My Story

Hello, I'm Veronica Strachan, the founder of True Dialogue and a co-creator of Practical Leadership.

I work with mid-career health professionals who are overwhelmed with operational workloads and trying to inspire their teams. I offer strengths-based leadership coaching to build your capacity to plan and implement lasting change and to deliver great care.

The people I work with want to make a powerful and compassionate impact on the world, but struggle with being seen, being heard, and making their difference.

I share tools and strategies that move you from I can't to I can, so you can confidently show up, lead from the front, and inspire your teams to radically transform lives.

I started my career as a nurse and midwife, DON, project, change and general manager, CEO, mentor, consultant, and company director. Now I'm a coach, strategist, speaker, facilitator, change agent, writer, and small business entrepreneur.

Even as a clinical nurse it was unquenchable curiosity and a burning desire to help people live their best life that kept me showing up day after grinding day. And when I took roles in management, the same need to learn to do things better saw me chasing education, coaching and mentors who could steer me in the right direction, quicker and more effectively.

Though I had tough and challenging times both professionally and personally, I learnt and continue to learn how creative and caring people can be when they know where they want to go and are given the right tools, strategies and support to get there.

I have more than forty-years experience in the health sector, and I have a bucket load of successful tools and strategies that can help you organise, plan and implement change in your day, your team or your organisation.

I coach with a belief that the only thing preventing you from living the life you dream of is confidence, so I'm working to help as many people and organisations as possible realise this for themselves. I help my clients plan and take action to do whatever they want to do, and to be whoever they want to be in life and business.

I facilitate with energy and creativity, because I believe everyone has the capacity to offer something and with a collaborative and systematic process, everyone can contribute to an imaginative and business focused outcome.

Empowering people and growing leaders are my passions. I work with individuals and teams around Australia in Health, Aged and Community Care who are ready, willing and able to do the work to make change and to make their difference.

And I'm a writer. I published my memoir 'Breathing While Drowning: One Woman's Quest for Wholeness' in 2016. It's a book about my journey so far and many of the lessons I've learnt along the way.

In 2019, I published my first fantasy novel, Ochre Dragon: The Opal Dreaming Chronicles Book 1. It's about three women from three worlds, trying to find a way to reunite, find out more about themselves, and save the Cosmos along the way.

With my daughter Cassi Strachan as illustrator, I've written a trilogy of picture books, The Adventures of Chickabella. Each teaches basic concepts of colour, numbers and shapes to children, in a fun read aloud and read along way.

You can find out more on my author website.

Women Who Care

I founded Women Who Care with Dr Cathy Balding to inspire, instruct and involve women leaders in health, aged and community care — and to raise money for Very Special Kids through my family's philanthropic fund with the Australian Communities Foundation.

Working in health, aged and community care is tough, unrelenting and not for the faint-hearted. One of the bright spots is being able to talk with other experienced leaders about stuff that matters and things that work; especially practical and simple things that you can use immediately in your own practice to improve your care and service.  But this can be hard to find.

Women Who Care run regular events designed for you to learn something useful, as well as to connect with others who are working to make a difference in health, aged and community services.

Would you enjoy the opportunity to discuss the tough stuff and get some practical ideas for thriving and surviving in your work? Then head over to the Women Who Care website and get on the list to find out about the next event.