TikTok sensation Cat Burns spoke to Cardiff students about making your dreams a reality

On Thursday 31st March, Paula Burns held a zoom call which featured her niece, Cat Burns, who came to talk about her journey as a singer and how she managed to make (and continues to make) her dreams come true despite being only 21.

Paula works within the Enterprise team at Cardiff University, which supports students who want to set up their own business either during their university studies or once they have graduated. Paula also has her own business and has worked to grow it for 17 years.

She decided to ask Cat to talk to students about businesses of Cardiff so that they can hear about what it takes to build a dream, especially as Cat is 21 and so is relatable to students and young people. Paula calls Cat “no overnight success”, with Cat going on to say despite growing her followers from nothing to 750k in three months during lockdown, she has not had it easy.

Cat went to a performing arts school where she said her “dreams can become a reality”, whilst having her first project at only 16-years-old.

However, Cat made it clear that not everything was perfect despite her seemingly getting what she wanted.

Before she started busking, she had a tough period of time when she was working with a team which meant she needed to do a lot of research before deciding on what she truly wanted to do.

“Research intently”, Cat focused on during her talk.

She said she “emailed lots of places asking to perform”, whilst further adding that she had (and still has) “no shame” to reaching out for opportunities. She also spoke about not focusing on rejection, which may be hard when you’re in your 20s.

Cat said: “It’s not about you, it’s about the service you’re offering”, explaining that rejection has nothing to do with you as a person but rather whether you are right for the job you’re wanting or not.

Throughout the session, Cat went on to answer questions regarding her life as a TikTok singing star and also how she deals with everything from sponsorship deals to social media uploads.

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