Column: Leamington podcaster shares her story and how she started her new venture

Next year Catherine Williamson turns 60. But, in many ways, she will always be that 18-year-old whose life was stopped in time – and shaped forever - by the sudden death of her mother.

The die was cast that day - but it was to be many more years before she would know it.

Now, as herself a proud of mum of two and successful entrepreneur, author and podcaster – the common purpose is driven by a selfless desire to raise others up in their own pursuit of health, wealth and, most importantly, she says, happiness.

No wonder then she is so passionate about her latest project, Gobsmacked! The Podcasts: Ordinary People With Extraordinary Stories – and its accompanying first book.

From navigating the treacherous waters of terrorism and counterterrorism to gangland revenge killings, from heroic endeavours to the sheer determination to live against all odds, a host of inspirational guests share the experiences and the wisdom they’ve mined from the darkest corners of their lives.

The project’s success, it could be argued, mirrors an emotional awakening for its presenter and author who is finally able to reflect on her own journey of unresolved grief – whether it be bereavement or lost love.

It started with the shock death of her mum from a brain aneurysm at the age of just 42.

“I was totally disorientated, numb and traumatised,” said Catherine. “Our home became a very strange space. We all handled our grief in very different ways; I was the eldest of four and suddenly became step-up Mum.

"Neighbours and friends came to the door, bringing food and offering support and condolences. At the same time, people memorably crossed the road to avoid talking to us.

“I’ve been extremely one-eyed throughout my life; my daddy was always on a pedestal, so my mum never really got a fair look in.

"The truth is, while I have my dad’s intellect and thirst for knowledge, I have my mum’s great big open-hearted love of life and love of people.

"She was a one-off, beautiful, vivacious, dazzling creature who left everybody she ever met with a feeling of warmth and uplift.

“I was so happy and carefree, and it was suddenly all ruined. I was popular with the boys; a London university beckoned; I had passed my driving test, secured a decent clutch of A-Levels and then, suddenly, everything changed.”

Despite gaining her degree in Nutrition, university was a challenging time for Catherine who took a year-long impulse trip to Kenya where she taught English but soon returned to Nottingham to pick up the baton as home maker once more.

This is when she also landed her first jobs in sales, in Leicestershire.

It was around this time when her emotions were once again severely tested. Her partner of three years took a business trip - only to not return.

She recalls: “I received a letter from someone telling me he had got married on the previous Monday to somebody else.

"What happened next has happened to me only once in my life – I could not comprehend what I’d read, my legs gave way, and I slumped to the floor.

“When I came to, I went round all the rooms in the house we lived in, and I realised all the things that I’d bought during our time together weren’t on the shelves.

"I could see I’d been stripped from the house, and I found myself and everything that represented me in cardboard boxes under the spare bed.

"I couldn’t understand how somebody could go and get married and not get around to mentioning it.”

Following a very short first marriage in 1994, Catherine settled down with her second husband in Leamington and went on to have two children in two years, Joseph and Alice.

But just a few years in, and against a backdrop of poor career decisions, divorce was sadly once again on the cards.

“I was suffering from a tsunami of trauma.”

She reflects: “My second was a good marriage, better than I realised at the time, but I was suffering from a tsunami of trauma. I was to rue my decision to leave for several years, but the humbling that came with those intervening years made me value and respect what I have now.

She added: “I bought a home and assumed the responsibility of single parenting, establishing a new career and running a home. I was overextended and wracked with anxiety; my sleep was shot to pieces.

"I would obsessively play endless figures by rote in my head, trying to work out how I would pay my mortgage. I was terrified of losing my home, and my dominant thought was lack of money, worse still, poverty, and, God forbid, homelessness.

“It was a very salutary, anxiety-provoking time. My forays into finding a new man to love unleashed one drama after another. My kids really did not need any more ‘uncles’.”

And so followed a period of soul-searching and reinvention - therapy and self-help workshops feeding Catherine’s appetite for emotional renourishment.

Yet it was to be that further heartbreak was around the corner when suspicions of her latest partner’s infidelities were eventually confirmed.

“By the time I was dumped by text by this errant suitor, in September 2006, a man whom I had put so much on the line for, I was an anxious, emotional wreck.

"I had pushed my family to the limit, lost friends, caused people to seriously doubt my judgement and felt I had the credibility of a gnat.”

The year 2010 was to be bitter-sweet as she navigated the highs and lows of love and loss. Marriage to her new husband John – and loss through the cruel death of her father at the age of 74, just six months after a brain tumour diagnosis.

For the past couple of decades, Catherine has discovered her oxygen is found in championing others – whether it be clients at her executive coaching business Jofish, or in her friendships. (Sometimes the lines blur such is her empathetic nature.)

It’s this devotion to her ‘cause’ which has led her to the airwaves - four times a week.

The Gobsmacked podcast that has now been heard in more than 113 countries around the globe. More recently, she also started fronting her own show on Big Ear Radio, an equal ability community radio station where, true to form, she turns the spotlight onto other people’s remarkable stories.

When she isn’t in front of a microphone, Catherine can most probably be found fulfilling her commitments as President of Leamington Soroptimist Group or as a trustee of the Birmingham-based charity Cherished.

And while never lacking in things to say (she is Past National President of the Association of Speakers Clubs), Catherine finds her truest joy these days lies in helping provide precious air-time to others.

She said: “As my podcast journey with these remarkable people continues, each chapter reveals new layers of complexity, strength, and vulnerability.

"From the heartbreaks and the losses, I’ve learned that setbacks don’t define me; they provide opportunities for personal evolution and some cracking adventures.

“Through coaching and my podcast, I’ve invited others into my journey, hoping to inspire them to reflect on their own experiences and find solace in shared stories.”

She added: “When I was younger, I just wanted to make my daddy proud of me. I know with absolute certainty he would be so proud of me now.

"He would have listened to every podcast episode as soon as it was available and discussed at length the guests, the topics covered, the insights gleaned.

“My mum wanted beautiful daughters, my dad wanted brainy daughters.

“The older I get, my mother’s ability to cook a great meal and welcome people open-heartedly into her home and make them feel special, is what I prize the more than intellect. I know she would be proud.”

To follow Catherine’s Gobsmacked podcast go to: https://gobsmacked.me/

The book accompanying her podcast is available to purchase at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1399972928