Our path to Telstra NSW State Finalist in Championing Health

I am feeling proud and deeply grateful. Preparing the Way has been recognised as a NSW State Finalist in the Championing Health category of the Telstra Best of Business Awards 2025. This recognition shines a bright light on the contribution end of life doulas bring to our world and on the families, friends, carers, community and professionals who accompany people through illness, ageing, dying, death and grief with great heart and spiritual support.

Why this recognition matters

The category “Championing Health” recognises businesses that help improve health outcomes for Australians.

At Preparing the Way, ‘health’ is about the whole person and the whole circle around them, not only a diagnosis, medical issue or needing prescriptions. ‘Health’ incorporates physical, emotional, social, cultural, mental and spiritual wellbeing.

It is the felt experience of being heard, respected, informed and accompanied. End of life doulas bring steadiness, clarity and continuity across the journey. We educate, resource and companion people and those close to them. We work alongside clinical teams and community services so that choices are understood and honoured, and so that care is coordinated, humane and grounded in community. End of life doulas are all about collaboration, not competition.

How we got here

Preparing the Way has spent more than a decade building pathways that make skilled, compassionate and holistic end of life care possible across Australia and New Zealand. We deliver our flagship 10966NAT Certificate IV in End of Life Doula Services (in partnership with Essential Skills Training and Recruitment, our Registered Training Organisation RTO ID 91729).

Around that centre, we have grown a living network of non-accredited programs, organisational training and community education so that people in cities, regional and remote communities can access the right support at the right time.

This work is personal. I cared for my mum through dementia and for my dad at home to his last breath along with many clients, friends and colleagues. I know how much the right support matters. This is my heart work. This is my legacy and our team’s legacy.

Carer Gateway in Central West NSW

A defining chapter in our journey has been our collaboration with Carer Gateway and LiveBetter partners across Central West NSW. Together, we listened, learned and co-designed training that speaks to the real world of caring and being cared for.

Our program, “Supporting You, Supporting Others” introduced practical and emotional foundations for navigating the carer role, specifically those who are caring for people who are ageing or living with an illness. With a focus on carer wellbeing, education, advocacy and death literacy, this training is delivered with compassion and clear communication, building carer confidence along the way.

“Beyond Death and Back into Life” met people at the tender time after a death and focused on options, ceremony, grief literacy, rebuilding their own lives and identity and reconnecting with community.

Alongside those sessions, we integrated peer learning, reflection and simple planning tools people could take home and use with families. We also embedded a way to track the participant’s growing knowledge and confidence so local teams could see what was changing and where to focus next without burdening carers.

Growing capability from the inside out

Because sustainable change depends on local champions, we developed a Train the Trainer pathway for three end of life doula-trained Carer Gateway staff who also work with carers. Week by week, they built facilitation skills, presence and confidence to lead their own two-and-a-half-hour workshops. In parallel, we designed a five-part program for Peer Support Leaders whose groups hold so much wisdom and relief for carers. That series focused on managing group dynamics, drawing out quieter voices, meeting disruption with calm skill and shaping spaces that are safe, practical and welcoming.

Every plan, workbook and script was created in plain English, grounded in practice and easy to deliver. The aim was never a one-off event. It was to seed capability that keeps growing long after we have left town.

Corporate and workplace care

Preparing the Way is also piloting a Corporate Doula program in conversation with employers and brokers who are ready to take a whole-person approach to staff wellbeing. Workplace realities include the cumulative strains on people and teams of employees having to manage caring responsibilities, serious illness and complex grief in their life. Our framework helps leaders and HR teams build capability around policy, practice and presence so they can meet these moments with clarity and care. The outcomes we focus on include people feeling supported to stay connected to work, reduced disruption for teams and a culture that treats caring as something we do together, not something people carry alone.

Sector collaboration and advocacy

We believe in collaboration over competition. Our ongoing partnership with Natural Grace Holistic Funeral Care brings depth in ceremony, family involvement and the practicalities of after-death care. Through Doula Connections, we explore new ways to connect families, organisations and trained doulas. In the wider sector, we contribute to national advocacy and education so that end of life doulas are understood as collaborators within palliative and community care, not an alternative to them. Our aim is accurate representation, safe integration and better options for families everywhere.

How we measure what matters

We listen first. We gather stories. We ask simple questions that show whether knowledge, confidence and connectedness are growing. We look for evidence that people feel more resourced, that teams feel more capable and that communities know who to call and what to ask. We track learning quality and consistency through our accredited and non-accredited training, and we keep closing the loop with partners so what we deliver keeps improving.

In good company

To our fellow NSW State Finalists in Championing Health, congratulations! It takes courage and stamina to build a business that serves people’s wellbeing.

• Camp Quality – Bringing positivity, fun and laughter back into the lives of kids facing cancer
• Driving Miss Daisy – Safe and friendly companion driving service
• EVAHELD – Digital vault for memories, advance care planning, and essential documents
• Hello Sunday Morning – Helping Australians change their relationship with alcohol
• Maid My Day – Delivering in-home cleaning and domestic assistance for aged care, healthcare, and NDIS

We are honoured to stand alongside you.

With gratitude

My deepest gratitude to my teachers. To Catherine our co-owner. To our contributors. To every member of our brilliant Preparing the Way team past and present. To our trainers. To our precious graduate “Legends,” who are out there every day “being” doula. To our partners and colleagues. And to the communities who trust us. I am so proud of what we are building together and we are not done yet.

With special thanks to Libby Moloney and Natural Grace and Julie Fletcher of Doula Connections and to Essential Skills Training and Recruitment. Your support, collaboration and encouragement have mattered at every step.

What’s next

State winners will be announced in early October. Whatever happens next, today we celebrate everyone who champions holistic end of life care and the communities making that care possible.