MEL #053 | From Independent Contractor to Company Builder through Clarity, Trust, and a Willingness to Act with Cathy Toth

In this episode, I speak with Cathy Toth, founder, president, and CEO of Acato Information Management, a software quality assurance company located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.Cathy grew up in a family full of engineers, started in biomechanical engineering, and ultimately finished an electrical engineering degree for practicality and momentum toward graduation. She moved quickly into software, later negotiated flexible work through independent contracting so she could be home with her kids, and eventually built a career specializing in software quality and testing. That path led her to launch Acato, a company shaped by an early startup experience that proved “good work” and “good for people” could coexist.In our leadership segment, Cathy gave us two examples focused on scaling Acato. First, she talks about her approach to shifting a large project team from delivering every eight weeks to delivering every two weeks, and later she discusses how she is redesigning Acato’s org structure so the company is not “Cathy and everybody else.” Both challenges required clarity, operational redesign, and the courage to make decisions with incomplete information. A key thread was creating buy-in and honest feedback while holding a clear purpose.In our advice segment, Cathy emphasizes taking your leadership development seriously, acting with imperfect information, and telling the truth in a way that supports good decisions. She also highlights relationships as the pathway to results, including building networks through service and nonprofit leadership. Across it all: know what matters to you, do the homework, and be willing to step forward before you feel fully ready.Explore the full episode summary, including guest bio, key takeaways, transcript, and recommended resources in the shownotes at drangeliqueadams.com/podcast.