something that I love that has made me into the business person I am today.

What does your typical work day involve?

A typical day for me involves checking emails, making appointments and visiting clients in their home to discuss their animals health and nutrition. Following a consult I prepare a treatment plan that is customised to the clients pet. A follow up consult occurs 2-4 weeks after the initial consult to review the animal and monitor its progress.

I will very soon be a qualified Canine Bowen Therapist. This means I can use massage to help dogs recover from physical injuries or where they are stiff and sore due to soft tissue problems and degenerative conditions.

Why do you do what you do?

I started on this path due to the death of a beloved pet, my dog Pepper. All his life Pepper had been plagued with health issues from hot spots, ear infections, itchy paws to tummy upsets. After his death from pancreatitis I started researching animal nutrition and basically had a light bulb moment. I realised that what I had been feeding him was the cause of all his problems. I then enrolled to study Animal Nutrition and loved what I was learning so much I quickly realised that this was a career that I wanted to follow.

When you speak to people in the animal care industry, many will have an animal in their life that somehow influenced their decision to get into this field. Whether it was adopting a rescue animal, taking a dog to a training class and then become a dog trainer, to having a sick animal. Although Pepper’s death was a terrible tragedy it was his death that put me onto this path and the belief that I can help prevent another animal suffering the way he did.

What is instilled in you from your Irish upbringing that has made you the person you are today?

The Irish people have a passion and drive that is different to other cultures. I have lived around the world and there is something different about the Irish. I think growing up in the era that I did, where there was a big change happening in Ireland, helped me stand up for what I believe in and follow what I believe is the truth. In the field that I am in there is a lot of skepticism and controversy so you have to be strong to stand by your beliefs for the betterment of a pets life.

What don’t we have in Australia that is in Ireland you would like to bring here?

Australian doesn’t have the architecture that I miss from Ireland, the really old buildings dating back many centuries. However, Australia has sunshine which is something seriously lacking in Ireland.

 

St Patrick’s Day- David Greene, President of the Queensland Chapter and National Board Member, Irish Australian Chamber of Commerce

David GreeneIn the lead up to St Patrick’s Day, we are recognising the contributions of Irish business people who now call Australia home. In this article we interview David Greene, President of the Queensland Chapter and National Board Member, Irish Australian Chamber of Commerce.

What is your fondest memory of Ireland?

I always remember the rare hot summer days.  We’d only get a couple of days every year when the temperature would stay in the 20s.  I remember thinking then, and still believe now, that it was the nicest place in the whole world when the sun shone. Strolling deserted country lanes, picking blackberries, listening to the birds – an idyllic childhood.

What made you the business person you are today?

The greatest gift we have as Irish people and Irish-Australian’s is our connection to one another – a shared understanding, and often, a shared set of beliefs and frameworks in which we conduct ourselves in both our professional and personal lives.  It was in search of those connections that I first became involved with the IACC, and my role as the Queensland Chapter President is, in most respects, in service to that greater goal of helping Irish people, or those with an affinity for Ireland, to connect, and grow and prosper.

What does your typical work day involve?

A whirlwind of activity from early morning to late evening.  Balancing my professional role as a solicitor, with my role as Queensland Chapter President of the IACC.  I typically get to work around 7.30, and catch up on emails and updates on case law.  Mid-morning is usually a good time for phone calls, and then onto meetings until lunch.

Afternoons typically involve the “heavy lifting” of drafting submissions, preparing for Court, and everything else that goes into a busy solicitor’s day.  I usually leave the office anytime between 5 and 6, and use the commute to make more phone calls.  After dinner, I often get time to reply to more emails and plan out the following day.

There is no distinct separation between my IACC tasks and my solicitor tasks – activities for both are interspersed throughout the day.

Why do you do what you do?

I became a solicitor because I wanted to do good work for ordinary people.  Its that mission, more than anything else, which keeps me going.  I became involved with the IACC, and became Queensland Chapter President, because I felt there was something I could add, and wanted to help other young Irish professionals to make the vital connections necessary to survive and thrive in Australia.

What is instilled in you from your Irish upbringing that has made you the person you are today?

That’s easy – a real and lived form of social justice.  Where I grew up, there was a very strong community and a shared sense of success and failure.  The community, in many respects, shared grief in tragedy, prosperity in the good times, and poverty in the bad times.   There was also a strong sense of “live and let live”, and each of those elements have combined to produce a truly remarkable shared ethos and understanding.

What don’t we have in Australia that is in Ireland you would like to bring here?

Personally, and like most people, I miss my family and would love to have them join me here.  However, I truly believe that if we could bring even a shred of the community spirit which exists in Ireland to the suburbs we live in here in Australia, then this nation would be changed utterly for the better.