Working at the intersection of ritual intelligence & venture leadership
Founded by Cleo Shortland, the Wā Programme starts at the core of who you are, and works outward into the venture you're leading.
One-to-one coaching or Global Founder Circles, depending on what this season holds for you.
Working at the intersection of ritual intelligence & venture leadership
Founded by Cleo Shortland, the Wā Programme starts at the core of who you are, and works outward into the venture you're leading.
One-to-one coaching or Global Founder Circles, depending on what this season holds for you.
Designed with you in mind
You're moving into new territory. Something is ending. Priorities are shifting. Your body and its rhythms may also be changing shape.
The self you built to succeed in the version before is still running the show. It did its job well. It has stopped fitting, and you can feel it.
You value discretion and confidentiality, and fluid structure that reflects who you are as your goals take form.
How it works
We start at the core of who you are, at what's true for you right now.
From there, we work outward, into what's live in your work, and into what's live in the rest of your life. Held separately at first, so each can be seen clearly on its own terms.
Then across. This is where the two meet, where they pull against each other, where the way you show up in one differs from the way you show up in the other. That crossover is where the real movement happens.
What emerges stays live and changing. It moves with each season, because who you are at the core keeps moving too.
Wā
(noun) time, season, period of time, interval, term, duration.
"Your positivity wasn't just uplifting, it was empowering. You have a way of helping people see what's possible rather than focusing on limitations, and helping them recognise their own strengths and potential. That gave me greater confidence in my own abilities, and I always left interactions with you feeling energised, capable, and more willing to back myself and take the next step forward. The lasting impact for me was a stronger belief in what I could achieve and the confidence to go after it."
— Aime Carter, South Island Super Yacht Services
What you receive
Fortnightly 90-minute video calls, one-to-one with Cleo.
An open communication line between calls, so what surfaces gets named as it happens.
A Trello board and visual tools that hold what's emerging across time, from the core outward.
US$2,000 a month, cancel anytime.
Kia ora, I’m Cleo Shortland
So often the world tries to box us into being one thing. But I totally reject that. Nature incentivises diversity and multifacety, and so should we.
I love working with founders and owners who have a lot going on in their life and work. The challenge is finding simple ways of allowing for the fullness of it all while driving completion and delivery. Nothing worse than having a million things on the go and they're all sitting open. That's the work I'm here to undo.
I sit alongside you. I listen closely, naturally excited by possibilities, allowing for the moments of uncertainty to clear before threading everything into a plan of aligned action to help you move into what matters most.
Book a curiosity call to find how you will create your best season yet. I’m excited to connect with you.
"My time working with Cleo was alchemical. I had never felt so deeply held and understood, a natural gift she holds. What stayed with me was a connection that transcended the surface and the ordinary. You could always tell that holding space energised her as much as it uplifted us both.
Through ritual, contemplation, deep enquiry and a focus on creating the future, Cleo sped up my personal evolution in a way only very few people can. Blending the rational and the creative, her structures and frameworks create a safe container for deeper magic to come through.
There is a true element of belief and magic in working with Cleo that goes far deeper than the mind, and you have to experience it to understand what can be created together. I made so much progress in those years, having Cleo hold my visions with unwavering faith. Cleo is the real deal.”
— Rhea James Fox, Writer
Step into the Wā Programme
Book a curiosity call with Cleo to learn how to step into the experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The three months programme is designed with a focus of bringing your ideas into creation, so each video call is built on the last across each of the phases:
Ideation and vision
Uncertainty and confusion
Aligned action towards creation
You arrive with whatever's most alive: a decision, a doubt, a pull you're still finding words for. I listen for what's underneath it, and we work to understand it deeper and whether anything needs to shift.
We then thread the findings into your personal framework to support you in taking aligned action.
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This is coaching built around deep listening and aligned action. It draws on a real, structured method rather than open conversation alone.
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This work suits a genuine change of season as much as a hard moment: a shift in capacity, a decision on the horizon, a pull toward something new.
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This work is built around the particular weight of being the person a business ultimately answers to. That weight has a shape I know well from almost two decades inside that world.
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It keeps this work reachable across time zones and travel, and keeps a full season possible regardless of where you're based.
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Everything shared stays between us. This is a private container for thinking something through, held with the same discretion you'd expect from your own profession.
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This work is built on individual attention and discretion, better suited to conversation than broadcast. Find more through the podcast, or start with a curiosity call.