Meet Our Founders

Katie is the Co-Founder and Care Coordinator of The Patient Approach Cancer & Wellness Centre. Her passion for creating the centre stems from her own lived experience navigating not one, but two rare cancer diagnoses while raising a young family.

Katie's first cancer diagnosis came when her youngest child was just eight months old. She underwent 12 months of chemotherapy while caring for her young children and trying to maintain a sense of normality for her family. Less than two years later, a routine PET scan revealed a second, more aggressive rare cancer. This diagnosis brought another lengthy and challenging treatment journey, including surgery, 18 months of chemotherapy and 20 fractions of radiation therapy.

Navigating cancer treatment while raising a six-year-old and a three-year-old was incredibly challenging. Young children still need their mum to be present, engaged and as much like herself as possible, even when facing the physical and emotional toll of treatment. Throughout her journey, Katie experienced firsthand the gaps that exist beyond medical treatment. The lack of accessible mental health support, the challenge of coordinating multiple services, and the extensive travel often required to access care highlighted just how fragmented the system can feel for patients and families.

These experiences ignited a determination to create something different.

When Katie met Steph through a Mental Health Breakfast, they quickly realised they shared many of the same frustrations, challenges and hopes for the future of supportive care. Together, they envisioned a place where patients, carers and families could access the services, support and connection they need in one welcoming and coordinated environment.

Today, Katie is passionate about ensuring others do not have to navigate the same barriers alone. Together with Steph, she is committed to creating a warm, supportive space where people feel seen, understood and empowered throughout every stage of their journey. By bringing a range of supportive services together under one roof, their goal is to make care simpler, more connected, and centred around what matters most—the wellbeing of patients and their families.

 Steph is the Co-Founder and Care Coordinator of The Patient Approach Cancer & Wellness Centre. Her journey to creating the centre began when she was diagnosed with breast cancer the day before the birth of her fourth child. As a young mum navigating a cancer diagnosis, caring for four children, welcoming a newborn, and facing the emotional reality of stopping breastfeeding after just one week so she could commence treatment, Steph experienced firsthand the challenges that so many patients and families face.

Throughout her treatment, Steph often felt isolated by the lack of people her age in treatment settings and recognised the need for greater connection and support beyond medical care. It was peer support that first drew her to The Patient Approach, after she was invited by a mutual friend to attend a Mental Health Breakfast, where she met Katie. What began as a shared conversation about their experiences soon grew into a shared vision—to create a place where patients, carers and families could easily access the support, connection and services they need in one welcoming environment.

Today, Steph is passionate about ensuring no one has to navigate cancer and other life-changing health challenges alone. Through her role as Care Coordinator, she helps connect people with the right services, support networks and resources, bringing empathy, understanding and lived experience to every interaction.