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Social Change Champion: Bianca Stawiarski

Bianca Stawiarski, from Warida Wholistic Wellness, is a strong Badimaya woman and is fiercely passionate about empowering people to explore, embrace and reconnect with their unique inner fire. She brings an earthy Indigenous connectedness to everything she does, drawing on the strength and wisdom of warida (wedge-tailed eagle). Bianca is a qualified Transformational Coach (Dip. Life Coaching), a trauma-informed Counsellor (Master in Counselling Practice), a certified Equine Assisted Psychotherapist (EPI model) and a Horse Archery Coach (level 2). She utilises these therapeutic approaches as tools towards empowerment.  

Following 21 years working in the Commonwealth Government in a variety of roles, Bianca embarked on her dream of operating a social enterprise to change the face of wellbeing in Australia and wider global communities. She’s an absolute powerhouse, and we couldn’t wait to hear more about her work. Here’s what she has to say!


What is your social enterprise elevator pitch?

Warida Wholistic Wellness is a sanctuary for all things wellbeing. As a proud Badimaya woman with an ethos of supporting community change one person at a time, we welcome a diversity of clients and their experience of wellbeing. We work with people living in fear. Those facing darkness. Those who are broken. Our focus is on empowering people to explore, embrace and reconnect with their unique inner fire.

I ask you to honestly reflect on your communities. We are drowning in extreme distress, emotional pain, trauma, impacts of domestic violence; and disillusionment with life. The statistics reflect this.

45% of Australians will experience a mental health issue in their lifetime.
6 Australians per day die from suicide, with 30 people attempting per day.
1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men experience domestic violence.

We are a nation in crisis. I know this impact through my own journey towards empowerment. It’s time to stop ineffective approaches to wellbeing and implement a holistic approach; considering emotional, physical, cultural, spiritual and relationship aspects. Put simply, we believe that strong empowered people are pivotal in encouraging inner strength in their children, grandchildren and partners.

Utilising trauma-informed counselling, transformational coaching, equine assisted therapy and horse archery as tools for empowerment – we aim to change the experience of wellbeing.

What are your biggest personal and/or professional challenges as a social entrepreneur in Australia?

Personally, one of my challenges is to balance my passion for helping everyone while maintaining good self-care. Remembering that I can’t change the world overnight. Professionally, my challenges as a social entrepreneur are about encouraging people to put as much emphasis on their mental health as other areas.

What’s the best piece of advice you have received so far since starting your own social enterprise?

Follow your passion, test your assumptions, fully understand your customer and don’t be fixed in your development of your business model canvas. Finally, a passionate social enterprise can also make money and be financially successful.

If you were to start over, is there anything you would do differently?

Spend the time to fully develop my business model canvas and network more.

Where do you see the future of social enterprise in Australia?

This is really unlimited. We have an incredible opportunity in Australia to change our communities and country, with more businesses giving back to the community in someway and being more environmentally conscious.

What appeals to you most about Social Change Central?

The ability to network with over 50,000+ social entrepreneurs! How fantastic is that! To see how I can contribute and give back, but also to look at mutually beneficial networking opportunities. I’d also like to maximise my social enterprise exposure so that people can see that there are other ways to approach wellbeing, specifically mental health. Having access to opportunities such as grants, programs and awards information is also very useful to a small enterprise like mine.

The Social Change Central changemaker community is growing at a fast rate. How can our members learn more about you and help support your organisation?

Please visit and like my Facebook Page and website, contact me and share my details through your networks. I would love to have a discussion about my vision for our future. In reference to how you can support my organisation, I am really looking for assistance with funding, PR and marketing support. I am also in the process of developing an online course, so if anyone knows how to help me, that would be amazing!

And finally, what would you do if you found a lottery ticket that ended up winning $10 million?

Wow! I would pay off my mortgage, help family and friends, but also put money aside in my business so that I can provide services for free to those that cannot afford to pay for them. I’d also like to develop a culturally appropriate First Nations empowerment online course and gift access to First Nations communities around the world.


Are you a Social Change Champion? Want to be interviewed? Join as a Gold Member.
Jay Boolkin
Jay Boolkin

jay@socialchangecentral.com

I'm passionate about positive social change and the power of social entrepreneurship to tackle some of the world’s biggest problems. I believe that for-purpose business models can become part of the mainstream and I am enthusiastic about advocating for business models that are genuinely built around a social or environmental mission.

2 Comments
  • Avatar

    Hi
    I’m an indigenous business owner creating social change . I’m interested in finding out more.
    Thanks

    October 15, 2019 at 3:52 pm Reply

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