From BP to the boardroom: how Anna Catalano built a career by saying “yes”

In the world of business, pivotal decisions are often made in quiet moments: around meeting tables, behind closed doors, during conversations few remember and fewer challenge.

One such moment came in the mid-1990s, when Anna Catalano’s name was floated in a discussion at Amoco. The company was preparing to open its first downstream office in China, and Catalano, then a rising executive fluent in Mandarin, seemed a natural fit. But there was a complication: she was pregnant. The assumption was made that she wouldn't want to go.

The conversation moved on. Until someone said: "We should ask her." They did and she said yes, changing her career trajectory.

“I told them, if the baby is born healthy, I’ll go,” Catalano recalls. “Three months later, we were on a plane to Beijing with a newborn and a two-year-old.”

That decision, made in a moment when most would have played it safe, set in motion a global career that would eventually see her at the helm of one of the most ambitious corporate rebrands of its time, and later, as a respected figure on the boards of multiple global firms.

A foundation in resilience

Catalano’s early years were spent far from the boardroom. After graduating from the University of Illinois with a degree in business, she began her career in sales at Amoco, covering a territory that included rural North Dakota.

“There were very few women in the oil business at the time, especially in field sales,” she says. “I learned early on to get along with people, and that if you did, they’d want to work with you. That simple idea has stayed with me throughout my career.”

It was a foundation in resilience and pragmatism that would prove vital when Amoco merged with BP in 1998 – a move that sent shockwaves through the energy sector and completely upended Catalano’s long-held assumptions about her career path.

“We thought we’d spend the rest of our adult lives in Chicago,” she says. “But just when you think you’ve got it figured out, life throws a wrench.”

Rebranding a giant

Following the merger, Catalano was asked to move to London. First leading emerging markets, then appointed as Group Vice President of Marketing, she was soon charged with something few executives ever experience: redefining a 100-year-old brand.

BP’s transformation into “Beyond Petroleum” – complete with a new visual identity, a new set of values and a forward-looking positioning – was more than a marketing exercise. It was a cultural reckoning for the business.

“We were a company with no shared past, but a shared future,” she says. “That’s why we had to rebrand.”

Working directly with CEO Lord John Browne, Catalano led the charge. It was, she admits, a rare opportunity. “Not many CMOs get to do a brand creation at that scale,” she reflects. “I knew I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time, but I was also ready for it.”

Choosing to leave at the peak

And then, just as her influence reached its peak, Catalano made a different kind of decision: to leave.

She was 43, at the top of her game, with a global platform. But her father had suffered a stroke, her mother’s health was declining, and she had spent seven of the previous ten years living abroad.

“I knew if I stayed, I’d probably be doing more of the same for the next 15 years. I didn’t want that,” she says. “It was a difficult conversation with John. But I don’t regret it for a second.”

What followed was a pivot into a new kind of leadership. Settling in Houston, Catalano began to build a board career years earlier than most of her peers. And while the move may have seemed unconventional at the time, it proved prescient.

Building boardroom influence

Today, Catalano serves on multiple public and private boards, across industries ranging from consumer goods to chemicals. She credits her transition to early relationship-building, most notably with a recruiter she met in her twenties.

“If the first time you call a recruiter is when you want to get on a board, good luck with that,” she says. “You need to invest in relationships with people who actually know you.”

That human-first approach to leadership – relationships over résumés – has shaped her board philosophy too.

“The best boardrooms aren’t made up of people who just show up and nod,” she says. “They’re made up of people who roll up their sleeves, challenge the conversation, and genuinely want to help.”

A blueprint for redefining success

Reflecting on her own journey, Catalano is clear: the business world still measures success too narrowly. Titles, tenures, and turnover figures can’t tell the full story.

“Success isn’t always about more,” she says. “Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is step back and choose a different path.”

For leaders navigating change, or wondering what comes next, her message is simple: don’t wait to be invited. Don’t let others define your limits. And don’t underestimate the power of simply saying yes.

Listen to Anna Catalano’s full story on episode 17 of the Pivot Points podcast, hosted by Dave Allen. Available wherever you get your podcasts.