Caroline McCullough

Formerly known as Cas McCullough, now as Cara Szellemes, I am an author and creator with an insatiable curiosity about human potential and innovation. As a professional communicator and business mentor for nearly 30 years, I have worked with individuals, small businesses, startups, non-profits and corporations on how to reach their people and thrive. And I’m now in the discovery of what it will take to empower people to relate, communicate and innovate for a future we can be proud of.

My journey

At 9 years old, I walked into a shop filled wall to wall with handmade calico dolls. The owner smiled and said, “would you like some felt? If you make something I could sell it in my shop.” I took the felt and started what became a lucrative enterprise making bookmarks, small dolls and teddy bears. Sometimes I’d make $20 in a week! That was the start of my journey as an entrepreneur.

In my adult life, I’ve always been drawn to entrepreneurship and innovation. I’ve built 4 micro-enterprises and one tech startup. I’ve enjoyed a measure of success in everything I’ve done but ultimately, felt like something was missing. The experience was like banging into an invisible barrier and I didn’t know how to break through it.

So I went searching. My quest led me down rabbit hole after rabbit hole of talking to life coaches, attending entrepreneurial think tanks with all the big names, participating in accelerator programs and countless online courses. None of them made a difference. I still couldn’t understand why I failed, why I felt like I could never shift what was getting in my way, why I struggled to connect with others, why I felt alone in my experience. I feared I was stuck that way. And those experiences took a toll on my health. I was overweight and had chronic anxiety.

The shift

Then in 2017, a friend introduced me to the controversial Landmark Forum and everything started to shift. That experience sparked a new journey where I went from feeling fundamentally flawed to recreating my entire life. For the first time, I got why my life turned out the way it did and why the rabbit holes led me nowhere.

What was missing was right in front of me the whole time.

I discovered that being fulfilled in life had nothing to do with my desires, talents, abilities, winning formulas and strategies and this was a massive shock to me. I had built my entire identity around being smart, being creative, being admired and talented. But I had to let it all go and be open to the unknown.

I stopped creating, strategising and seeking approval and took on life in a new way. I started talking to random strangers about what mattered to them everywhere I went and interviewed over 100 people in 3 different countries. I picked up the phone every day and called someone from my contacts list. I visited people I hadn’t seen in years and I listened. And the experience was transformative.

I started to see how I wasn’t alone in feeling alone. Listening and deeply getting others’ experiences of life showed me that what was in the way was all the deeply embedded prejudices, opinions and negative thoughts, all the blame and shame, all the stories and memories of hurt feelings, wounded pride and rejection. It was all me and it was time to get out of the way.

The transformation

Now, many of the things I once thought were immovable have shifted. I now have deep caring friendships, an epic relationship, dramatically improved health and vitality, work I love doing every day that makes a difference to humanity, and tools to pick myself up when I fall down. And this is just the start.

What I'm working on now

I'm working on my next book “Being Game” to give you access to a refreshing, fun and transformational way to take yourself on in life which doesn’t require you to be someone you’re not or do things you don’t love. My invitation to you is to be part of the journey and discover what that could look like for you. Will you play the being game with me?