Find Your Own Path
Wayfinding, story-shaping, and community for those navigating tough transitions, professional pivots, mid-chapter crossroads, and the unmapped wildernesses of life
Hi! I’m Cassie, a narrative therapy-informed guide, creative mentor, storyshaper, and wayfinder through messy middles, dark nights, and life’s wildest seasons.
I know what it’s like to want more. To feel trapped, burned out, or like you’re paralysed by too many choices and stuck watching your dreams disappear (or shrivel up like the figs in Sylvia Plath’s famous fig tree analogy). I’ve lived it. Over the past few years, I’ve gone from jet-setting travel writer and disaster relief worker to burned-out long-distance dementia caregiver, all while navigating my own complex polywilderness of business building and business burning, grief, loss of identity, and chronic illness – and that’s without even mentioning all the stuff that came before: like being kicked off my Mandarin course at university and ending up lost, confused, and like I was walking around in circles.
While I share my story here to help, I’m also very much focused on working with people on shaping their stories, too. I believe you‘re the expert on your own stories. You know your life, what you want, and what works for you better than anyone else. I’m not about to waltz in with three-step formulas telling you how to turn your life around or cookie-cutter advice promising to “do as I say and you’ll grow your business/write your book/turn your life around overnight”.
Instead, I believe we’re all the authors of our own stories, lives, businesses, and books, but sometimes it helps to have a guide and support system alongside us while we navigate challenging chapters. Especially if we’re not only trying to hold it all together for ourselves, but also for our families, friends, clients, teams, and all those random folks from high school or on social media you wish you didn’t want to impress but still kinda feel like you have to, too.
Ways We Can Walk Together
Whether you’re navigating a messy life transition, caught in a quarter-life or mid-life crisis, building a creative business, writing a book, or feeling lost and confused about where to go next, I’m here to help you stop feeling like a character in a story you’ve found yourself stuck in and start being the author of the one you’d rather be living.
I offer freelancers, founders, business owners, writers, creatives, caregivers, and those who feel like they were made for something more but don’t quite know how to get there the space to:
- Turn unplanned crises, business bingles, and “life getting in the way” into wayfinding adventures that help you discover more about yourself and where you actually want to be going
- Explore how your skills, knowledge, and experience sit together, tap into your specific style of leadership or business ownership, and discover which professional pathways might suit you best
- Map your next chapter, turning big visions, option overwhelm, or the daunting feeling of staring at the blank page into an actionable plan forwards
- Untangle old stories that are keeping you stuck and holding you back
- Tune into your own unique personal or professional compass amidst the sea of “shoulds” and “supposed-to-bes”
- Start writing your life story – whether on the page or in the world – in a way that makes sense to you
My work sits along four points of the compass:
The North Star
1:1 NARRATIVE WAYFINDING & CREATIVE BUSINESS SUPPORT
Mapping, meaning-making, mentoring, & creative business support for times of transition
Deep-dive support for the seasons when you feel ready to burn everything down, like you’ve fallen off the edge of the map, or when you’re completely overwhelmed by the path ahead. Part wilderness guide, part narrative mentor, and part creative business consultant, I offer everything from one-off “lost and confused” circuit breaker calls to ongoing 1:1 journeys for those stuck in messy middles and lost in the tides of life.
Rather than following a template, these are bespoke, depth-led sessions designed to meet you exactly where you are – whether you’re navigating caregiving crossroads, professional pivots, business ecosystem shift, or a manuscript block. Together, we’ll recalibrate your compass, rewrite your map, and help you step back into the writing seat of your own life.
The Southern Lights
THE LEMONADE FACTORY
A cosy basecamp for curious & creative explorers craving deep human connection
They say the best thing about travel is the people you meet – and I believe this absolutely applies to inner journeys, too. From navigating tricky transitions to building creative businesses, The Lemonade Factory is a meet-you-where-you-are community hub where we can find our way through the wild landscapes of life together.
Drawing on my years of experience mentoring more than a hundred people, this is a space to be supported, seen, and guided. Hosted on Substack, it’s an inner-circle style small-group space, where we come together each month for creative circles, co-working, and group mentoring, with replays and a private WhatsApp group for those who want to take the trail at their own pace. Like a campfire in the dark, this is an affordable, community-centred way to work with me and ensure none of us have to brave the wilderness alone.
The community is open to all paid subscribers of my Substack, Making Lemonade. You can either subscribe for a month or for a year, and even have the option to add on a 1:1 at a discounted rate, if you’d like to dive deeper, too.
The Creative Dawn
WORDSHOPS & CREATIVE CIRCLES
Group spaces to explore your stories, develop your voice, and share the journey
Since time immemorial, our ancestors have known that magic happens when we speak our stories aloud – especially in circles and around campfires. While I can’t always promise the campfire, my workshops (wordshops) and circles are steeped in this same philosophy. No matter where you are on your writing journey, I offer gentle, invitational spaces designed to help you explore and express your unique essence.
Less about “how to write” and more about how to use your pen as a compass, these small-group sessions focus on (re)discovering your voice and (re)connecting with your creativity. Whether it’s a therapeutic journey through grief or a playful creative exploration, these are spaces to let your story be seen, heard, and held within a community of fellow seekers.
The Sunset Sessions
STORIES THROUGH THE SEASONS
A Cassie-curated library of personal essays, hard-won wisdom, and creative dispatches
Over the past few years, I’ve shared more than a hundred stories from the frontline of my own messy middle and wilderness wanderings. Featuring travel tales, business breakdowns, and raw reflections on death, dementia, and deep creative pivots, these offer almost no-access-barred pass into my own journey – including the hard-won lessons that have helped me carve new paths and find my own way in the world. If you’re someone who loves honest stories about other people’s experiences and likes to live – and learn – vicariously, this is for you.
Client Stories
“Cassie’s mentorship has been integral to my growth. Her perspective alone is worth its weight in gold given the storied life she’s led. I don’t hesitate to contact her for guidance on any issue I’m facing!”
Sharky
Graphic Designer + Creative Consultant
USA/Canada
“After years of trying to explore my business with PR advisors and marketers, no one else really understood my heart-led values like Cassie. I feel truly seen and understood.”
Dr Alison Smith
Coach + Retreat Facilitator for Doctors
Yorkshire, UK
“Cassie helped me recognise where my work overwhelm was stemming from, while sharing invaluable tips and business-focused emotional support… I came away from the call feeling lighter, proud, and clear-minded.”
Amy Fraser
Freelance Writer + Journalist
Sydney, Australia
“I gained so much clarity. My workload suddenly feels lighter because I’m less overwhelmed and have a clear view of my priorities. Sometimes, we just need that sounding board to break what feels like a ‘big thing’ down.”
Sarah Robertson
Brand Designer + Mentor
Scotland, UK
Book a Discovery Call
Feeling curious? Got a big dream? Want to dip your toes into shaping the story of you but not sure where to start? I offer free 15-minute discovery calls so we can get to know each other and explore what kind of support would suit you best.