Transforming life admin into a midlife business - with Catherine Ann Reid

What do you do when you're drowning in life admin, raising a child with complex needs, navigating a divorce and you suddenly realise nobody has actually solved the problem? If you're Catherine Ann Reid, you build a tech company from scratch.In this episode of Wild, Wise & Working, Jackie is joined by Catherine-Ann Reid, founder and CEO of Doqit – a smart life admin app designed to help people organise their documents, manage deadlines, and reduce the invisible mental load of modern life. Catherine Ann's route to the startup world came not from a tech background, but from 30 years in B2B sales and communications, combined with the very personal experience of knowing that something had to change.Together, Jackie and Catherine Ann walk through the full entrepreneurial journey: from the lightbulb moment and years of quiet research, through the unexpected gift that Covid gave to a business built for a newly digital world, to the pivots, the investor conversations, and the hard-won wisdom of building something meaningful later in life.This is an honest, energising conversation about resilience, reinvention, and why experience really is your competitive advantage.Covered in this episode:The backstory: 30+ years in communications, a late-in-life baby, a divorce and a daughter with a rare genetic conditionThe life admin lightbulb moment and the £100 late tax return that sparked itWhy the problem isn't disorganisation: it's the explosion of fragmented digital lifeThe investor question that stumped her – and how Covid answered it overnightNavigating the shift from B2B confidence to B2C realityDefining the ideal customer: meet Jennifer, 39, married, working full-time, and desperate to reclaim her weekendsHow Doqit works: documents, deadlines, reminders, and secure sharingThe realities of building a business as a lone parent with caring responsibilitiesAbout my guest: Catherine Ann ReidCatherine Ann Reid is the founder and CEO of Doqit, a life admin management platform born from personal frustration with disorganised paperwork and the very real cost of dropping life's admin balls. A FinTech Scotland Innovation Challenge winner, she has spent over 30 years in B2B sales, communications and strategy – and is living proof that it's never too late to build something remarkable.Catherine-Ann on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherineannreid/ Doqit – try it free for 7 days: https://www.doqit.io/ Mentioned in this episode: Ideas Fest – the UK's 'Glastonbury for Entrepreneurs': https://ideasfest.uk/Be a part of the show, and get in touch if you want to chat through your business idea:Don’t forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackienaghten/Send me voice messages, questions, or story ideas for a future show: You'll find everything you need HERE - https://wildwiseandworking.transistor.fm/Quick voice message link: https://www.speakpipe.com/WildWiseAndWorkingProduced by The Good Studio - thegoodstudio.co.uk