Ladies with Tradies is the brainchild of Kate Muldoon; business coach and lady with her very own tradie. Kate has forged a lucrative career out of helping ladies and their tradie partners gain financial and emotional success, born from her own experience. But this wasn’t always the plan. Everything changed after she endured the loss of three important men in her life, all of whom were tradies. She talked candidly with Danielle Wilcock about this experience, offering an insight to her business journey and her hopes for the future. Picture: Carmel Zaccone
UNTIL a few years ago, Kate Muldoon seemingly had it all planned out.
She had forged a successful career in the nursing sector and was on the cusp of achieving the job of her dreams.
Kate spent many years working in palliative care and loved the work she did. She talks of feeling privileged to be part of her patients’ last days.
She admits to being on a path that at the time she was very comfortable with.
Kate never questioned where she was heading or why she was heading there, not until she lost her brother, Gareth in a road accident in 2010.
“My father was a tradie and he was my father’s apprentice,” she said.
“He was the youngest of four siblings. There was us three girls and he was the baby of the family. It was devastating.”
When Kate was affronted with her own significant loss, it caused her to re-evaluate life and what it truly means.
“I felt so silly upon reflection that I nursed dying people all these years, yet had never been truly aware of what death does to people.
“I was surrounded by death every single day and lived it everyday, but it wasn’t until it happened to me I realised. There is more to life than paying bills, taxes and dying.
“I used to listen to people tell me about their regrets, ‘I wish I didn’t stop speaking to my sister’ or ‘I wish I had done that road trip when I was younger’.”
As tragic as it was, the loss of her brother was a defining moment that afforded her much clarity.
“It was a terrible thing that happened but it’s probably the thing I am most grateful for,” she said.
“I have a lot of gratitude for the lessons it taught me.”
The heartbreak unfortunately wasn’t over.
Within a six month period, Kate had lost her brother Gareth, then her grandfather passed away from a work-related illness. He was a tradesman.
Kate then sadly lost her ex-partner, who was also a tradesman, to a drug addiction.
“You start to reconsider your life when you’re fronted with your own mortality or that of your family,” she said.
“I just wanted to simplify my life. I asked myself “why am I doing what I’m doing?”
“Am I doing it because someone else said I should or because I want to do it?”
In 2017, Kate was confronted with a tough decision. She was given not one but two unbelievable opportunities.
The first was income reliable and within the nursing sector she had known and become accustomed to all her working life.
The second was adverse to this working for global organisations ‘Action Coach’; a business coaching platform. It was a risk, being commission based and out of the industry she was so familiar with.
“I came home to my partner Jayson and presented these two equally amazing opportunities,” she said.
“I knew I could do it but the decision really took its toll, but I decided to take the risk.”
Kate’s experience of tragedy and renewed sense of self-worth was a driver for this decision.
She welcomed a new challenge and the freedom it could afford her should she make a success of it.
“It wasn’t without it’s hardships to begin with. The cold calling in the early days was so hard.
“I remember one day curled up in the foetal position in the shower, thinking I didn’t want to make anymore calls.”
Kate is in her third year of business coaching in a private capacity and she is for want of better words “smashing it”.
Kate is a successful businesswoman with a flourishing business coaching consultancy.
She has the experience and skill set to work with business people of varying degrees, from small business to CEO.
But it’s her relationship and personal tie to the tradie world that has seen her dedicate her coaching entirely to couples in trades business.
Kate’s emphatic desire to help and support tradie couples in both life and business was born from her own experience and familiarity with their world.
All the men in her life have been heavily involved with trade professions. So from a relatively young age, Kate has been exposed to the angst and complexities that can come part and parcel with tradie life.
She not only cares about her tradie couples, but her experience enables her to relate to them in a heightened way.
“All the men in my life have been tradesmen,” Kate said.
“I have an appreciation for what goes on within a relationship that’s bound by trades work.”
Kate is also acutely aware of the lifestyle factors that are associated with the trade profession.
Drink culture is rife, poor mental health is a widespread issue and addiction in its varying forms is also very common. All can be attributed to the pressures of the job.
Often an apparent lack of business organisation and structure exasperates the pressures upon tradies.
This is where the ‘ladies with tradies’ come into the picture. Kate has been able to acknowledge the pivotal role they can play, be in or out of running and administration of their business and has built her coaching approach and style on this.
“I live every day with my own tradie, Jayson, and we have our struggles like everyone else, but we have learnt how together to navigate them.”
Her upcoming book, titled Ladies with Tradies; How To Stop Shit hitting The Fan in Love, Life & Business, is an amalgamation of her gained experience and the recommendations she feels will make a difference to her fellow tradie couples.
She emphasises the need for couples to work cohesively and with respect.
Both parties need to appreciate the work that the other does. Sometimes personality profiles are necessary before work on the business side of things can even commence.
“Something I do a lot with couples is personality profiles with them before anything.
“More often than not they have completely opposite personality types.
“This helps me figure out how I’m going to work with them.
Kate explains: “Most couples feel they’re the only ones in this situation.
“I do work one on one with couples, which can be weekly or fortnightly but I also get my couples to do group work.
“I get a group of 10 couples who are all in the same boat. They are all aware of this and because of this they interact with each other. They bounce ideas off each other.
“It makes them feel as though they aren’t alone in this.”
Born and raised in Birchip, Kate is no stranger to the regional living.
It’s a love for the country, and a desire to live on the river that brought her to the Sunraysia region.
Kate and her partner Jayson relocated to Wentworth mid last year, and they love it.
“I grew up in a small country town but I always wanted to live on the river.
“Jayson and I were living in Bendigo and I had been looking for about 18 months at properties along the Murray.
“One day, one popped up and we decided to jump in the car and drive up to have a look.”
The house Kate shares with her partner and two poodles is a work in progress.
Together, Kate and her husband Jayson intend to build their forever home on the river.
Kate talks fondly of the region and openly identifies a desire to integrate with the local community and build a network in the local area.
“I have a Ladies with Tradies Cake and Coffee morning coming up at Nash Lane in Mildura on the 28th of January,” she said.
“It starts at 10am and will be very casual and open for all to interact and input.”
Working in business with my husband … why it didn’t work
WHEN my husband decided he was going to go out on his own I was really happy for him.
I knew how talented he was, how capable, how smart and driven – it was a no brainer.
What I also knew, was that he wasn’t all that keen on bookwork, or being in the office. So, I thought at the time ‘Great! I can help with that – we can make this work for sure!’
I was filled with naive enthusiasm.
At the time I was employed, had little responsibility outside of work hours, and could quite comfortably support him with the limited admin that he would require me to do. Easy!
For the first 6-12 months things were great! We had great money coming in the door, the work was streaming in and the customers were happy.
Taking the risk to go out into business was really starting to pay off for us.
But then the success built.
The risk built.
The hours away from home for him built. The pile of bills built.
The responsibility for me built.
Then, my resentment towards the business and working with him built too.
The regular business ‘meetings’ in our office to sort through receipts, to put together spreadsheets for submission to the accountant, the endless support in quoting, the bill paying and bank monitoring – it all lead to a place I really didn’t imagine it would.
My responsibilities kept growing, and I continued to build more & more resentment.
Whilst I really wanted to help, my behaviour towards the tasks did not indicate this to my husband, who, by this time was walking on eggshells wondering when the right time would be to ask ‘hey…..any chance you could help me get this tax sorted?’
It really wasn’t fair. On either of us.
So, we really needed to step back and reasses the whole thing. What was actually going to make us both happy?
What we realised was that our skill sets were too similar.
Rather than us having qualities that supported and complimented each other – we both enjoyed the same things.
We both love being with people and being social. We both also despised the idea of crunching numbers and sitting in the office.
The few elements that actually did compliment each other on, we ended up still getting frustrated about because at the end of the day, we really just were not suited to working together.
This landed us in a bit of a sticky situation. The business needed the systems, payments, processes, quoting and general administrative stuff to happen, or it wouldn’t work and we would let down our customers.
So we had to make a decision.
Either I had to suck it up, possibly drop some hours in my job to take on more in the business, or, I had to step away.
I knew from just this short experience in business with my husband that this was not going to be healthy for our relationship.
We fought more since starting the business, it consumed our conversations, it was just not going to work at all.
Worse still – we could have ended up not being able to stand each other.
That wasn’t an option – so I got out.
We hired a bookkeeper/admin person – casually. And she changed our lives and continues to.
She keeps on top of what needs to be done in the business and I am happy in the knowing that my husband is getting what he needs. He’s even happier because now his relationship with me is better, and he gets the books done too!
Where we get sucked in too often as couples in business is to thinking that we ‘HAVE’ to do it because nobody else can.
We believe it’s our duty to support each other, to have each other’s backs.
But too often, I have seen this destroy relationships and businesses, and it just isn’t worth it.
It’s important to ask yourselves honestly and discuss with each other openly – ‘What is best for US first and foremost, and what is best for our business second?’
Then, if you are lucky enough to have a relationship that is completely synergistic in both your personal lives and business – go for it!! If not – do what’s right for your relationship and marriage.
Choose to save it, rather than destroy it.
– An excerpt from Kate Muldoon’s book, Ladies With Tradies
The event is mainly for ladies with a tradie partner who want some no holds barred advice.
Kate will be holding more events like this and hopes to build rapport with local trades business, getting her work out to the community with the hope of helping her local fellow tradie couples.
For more information visit ladieswithtradies.com or find Kate on Facebook @ladieswithtradies
