A season of meaningful change
Founded by Cleo Shortland, the Wā Programme is a three-month one-to-one guided journey offering deep listening, ritual, and experimentation to founders and owners around the world.
Working at the intersection of self awareness and growth
A season of meaningful change
Working at the intersection of self awareness and growth
Founded by Cleo Shortland, the Wā Programme is a three-month one-to-one guided journey offering deep listening, ritual, and experimentation to founders and owners around the world.
Wā
(noun) time, season, period of time, interval, term, duration
This is for you, if you:
Are standing at a crossroads, ready to leave what has become a cage
No longer want to mute elements of yourself out of fear of judgement
Need a devoted space to explore what feels alive
Know you need to make some changes
Wish to mark your transition intentionally, rather than letting this slip past unwitnessed
The Wā Programme
The Wā Programme is a three-month one-to-one journey giving you what you need for meaningful change, whether you’re stepping into new territory, creating better habits, changing aspects of your role, a pivot, a step back, or a long-held idea finally brought into the world. It is designed so that each session builds upon the last, creating momentum across three months. The work informs the action and experiments that take place in the fortnight that follows, so the journey moves with you, forward, and witnessed as you make your desired changes.
Designed for:
Your season, your journey. This is your time to step into something intentional and alive. The programme runs twice a year in three-month cycles with a clear end so there's always a milestone to work towards.
Clarity quiets the noise. When you know who you are, what you do becomes less intimidating. Imposter syndrome loses its grip.
Nothing is too big, too wild, or too wonderful. Whatever you're holding, it will be met with openness, care, and responsibility.
Courage over confidence. Stepping into new territory can be shaky. That's when we move into courage, and action that feels safe and aligned.
Always invitational. You choose what feels most aligned for you.
The small habits hold the big vision. We'll get your rhythms in order so you can focus on what matters most.
Let’s have some fun!
"My time working with Cleo was alchemical. I had never felt so deeply held and understood, a natural gift Cleo holds.
Through ritual, contemplation, and a focus on creating the future, Cleo sped up my personal evolution in a way only very few people can.
I learned that freedom, adventure, and contribution were what I valued most. With imagination and creating a clear direction, I've made changes in the way I work to match those values.”
— Rhea James Fox
What is yearning to come through you, and into the world?
Kia ora, I'm Cleo Shortland, founder of The Wā Programme.
I left a stable career to bet my last savings on my own business. It worked, and along the way, I found myself drawn not to the businesses I was helping to build, but to the people leading them. Rooted in te ao Māori, that pull became Wā.
My work will witness you while you explore ideas and enquire deeply, and make the needed changes, before stepping into what feels most energising and alive.
What you receive
This three-month experience gives you 6 × 75 minute fortnightly video calls with Cleo, each building on the last, unlimited communication line between calls, and a bespoke Trello board to capture your exploration and journey
❋ Programme start date and duration7 September - 7 December 2026
❋ FormatOne-to-one video calls in real time
❋ Your GuideCleo Shortland works with you to build a journey moving in purpose
❋ Pay as you journeyUS$3,750 for three-months, payment plans available
“I needed someone who understood people, business, and also law.
Cleo is a great thinker because of her innate ability to get deep into people’s psyche and personality in order to understand them. To my mind, she has a special sense of spirituality about her that enables her to have these special traits."
— Nick Kearney
Frequently Asked Questions
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Each session follows a clear beginning, middle, and end. We open with karakia (Māori incantation), move into deep listening and the work, then return to lightness with plenty of time to spare, so you leave energised and ready for the rest of your day.
You will leave with aligned action or experiments to take into the fortnight. Sometimes that action is a pause and rest depending on what’s come up.
This same arc shapes the three months we journey together.
There is also the unlimited communication line to remain in touch between sessions.
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No. You don't need a coach, just as you don't need a personal trainer or an interior designer.
You already have the capacity to shape the quality of your work and bring your ideas alive.
Here is a ritual to help decide if now is the time to work with Cleo on the Wā Programme.
Find a quiet space and ask yourself:
What is being called to be seen and nurtured in my life and work?
What would change if I had someone walking this threshold with me?
Can I meet the cost, the time, and energy this would ask of me right now?
Sit with the answers and feel free to get in touch if you would like to discuss further.
If the cost would place a burden on your family or your business, don't. If you don't have the time to give to yourself right now, don't.
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I won’t tell you what to do. You will own all of your decisions.
I have the capacity to sit with what you're carrying. Your ideas, complete and half made, and to go deeper to listen to what is calling to come through you and into the world.
I’ll bring techniques such as karakia, deep listening, and gentle enquiry, before designing experiments that you will take into your life. Everything is invitational to ensure I’m meeting you with what feels most aligned.
You will be held with care, whatever you're moving through, including celebrations, what’s most interesting to you, confusion, and everything in-between..
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No framework. No pre-recorded sessions.
We will design the three-month journey around your vision, your hopes and the changes you’re ready to make. Each session is your private one-to-one video call with me.
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It’s important for me to note that I am not a specialist in neurodivergent care.
What I can offer is an expansive container that promotes curiosity and thinking, independent experiments and aligned action. The video calls are the ritual and the unlimited communication line gives you the freedom to link in when its most aligned for you.
Logging on to 20 messages and voice notes from a client mid-epiphany is not uncommon, and I love it. All thoughts, half-made and whole, are welcome on the Wā Programme.
Get in touch and we can talk about my approach further and whether it is a fit.
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I’m based in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, working locally and abroad with clients in Australia, North America, UK and Europe.
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Not personally, but I am a fan.
I built my first business through short videos of myself on LinkedIn, six figures in the first six months, and a dream team of five within eighteen months. Some of my favourite parts of that chapter were the fun and interesting partners and collaborators I found along the way.
The Wā Programme has called for something different, and I've been off the traditional platforms for a couple of years now. Still, I stay current with what's happening, and I've supported many clients in finding their own voice out there. TikTok and Substack have been my favourites this season.
Now I use in-person events, meetings, and the Wā Podcast as my mediums to connect with you outside of the programme.
You can watch or listen to the Wā Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. I film the podcast on my travels across New Zealand and globally with an intention of capturing the personal stories behind the brand.
Get in touch if you have more questions.