About us
Catalyst is a concierge business advisory service specializing in start-ups and turn-arounds.
Catalyst was founded on 12-23-05.
I signed on my first client in January, 2007.
Doing business as a subsidiary, Catalyst Investigations (just beginning to be formed), I was able to begin work on
my first major case when I was fired from my 34-year position as a GS-11 with the U.S. Dept. of Labor, in what
I think was a wrongful dismissal. That dismissal was dated July 31, 2010.
Doing business as a subsidiary, Catalyst Childcare, I was able to begin work with my first childcare, special
needs, client on May 31, 2011.
In the fall of 2012, I took the training to become a Private Investigator (PI), and also to become a Personal Care
Aide (PCA). Plus, in business-related employment, I was hired by Metropolitan Home Care.
In the spring of 2013, I was referred to a twelve-step phone program for de-cluttering, which I continue to call in to daily. My strategy now is to:
1) fully de-clutter using this program,
2) then get all my debts paid off using the twelve-step phone program for debt reduction and financial
clarity and stability,
3) then use all that recovery, clarity and stability to increase my income using the twelve-step phone
program that focuses on income generation.
In the fall of 2013, Catalyst Childcare was accepted into the Enovate business incubator program run by BDAG
(the Business Development and Assistance Group), a Fairfax County government program.
On April 1, 2014, in business-related employment, I was hired as a substitute teacher by the Fairfax County
Public School system. There are about twenty schools that I sub at, now.
Doing business as Catalyst Clearspace, in July and August of 2016 two clients who had medical challenges
came to me. Also, under the WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) program, I was able to take
CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) training with a company called Ultimate Keepers. Although I passed the
course, when I took the board exams I was only able to pass the written exam, not the skills exam. So I am
looking for a tutor or some kind of specialized skills training to give me enough hands-on practice to pass the
skills board exam and become a certified CNA.
In the early spring of 2017, in a second concurrent business-related employment, found using Linked-In, I was
hired by Greater Compassion Home Health Care. I completed a six-week assignment with them, and I look
forward to doing more assignments with them, spacing those assignments in between sub jobs.
In the late spring of 2017, Rebuilding Together chose my home to be one of their National Day of Service
renovation homes. Working with a church team from a local church, they sent a team of about 45 people to my
home on April 29, 2017, plus work teams and support people before and after. My whole house has been
repainted to be a cheerful yellow on the inside walls, and a little-bit-lighter yellow on all the ceilings. Lots
more work was done, which I will try to post on the Potting Shed's website.
Now, in the fall of 2017, I am taking the training to become a teacher of baby-signing, and also to become an
Occupational Therapy Assistant (I am already qualified to work as an Occupational Therapy Aide). I will be
taking BioMed I and Abnormal Psychology this fall, with the goal of getting my Health Sciences Career Studies
Certificate next spring. That certificate will help me in my application to the OTA program, because not all
applicants are accepted. The baby-signing teacher-training course is from Baby Signs Too, and the OTA courses
and program are from NOVA (the Northern Virginia Community College of Virginia).
Catalyst was founded on 12-23-05.
I signed on my first client in January, 2007.
Doing business as a subsidiary, Catalyst Investigations (just beginning to be formed), I was able to begin work on
my first major case when I was fired from my 34-year position as a GS-11 with the U.S. Dept. of Labor, in what
I think was a wrongful dismissal. That dismissal was dated July 31, 2010.
Doing business as a subsidiary, Catalyst Childcare, I was able to begin work with my first childcare, special
needs, client on May 31, 2011.
In the fall of 2012, I took the training to become a Private Investigator (PI), and also to become a Personal Care
Aide (PCA). Plus, in business-related employment, I was hired by Metropolitan Home Care.
In the spring of 2013, I was referred to a twelve-step phone program for de-cluttering, which I continue to call in to daily. My strategy now is to:
1) fully de-clutter using this program,
2) then get all my debts paid off using the twelve-step phone program for debt reduction and financial
clarity and stability,
3) then use all that recovery, clarity and stability to increase my income using the twelve-step phone
program that focuses on income generation.
In the fall of 2013, Catalyst Childcare was accepted into the Enovate business incubator program run by BDAG
(the Business Development and Assistance Group), a Fairfax County government program.
On April 1, 2014, in business-related employment, I was hired as a substitute teacher by the Fairfax County
Public School system. There are about twenty schools that I sub at, now.
Doing business as Catalyst Clearspace, in July and August of 2016 two clients who had medical challenges
came to me. Also, under the WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) program, I was able to take
CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) training with a company called Ultimate Keepers. Although I passed the
course, when I took the board exams I was only able to pass the written exam, not the skills exam. So I am
looking for a tutor or some kind of specialized skills training to give me enough hands-on practice to pass the
skills board exam and become a certified CNA.
In the early spring of 2017, in a second concurrent business-related employment, found using Linked-In, I was
hired by Greater Compassion Home Health Care. I completed a six-week assignment with them, and I look
forward to doing more assignments with them, spacing those assignments in between sub jobs.
In the late spring of 2017, Rebuilding Together chose my home to be one of their National Day of Service
renovation homes. Working with a church team from a local church, they sent a team of about 45 people to my
home on April 29, 2017, plus work teams and support people before and after. My whole house has been
repainted to be a cheerful yellow on the inside walls, and a little-bit-lighter yellow on all the ceilings. Lots
more work was done, which I will try to post on the Potting Shed's website.
Now, in the fall of 2017, I am taking the training to become a teacher of baby-signing, and also to become an
Occupational Therapy Assistant (I am already qualified to work as an Occupational Therapy Aide). I will be
taking BioMed I and Abnormal Psychology this fall, with the goal of getting my Health Sciences Career Studies
Certificate next spring. That certificate will help me in my application to the OTA program, because not all
applicants are accepted. The baby-signing teacher-training course is from Baby Signs Too, and the OTA courses
and program are from NOVA (the Northern Virginia Community College of Virginia).