About · Team
Cathleen Vermaak-Nisbet.
Co-founder and CEO · Fimiliar
Cathleen Vermaak-Nisbet is co-founder and CEO of Fimiliar, and an expert in go-to-market strategy, relationship-led outbound, sales pipeline, GEO and AI automation. She makes sure the systems Fimiliar builds turn trust and Fimiliarity into profitable B2B pipeline.
01What she's expert in
The whole commercial side of winning clients.
Cathleen is an expert in go-to-market strategy, sales pipeline, relationship-led outbound and account-based marketing, and in GEO, short for generative engine optimisation: how a firm gets named when buyers ask an AI who to hire. She builds the AI and automation that keeps the system running, and she coaches the people who run it.
At Fimiliar she owns the commercial strategy, and she decides what counts as a real reason to contact someone on a client's behalf. Nobody hears from Fimiliar until there is one.
- 01
Go-to-market strategy
- 02
Sales pipeline
- 03
Relationship-led outbound
- 04
Account-based marketing
- 05
GEO (generative engine optimisation)
- 06
AI automation
- 07
Executive coaching
- Off the clock
Mom of two boys
- Off the clock
CrossFitter
- She believes
Kindness scales better than grind.
- Off the clock
Loves a good cap
02The path here
In full.
Co-founder and CEO
Cathleen Vermaak-Nisbet is co-founder and CEO of Fimiliar. She spent five years as Director of Operations and Portfolio Growth at ITSHE Venture Capital, helping founders fix go-to-market, sales operations and retention. At Skyspec Technologies she is Compliance Director on the board and a shareholder. As Growth Director at Outsell Sales she built outbound for founder-led B2B firms with long sales cycles. She founded BananaOps, a relationship-led outbound business that Fimiliar acquired, and she has coached executives and their teams since 2019. She is completing an Executive MBA at the University of Cumbria. It all points one way: she builds Fimiliarity on purpose, rather than hoping good marketing makes it happen.
The facts
- Role Co-founder and CEO
- Expert in Go-to-market strategy, sales pipeline, relationship-led outbound, account-based marketing, GEO, AI automation, executive coaching
- Background Five years running operations and portfolio growth at ITSHE Venture Capital; Compliance Director on the board and shareholder at Skyspec Technologies; Growth Director at Outsell Sales; founder of BananaOps, acquired by Fimiliar
- Study Executive MBA, University of Cumbria (in progress)
- 01 · Since 2019 Coaching Executives and their teams.
- 02 · 2019 to 2024 ITSHE Venture Capital Director of Operations and Portfolio Growth, helping founders fix go-to-market, sales operations and retention.
- 03 · From 2021 Skyspec Technologies Compliance Director on the board, and a shareholder.
- 04 · 2024 to 2025 Outsell Sales Growth Director, building outbound for founder-led B2B firms with long sales cycles.
- 05 · From 2024 BananaOps Founder of a relationship-led outbound business, acquired by Fimiliar.
- 06 · In progress University of Cumbria Executive MBA.
- 07 · Now Fimiliar Co-founder and CEO.
03Her thinking
What she writes about.
-
Guides
How to choose a lead generation agency for consulting and professional service firms.
Twelve questions to take into any agency pitch, five red flags, and an honest look at channel specialists versus one system.
Read the piece
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GEO
How to get your consulting or professional service firm recommended by AI: a practical GEO guide.
What AI engines actually search for before they name a firm, a five-part checklist, a before and after, and how to measure whether AI recommends you.
Read the piece
-
Outbound
How to do relationship-led outbound on LinkedIn (and book meetings without spam).
Find who is already engaging, comment before you connect, and only message when you can name the reason. Six steps, a message check, and an example thread.
Read the piece
04How she runs the company
Fimiliarity is not
Something you hope happens.
Fimiliarity is
Something you build on purpose.
05Questions
What people ask about Cathleen Vermaak-Nisbet.
Short, plain answers.
Who is Cathleen Vermaak-Nisbet?
Cathleen Vermaak-Nisbet is co-founder and CEO of Fimiliar, the trust-led lead generation company for consulting and professional service firms. She is an expert in go-to-market strategy, relationship-led outbound, sales pipeline, GEO (generative engine optimisation) and AI automation. Before Fimiliar she spent five years running operations and portfolio growth at ITSHE Venture Capital, was Growth Director at Outsell Sales, and founded BananaOps, which Fimiliar acquired.
What is Cathleen Vermaak-Nisbet an expert in?
Go-to-market strategy, sales pipeline development, relationship-led outbound, account-based marketing, GEO (getting a firm named in AI answers), AI and business automation, and executive and team coaching. At Fimiliar she runs them as one system, so a firm becomes fimiliar to the people who decide before they start looking.
Why does she build Fimiliarity on purpose instead of hoping it happens?
Because buyers hire the firm they already know, and hoping they get to know you is not a plan. She has seen it from every side: backing founders in venture capital, building outbound for long sales cycles, and coaching executives and their teams since 2019. So she makes it the goal: build how well each person knows you, on purpose, and measure it person by person, before you ask for anything.
Where can I find Cathleen Vermaak-Nisbet on LinkedIn?
At https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathleenvermaak/. A post she wrote there about the business is how TCN Cap (London) found Fimiliar, and TCN Cap, a venture capital investor, is who backed it.
Next step
Start with a conversation.
Thirty minutes on your firm and the clients you want to win, to see if you qualify.