It’s time for your next move

1:1 coaching for business owners at a turning point. Who are brave enough to dream bigger and daring enough to give it a go to build something meaningful, intentional and sustainable.

A woman with dark wavy hair smiling and relaxing on a brown couch, wearing a white long-sleeve shirt, with a bright room and large windows in the background.

It’s time for your next move

1:1 coaching for business owners at a turning point.  Who are brave enough to dream bigger and daring enough to give it a go to build something meaningful, intentional and sustainable.

Kia ora, I’m Cleo Shortland

A business mindset coach based in Bay of Islands, New Zealand. Combining legal smarts, leadership coaching and Māori insight to challenge how you think and how you lead.

My path here wasn’t linear. I quit a successful role, took my last savings, and built a business. It was a success. But over time something shifted — and I found myself drawn toward the people doing the work rather than the work itself. That pull became Wā.

I work with entrepreneurs, founders and soloists who are brave enough to dream bigger and daring enough to give it a go.

Away from work, I’m a mum, a language learner in a proudly bicultural English Māori household, and someone who finds adventure wherever possible.

If that resonates, I’d love to hear what you’re building.

What I offer

Each of my 1:1 experiences are designed for the founder who is ready to step into their next move.

You might be:

  • Wanting to launch the thing you’ve been circling for months (or years)

  • A founder stepping out of the day-to-day and leading from the wider picture

  • Looking to restructure your business to match your life

  • Ready to take what you’ve built into new territory

  • Feeling like you’re capable of more and want to explore deeper possibilities

This is your season to go after all of your dreams!

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Spell Work

My 1:1 ritual offering designed to create a sequence of your words from what you truly want, inviting things to happen — with clarity

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Momentum Journey

My 4 month signature 1:1 coaching programme designed for the founder who is ready to step into their next move — with momentum

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Exclusive Counsel

My retained 1:1 coaching relationship for the founder with a crazy schedule that’s going after it all — with devotion

Kind words from my clients

Trending on the Wā blog

Creating a worthy goal

If you’re nurturing a goal that’s lighting you up, challenging you and inspiring you to give something back, it’s time to give it clear direction. That way, it can become focused, purposeful and alive. Here is a handy practice and key questions to ask yourself when bringing a new goal to light.

Clearing creative stagnancy

As entrepreneurs, we want space for our big ideas to grow. But what if you’re feeling bogged down by bad energy, clutter or too many distractions? In this situation, I clean. And honestly, it’s one of the best ways I know for shifting the energy in your space and bringing order to your thoughts.

A ritual to move through conflict

We all face conflict in our business and if it feels like danger, it can subtly reshape how we present ourselves to the world. But not all conflict is bad; in many cases it can be healing, especially if you’re bringing new ideas or new ways of working into your business. Here is a ritual to help.

Frequently asked questions

“What does a business mindset coach do?”

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A business mindset coach uses one-on-one guidance, business strategy and mindset work to help you rethink what’s possible. It’s deep work that looks at why you might struggle to make a decision or take action - and from here, we can build with clarity and move purposefully toward what’s next.


“How is this different from therapy?”

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Unlike therapy or counseling, my work draws on almost two decades of legal, leadership coaching and ritual experience and a methodology unlike anything you’ve likely encountered before. We use where you’ve come from and where you’re going to understand you as a founder and the choices you are making for yourself and your business now.


Finding the right fit takes time and it’s work taking that time. Here is a ritual to help you on that journey.

Find a quiet space and ask yourself:

  • What keeps me up at night about my business?

  • How do I want to feel after a coaching session?

  • What environment helps me do my best thinking?

Once you have sat with those answers ask yourself: can Cleo help me with these? And if you need some extra support, you can always jump on a curiosity call.curios

“I’ve worked with business coaches before - why should I try you?”

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