Why I built this...

I'm the founder - Rechelle and for over 15 years, I led high-growth marketing teams and helped build some of Australia’s most recognisable brands. On the surface, I was successful. Behind the scenes, I was unwell - and running on empty. As someone with type 1 diabetes, I’d spent years quietly working through chronic illness, ignoring the warning signs and pushing through fatigue, brain fog, and endless appointments. My body didn’t fit the 9 to 5 grind, but I kept forcing it to.

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It finally caught up with me when I was diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure. I needed a dual organ transplant. I was also grappling with undiagnosed ADHD, and the pressure to keep up became impossible to ignore.

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I masked. I tried to compensate for endless medical appointments so I overworked. I didn’t know how to ask for help. And I was too scared to admit my body and brain weren't coping. 

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I didn’t have the tools, resources, or support I needed - so I quit. I started freelance consulting and luckily I was able to replace my 9-5 income in 3 months. But we shouldn't feel forced to leave if we don't have to - especially as entrepreneurship does not suit everyone. Yet people with disabilities or chronic illness are 43% more likely to be self-employed because work was not built for us. 

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Now, I help others build sustainable businesses when traditional work breaks down - and I partner with workplaces to make sure their employees don’t reach that breaking point in the first place.

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Unitely exists so people with chronic illness and disability don’t have to break at the peak of their success. I combine coaching, strategy, and lived-experience insight to help people build sustainable work - whether that means running a business or navigating employment.

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Because health shouldn’t be a barrier to doing brilliant things.