Why we Organise Small Businesses
We’ve Been There
At Catalyst & Co we completely understand the ups and downs of owning and operating a small service business and we bring that experience into every client interaction and project.
Gemma is the primary contact for clients, with support from our collective of experts, as required.
There is no judgement, just partnership and support.
The 'Co' in our name represents how have designed our services to be of the greatest value to our clients.
We do this to help make their vision of success a reality.
Meet Gemma O’Halloran
Owner, Catalyst & Co
"I believe how we work matters as much as what we are aiming to achieve.
By designing well-considered business operations, we create environments where both businesses and the humans in them thrive together consistently - not one at the expense of the other and not on a hit-and-miss basis.
By remaining curious and open minded to change we can invest in ourselves, and others, to succeed and grow sustainably.
Catalyst & Co is dedicated to this transformation.”
My Story
Curiosity as a Foundation
Questions drive discovery. With a scientific background and curious mind, asking "why" and figuring things out has always been second nature to me. Catalyst & Co’s transformation methodology evolved (and continues to evolve) through questions like:
What would enhance the experience for the team behind the scenes?
How can decisions be made more efficiently and easily?
What creates autonomy while maintaining accountability?
How can success become predictable rather than person-dependent?
Combined with research, discussion and experimentation, this curiosity consistently reveals new insights, patterns and solutions.
A Lifetime of Enterprise & Innovation
Whether it was self-employed family members, jobs in family businesses during school holidays, working in an international but highly entrepreneurial and privately-owned company for nearly 10 years, or my own businesses, connections and clients, I have long standing respect and admiration for the business owner, their perspective, their responsibilities and their impact.
This diverse exposure — including associations, networks, startups, angel networks, franchises and established service providers — has continuously informed my 'freestyle' thinking. Seeing and living the ups and downs of business for myself, learning from mistakes and difficult situations, not to mention super-pivoting during Covid infuses everything I do with reality, empathy and common sense. Combined, it helps to bridge traditional business models and best practice with innovative approaches.
An Evolution
Every businessperson has a journey. Catalyst & Co is the 2025 rebrand of FreestylePM. The latter was a combination of Freestyle Events (established in 2015) and GOH Consulting, (established in 2020) to support small business owners with achieving their goals. I later co-founded a completely separate business, Advancia, in 2022 (and exited in October 2024).
I have organised thousands of individual projects in my career and 99% of them were about change, growth, innovation or making someone's vision come to life.
Just as a catalyst sparks transformation in a chemical reaction, my purpose is to give people the support they need at a crucial time. I help them bridge the gap of where they are now and where they want to be.
Catalyst & Co is the culmination of all of this and more.
Learning The Art of Strategic Delivery
Nearly 20 years of event and project management started with projects such as coordinating 30-country lecture tours and activating the title sponsorship of the World Equestrian Games. They were complex, high-intensity, exhilarating experiences, and it was the crucible in which I discovered not only what it took to achieve great things but also the effect it could have on the people involved.
Part of success is also getting away from 'busyness' and seeing the next best moves on the board, or even reinventing the game. Everything I've studied — from environmental archaeology to innovation, mentoring and sustainability management— informs the strategic thinking which is evident in everything we do.
Wellbeing meets Methodology
Making changes to how we work can better support growth, mutual respect and wellbeing, while also supercharging results and secondary outcomes. By making this a core part of the business strategy, operations transform from being a source of stress to a source of health, happiness and success.
Having personally navigated stress and burnout, and related health issues, I know that this is true.
Catalyst & Co brings this outlook to every project we are involved in.
Creating A Customised Team
We often build custom teams for our Clients as part of the transformation process, ensuring you have all the expertise needed to operate going forward.
Outsourcing is an ideal way to strengthen your team quickly and effectively. Each specialist is carefully selected to complement your specific situation and goals.
Previous projects have included support in these areas: HR, IT, Brand design, Admin, Website support, Marketing, Digitisation, Accounting, Events, Coaching, Training, Merchandise, Legal, PR and others.
Our Catalyst Collective includes:
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Catherine McDonald
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Deirdre Murray
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David Dempsey & Aneta Marchwinska
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Christina Schoeman
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Natasha Hughes
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Philip Moyna
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Louisa Meehan
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Tomas Nolan
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Elaine Keohane
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Maureen McCowen
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Alison Furney
