Women's Business: Yolanda Finette

Te, bundola nginak ngatha Yolanda. In my Yorta Yorta language, this means hello how are you my name is Yolanda. I am a proud Yorta Yorta woman with kinship connections to the Gunditjmara and Taungurang people. I also proudly identify as Black American and Greek.

I am an award winning holistic life coach, holistic counsellor, and wellbeing facilitator based in Naarm, (Melbourne Victoria).

After a professional career spanning over 25 years in the child, youth and family services sector, in both the Melbourne Aboriginal community and the United States, I embarked on a journey of healing and reconnection. This journey enabled me the tools to create a unique multilayered approach to my work, drawing on both ancient and modern modalities which eventually led to starting my practice Yolanda Finette Holistic Coaching & Consultancy.

My coaching values are underpinned by identity, reconnection and sovereignty and all of my work is through a cultural, anti-oppression and trauma informed lens.

The majority of the clients I work with are First Nations women in business or starting up who are wanting to get clearer on their vision, or require support to overcome their fears and limiting beliefs. I support my clients to set powerful goals, increase their self worth and self-confidence, stop the procrastination and self-sabotage, set boundaries, and draw on the innate wisdom and knowledge that is within them.

For the clients I work with my identity helps to bring a sense of belonging, groundedness and understanding. There is a deep connection to the polarity of the worlds we navigate, the complexity that we try to unfold, particularly in the business space. When a culturally safe container is provided for that unfolding to take place, it then allows space for future focussed vision, and beautiful shifts and transformations to take place.

As a coach working from this lens, I give honour to the complexities of identity, and connection with an innate understanding of the history, the journey, and the stories of my clients. When you sit down with me, your story doesn’t have to start from the beginning, it can start from today, because everything is honoured and understood, but most importantly your stories are seen, and you are seen.

As First nations women in business we are the trailblazers, the future, the change makers, the leaders. We are the curriculum for many coming after us, we are healing lineages both backward and forward. We are no longer taking a back seat, we are determining our right to take up our rightful space and stepping into our power like never before, it is an incredible time to be a woman in business.

The theme for this month's Strong Women Strong Business newsletter focusing on personal health and wellbeing is one that I feel strongly connected to, particularly in the area of self-care. Beyond one on one coaching, I have created a platform to be of service to my community through delivering wellbeing and self-development workshops and presentations through a First Nations cultural Lens. During 2020 I delivered over 25 Self -care workshops. I believe that Radical Self-care is critical for everyone, but in particular for First Nations people who are additionally impacted by cultural load which include our cultural and/or community obligations. There is a collective responsibility to take care of ourselves so that we are in the best position to care for our communities. Taking care of ourselves is essential if we are going to be able to care for others. When we remember to think of ourselves from a collective or community perspective in that we are someone's daughter, someone’s mother, someone’s sister, aunty and cousin, it really encourages us to uphold our role in our community by practicing self-care.

I would love to connect with you on social media!

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