Hasara Lay is the founder of Catexplorer, a community, movement and lifestyle brand for people who explore the world with their 
cats. Yes, you heard right, there is a whole community of people who go exploring with their cats, from hiking, to kayaking, to bookstores and even to brunch. Hasara has a background in Chemical Engineering and Marketing. She is also mum to 2 rescue cats, Lumos & Noxie. While training Lumos & Noxie to be catexplorers she
noticed a gap in the market and created Catexplorer to fill that gap. Catexplorer has since provided a sense of belonging & support to so many people around the world, who explore with their cats.
Hasara shares how she decided to do something for herself instead of always doing what is expected of her. This led to creating her love for catexploring into a full time business and building her confidence along the way.
Bio
Hasara Lay is the founder of Catexplorer.
Cultural Background
Hasara is of Sri Lankan descent.
Favorite Self Confidence Quote
You are the CEO of your own life. Hire, fire and promote accordingly.
Definition of Self Confidence
Self confidence is to feel comfortable to do what you believe is the right thing for you, even if it goes against the grain.
Her Life Before the Discovery of Self Confidence
Hasara was constantly doing what was expected of me. She studied hard at school and decided to do a Chemical Engineering and Business degree, because that’s what was expected of her and the path that she was told was right. She had a career in corporate Australia, following the path that was laid out for her. She realized she wasn’t happy. She really felt like I was stuck in the rat race and just wasn’t enjoying life.
Hasara started questioning this and deviated from that career path that was laid out for her while still working at a corporate company. By doing so, she found herself surrounded by people that were amazing, but something still didn’t feel right.
And that’s when she realized that she was now following a different ladder that still didn’t really fit for her, but worked for everyone else. On the outside she was slotting in well within a box, and everything looked great, but on the
inside it just wasn’t right for her.
The “AHA” Moment
Hasara realized something wasn’t right so she decided to take a career break. She left her job, with no plans besides spending some time reading and hiking. It was quite scary to do, because up till then she was always doing what everyone expected her to do and suddenly, she had made a decision for her.
And it was during this time that she realized there was a gap in the market for catexploring. Thanks to social media she found so many people who did it, but there was no place for these people to come together, to share advice and support each other. So she created Catexplorer for that.
It was really scary because so many people around her, just laughed in her face for creating it. She gets it, it is a weird concept. But their reactions really made her question what she was doing. But as Catexplorer grew, she also grew in self-confidence. She realized she was doing the right thing and that she need to get better at listening to her gut, rather than trying to reach out to others for that validation.
Her Life After the Discovery of Self Confidence
Hasara is a lot better at following my gut and believing in the decisions she makes. Decisions like trying something new with Catexplorer or even trying something new in her own life. She tends to focus more on what makes her happy and what would be a better use of her time, rather than doing what is expected of her. Or listening to negativity from others.
Obviously, she does take others views on board because she doesn’t want to be in a chamber full of yes people. But ultimately, she does make more decisions that work for her. And in the long run, they also tend to work better for everyone else too.
The One Self Confidence Tip For the Listener
We have a tendency to place a lot of value on the perspectives and views of others. But at the end of the day, you are in control of your own life and you are allowed to make the decisions that make you happy and work for you.
And some days that’s easy to do, while other days it’s not so much. So don’t be hard on yourself if you have those off days. We all do!
