Cat Jones Start Up Entrepreneur, CEO Byway - Inspired by the Iconic Brent Hoberman, Founders Factory
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Show Notes
In this episode, Jeannette speaks with Cat Jones, an entrepreneur powerhouse, spanning travel, start-ups, media and more!
Cat started off in the world of physics which is an unusual starting point for business but Cat then spent the next 10 years involved in the full ‘life cycle’ of a start-up. After this point she moved to the Founders Factory, set up by Brent Hoberman, CEO & founder of Lastminute.com, where Cat was managing director of the Media and Travel Division. Now she is the CEO of Byway, a start-up business specialising in sustainable and slow travel.
Jeannette and Cat talk about start-ups, travel, sustainability and how you have to believe in something a little crazy to create something truly transformative. An insightful and inspired episode, not to be missed.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Cat has always had an interest in sustainability and responsibility of business and this has been a theme throughout her career.
- It was after creating a tour booking site whilst travelling that Cat discovered she didn’t want to do a graduate corporate role. She wanted to be involved in the more creative world of start-ups. This is how she joined a team of 8 at Unruly.
- Towards the end of last year, whilst at Founders Factory, Cat was looking deeper into sustainable travel and how we can change the way we approach travel to make it more ‘mindful’ and ‘connected’. Inadvertently she had created the concept of the business she has now founded and is running as CEO!
- Cat got some very raised eyebrows when she said she was starting a travel business in the midst of a pandemic. But she is confident in her knowledge that on the other side of this people will want to travel and they will want to travel the way she is creating through Byway!
- By creating this travel business in the current climate Byway isn’t having to ‘retrofit’ anything. The level of flexibility and the systems and processes have been built around having to deal with the pandemic.
- Byway is all about slow adventures that don’t fly. You go through amazing places and stop off and experience so much more. It’s a layered experience that gives you more time and connection with both places and people. Cat’s aim is to make this new way of travel mainstream. She wants Byway to pioneer this new sustainable and connected way of travelling.
- During the pandemic people have revaluated and repositioned themselves in all areas of their lives. People have almost been forced to ‘reconnect’ with what is around them.
- When making a big decision Cat spends time with her husband weighing out all of the risks and assessing what can be mitigated and what she is comfortable with. This is how she deals with any ‘naysayers’ or doubt, including her own.
- Cat and her partner spend time ‘designing their lives’. They even have a quarterly get away to talk and make conscious decisions about them and their family.
BEST MOMENTS
“I have a lot of energy that I like to put into stuff that I care about doing”
“What we’re offering is really authentic, a gorgeous and glorious way to travel”
“You’ve got to believe something that’s a bit crazy to do something that’s disruptive and different and transformative”
“Focus on the gem of an idea and then develop it out from there”
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Byway Travel - Experience the world by travelling through it not over it
Brave, Bold, Brilliant podcast series
ABOUT THE HOST
Jeannette Linfoot is a highly regarded senior executive, property investor, board advisor, and business mentor with over 25 years of global professional business experience across the travel, leisure, hospitality, and property sectors. Having bought, ran, and sold businesses all over the world, Jeannette now has a portfolio of her own businesses and also advises and mentors other business leaders to drive forward their strategies as well as their own personal development.
Jeannette is a down to earth leader, a passionate champion for diversity & inclusion, and a huge advocate of nurturing talent so every person can unleash their full potential and live their dreams.
CONTACT METHOD
https://www.jeannettelinfootassociates.com/
ABOUT THE GUEST
Cat Jones is the founder and CEO of Byway, the slow travel holiday platform that offers flight-free getaways by train, boat and bike. Before founding Byway, Cat was Managing Director for the Travel and Media sectors at Founders Factory, where she led investments in fourteen startups a year and coached founders across a portfolio of forty companies. Prior to Founders Factory she was Global SVP, Data and an executive team member at Unruly, a video ad tech company, where she created and ran the data products division. Cat has published research on the effectiveness of video for social good, and been featured in TIME and on the BBC. She holds a first class degree in Physics and a Masters with Distinction in Sustainable Development.
PODCAST DESCRIPTION
Jeannette Linfoot talks to incredible people about their experiences of being Brave, Bold & Brilliant, which have allowed them to unleash their full potential in business, their careers, and life in general. From the boardroom tables of ‘big’ international business to the dining room tables of entrepreneurial start-ups, how to overcome challenges, embrace opportunities and take risks, whilst staying ‘true’ to yourself is the order of the day.