Hard work and determination are in Nancy Catanzariti’s blood.
The granddaughter of immigrants who arrived in Australia with nothing, Catanzariti learned very early on that if you’re willing to work hard, have a positive attitude, and remain true to yourself, you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
And that is exactly what she has done.
As a Senior Manager in the Private Clients at PwC, Catanzariti has a long history with the accounting firm. Starting out as a part-time employee whilst still at university, she spent seven years climbing the corporate ladder before leaving the firm for a period of four years.
In 2011 she returned to PwC, and now relishes her role in which she gets to work with both colleagues and clients that she loves.
Not content with settling into ordinary accounting life, however, Catanzariti and her husband, Patrick, also made the decision to open their own business, recently becoming the first Australian franchisee of Tasti D-Lite – an American healthy softserve ice-cream and frozen yoghurt chain that has just landed in Australia.
The underlying values of the brand, says Catanzariti, are that it is promoting “a happy and healthy life” – and that is what she and Patrick are all about.
While Catanzariti acknowledges that taking on such a business was a risk, it doesn’t seem to faze her at all.
“I have had quite a few people say to me that it’s not a very accountant-like decision, but unless you give these things a go, the things that excite you, you don’t know what is on the other side and you’ll always wonder what if,” she says.
“If you go into it with an open mind and know that you can win, lose or draw, that is the main thing.”
This attitude is one that was handed down to Catanzariti at an early age from some of the most important people in her life, and it has helped shape both her professional and personal decisions.
“The best advice I have ever received was from my Grandfather. He always said, ‘Little money makes big money’, meaning that we shouldn’t focus on dollars – focus on what makes you happy,” she says.
“As long as you are willing to work hard and listen and learn from your mistakes, the rewards that you are seeking will follow. Don’t just be motivated by or focused on the dollars.”
Catanzariti also makes a point of surrounding herself with good, positive people – something she says is easy at PwC.
“If there is someone having a negative or adverse impact on your life, you need to remove yourself from that,” she says.
“Always be true to yourself and don’t try to fit a mould. Be who you are, and always be willing to share your mistakes and key learnings as well as your successes.”
While Catanzariti has achieved many things in her career, the notion of success, she says, is a very personal one that means different things to different people – and it hasn’t always been smooth sailing.
“At a very young age, particularly in the professional services world, you have a fear of failure and a fear of admitting that you don’t know something,” she says.
“I went through a stage where I lost confidence and a sense of who I was and what I wanted in my life. I tried to stop fitting a mould and wanted to explore alternatives, put myself outside my comfort zone, just to see what I was capable of and what I could learn from it. I have lost money along the way. I have failed and I have cried. But at the end of the day, I am the only one who can change something that I am unhappy about and choose my own attitude.”
And one crucial aspect of this attitude is seeing achievement and success in terms other than dollars but rather, happiness.
“Patrick, who has a hearing impairment, has encountered lots of difficulties throughout his life, and to see him now smiling, full of confidence and running the business is a reward in itself. We have already accomplished so much,” she says.
“We have already got a return back on our investment in terms of development and what we’ve learned.”
And while Catanzariti enjoys the variety that comes with her role at PwC, as well as the fact she gets to explore her strengths and work with “a brilliant team” and amazing clients, the thing she relishes most is the support she is shown for her own personal and professional development.
“I would be so upset if I couldn’t bring myself to work each day and talk about Tasti D-Lite at the office,” she says.
“My employer has been really open and has seen it as a positive thing that I have an interest outside of the firm that I am really passionate about. I appreciate that more than anything.”