There is a surprising new hero of rock-star proportions gathering crowds and selling out auditoriums. She’s bringing in the big bucks and has everyone from professionals to consumers hanging on her every word. She’s a Mommy Blogger, who has made a business from couponing.

Jill Cataldo is a thirty-something wife and mother of young children who was laid off from her job in 2008. She began clipping coupons to stretch her household budget. She became so good at it that she offered a class at her local library where she became an instant success, providing money-saving advice and becoming a resource for advertisers.

How does such a thing happen? Is it Jill’s genius, timing or something else that catapulted her to fame and fortune so quickly? Jill Cataldo describes it;

“My whole career of doing this has been a chain – this link fits this one and it just keeps going.”

Success requires that you don’t stop at one idea large or small. Trying one thing will lead to another until you have built a chain strong enough to support you. Jill took risks and she’s talented. However, don’t underestimate the unexplainable merging of a receptive audience and the blessing of opportunity.

Office of Empathy

Years ago, I would
never have felt this way.
Thank You for
the darkest days.
It infused me
with an understanding
I wouldn’t otherwise have.

Life is something I must learn on the job,
empathy is earned.
I can tell someone, “I know how you feel,”
or I can actually live through it
and graduate to authenticity.

It’s the scars and the stumbles that make it real
as I reach out to someone else.
Thanks to the depression, the divorce, the dangers,
I'm uniquely equipped for the Office of Empathy.  -Ruth Williams