About Cathy

Experience

Cathy is a management consultant with a primary focus on small- to medium-size, closely held businesses—especially family-owned. She spent 18 years as owner, president, and general manager of Cleveland Tubing Inc. While with Cleveland Tubing, Cathy engaged a strategic planning firm to assist her with establishing best practices in the operation and growth of her company. After leaving Cleveland Tubing, she worked with LBMC Planning Services where she helped clients with strategic planning, succession planning, and organizational development. When LBMC decided to wind down their Planning Services division in 2015, Cathy started her own practice. She now draws on her personal experiences and the training she received at LBMC to assist others as they set and strive to achieve their business goals.

By way of background, Cathy started with Cleveland Tubing Inc., a Cleveland, Tennessee based manufacturer of extruded plastic products, as a sales manager and later became its president and general manager. Her responsibilities included the evaluation of financial performance, marketing, new product development, contract review, strategic planning and execution, property and casualty insurance review, benefit administration, investment selection, product liability litigation, and negotiations at the highest level, including the sale of the company in August 2012. She started with a small staff and grew the company from roughly $3MM in sales in 1994 to just over $13MM in 2011.  She had hands-on experience in virtually every aspect of the business with the exception of engineering/maintenance and machine operation. Cathy always strived for operational excellence and created an environment of integrity and fairness. During this time, Cathy also assumed management responsibility for her aging parents’ company and negotiated its asset sale to a corporate buyer.

Education

Cathy received a bachelor’s of arts degree in Economics & Management and French from Centre College in Danville.  She has also taken Financial Management for Non-Financial Managers from Vanderbilt University and Mergers and Acquisitions from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Personal/Community

Cathy is active in and continues to support several professional and community organizations such as

• Cleveland State Community College Foundation Board
• Centre College Alumni Board
• Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce
• Cleveland Associated Industries
• Boys and Girls Clubs
• Bradley Initiative Credit Union Board
• Habitat for Humanity Board
• Listed as one of “40 under 40” in Business TN
• Mel Bedwell Small Businessperson of the Year
• Southern Living Annual Recipe Contest Grand Prize Winner 1999
• Better Homes and Gardening Decorating Contest–Third Place — Special Spaces

Cathy is married and lives on Howling Cow Farm in northern Bradley County with her husband and two boys ages 18 and 14.