Walking with Ancestry, Inner Fire and Change

I am Bianca Stawiarski, a Badimia (Yamatji) and Ukrainian woman living and working on Kaurna Country. I come from strong women, strong men, survival stories, cultural memory, displacement, humour, love and responsibility.

Through Warida Wholistic Wellness, I walk alongside people, workplaces and communities to reconnect with their inner fire, heal on their own terms, and remember the wisdom they already carry.

My work brings together counselling, trauma-informed practice, Indigenous healing practices, cultural supervision, facilitation, leadership, research, business mentoring and deep relational care. It is grounded in Indigenous Knowledges, deep listening, cultural safety, and one simple belief that has shaped everything I do: people are not broken. Many of us have carried grief, trauma, burnout, disconnection, cultural load, family responsibility, systemic harm and the long ache of trying to survive in spaces that were never designed for us to fully breathe.

Warida exists because healing needs more than a narrow clinical lens. Healing needs relationship. It needs cultural safety. It needs Country. It needs deep listening. It needs room for story, silence, laughter, truth, accountability, courage and the quiet remembering of who we are.

Who am I?

Ancestry, Story and Responsibility

I am a Badimia (Yamatji) and Ukrainian woman living and working on Kaurna Country.

My Aboriginal ancestry traces through my Badimia (Yamatji) line to my apical ancestor, Melbin, through my great-grandmother Nellie Mary Latham, nee Oliver, and my grandmother Dorothy Passmore, nee Latham. These strong Badimia (Yamatji) women sit within the story of my family, my belonging, and my ongoing responsibility to Country, community and future generations.

On my father’s side, I also come from strong Ukrainian men and women whose lives have shaped me in deeply personal ways. My baba, Anna Potezny, nee Karabin, was born in Tataryniv, Ukraine. My dad, Mykola (Nicholas) Potezny, was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany after my grandparents were taken from Ukraine as forced labour.

My baba was loving and kind, and I still remember the way she would patiently correct my very poor Ukrainian language. My dad has always been my biggest advocate and fiercest defender.

Both sides of my family carry stories of strength, survival, displacement, love, humour and responsibility. These lineages are not separate from my work. They shape the way I listen, the way I understand healing, and the way I walk alongside people.

They remind me that identity is carried through story, Country, family, memory and connection. They also remind me that healing is never only individual. It ripples through generations.

Bianca xx

How Warida came to be

Warida was not created from theory alone.

It came from lived experience: from trauma and grief, from motherhood, from cultural reconnection, from decades of working across government, community, business, mental health, entrepreneurship, research and education. It came from watching people be labelled, assessed, categorised and pathologised, while the deeper story of their lives was often missed.

I know what it means to move through systems that can silence, flatten or misunderstand people. I also know what becomes possible when people are met with respect, cultural safety and deep listening. That is why Warida is grounded in gudu-guduwa (coming together), ngardi guwanda (listening, thinking and feeling strongly), and ngalimi yunggudya, (we give to each other).

These are not just words I place on a website. They are the way I try to live, lead, teach, facilitate and sit alongside people.

The work i walk alongside

Through Warida, I support individuals, organisations, communities and workplaces across Australia and internationally.

This work includes counselling, healing support, trauma-informed practice, cultural supervision, leadership development, workplace wellbeing, facilitation, keynote speaking, First Nations business mentoring, research and community-led healing initiatives.

I work with people who are navigating burnout, trauma, grief, identity, leadership, life transitions, business growth, cultural load, family responsibility and the deep exhaustion that can come from carrying too much for too long.

My approach is warm, direct, relational and grounded. I do not position myself as the expert over someone else’s life. I walk alongside people as they reconnect with their own knowing, their own voice, their own boundaries and their own inner fire.

why this work matters

Through Warida Wholistic Wellness, we believe healing is reconnection, not correction.

It is reconnecting with self, Country, culture, body, spirit, commuity, story, body purpose and possibility. It is remembering that you are more than what has happened to you. It is strengthening the parts of yourself that were always there, even if life, trauma, systems or survival made them harder to hear.

When one person reconnects with their inner fire, the impact does not stop with them. Families shift, workplaces change, and communities grow. Future generations inherit something different. This is the ripple effect.

Warida supports people to:

Reconnect with their inner fire
Heal outside of rigid clinical frameworks
Strengthen boundaries, confidence and voice
Navigate burnout, trauma and life transitions
Build wellbeing that includes economic empowerment
Lead and live in alignment with who they truly are

Warida works across:

Individual counselling and healing
Individual or Group Cultural / Clinical Supervision and Reflective Practice
Group programs and workshops
Workplace wellbeing and leadership
Community-led initiatives
Education, training and facilitation
First Nations business coaching / mentoring

Warida is a preferred provider to local, state, national and international organisations. This work is recognised for being both deeply compassionate and strategically sharp.

Professional Grounding, held with humility

Alongside lived experience and cultural knowing, I bring strong professional and academic grounding.

I am a PACFA Registered Clinical Counsellor, certified mental health practitioner, PhD candidate, author, speaker, facilitator, board director and international author / co-author. My qualifications and experience span counselling, coaching, Indigenous healing practices, trauma-informed care, Aboriginal studies, government, business, governance, research and education.

I have worked with local, state, national and international organisations, universities, government agencies, community organisations and professional bodies. I have also contributed to boards, professional leadership groups, published works, guest lectures, training programs and community-led initiatives.

These credentials matter, but they are not the heart of the work.

The heart of the work is relationship. The heart of the work is listening deeply enough that people can hear themselves again.

What guides my work

Everything I do is underpinned by Warida’s Seven Pillars of Excellence, including:

Integrity: honest, ethical, values-led practice
Cultural safety and reciprocity: honouring Country, community and connection
Empowerment: supporting people to reclaim agency, voice and inner knowing.
Ongoing learning: walking humbly, staying curious and remaining accountable
Challenging systems: bringing courage, care and clarity to structures that keep people disconnected.

These aren’t just principles on paper. They are lived, daily and embedded into how I work with people, organisations and communities.

Accreditation and Professional Learning

I have always believed in the power of balancing lived experience, cultural learning, professional practice and structured study. My learning has been shaped through Indigenous Knowledges, community, formal qualifications, professional development and the ongoing responsibility to keep growing in service of the people and communities I walk alongside.

My qualifications, accreditations and professional learning include, but are not limited to:

PhD Candidate (Indigenous Mental Health and Entrepreneurship)
Master (Counselling Practice)
PACFA Mental Health Practitioner
Certification Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (Equine Psychotherapy Institute model)
Diploma (Life Coach)
We Al-li Programs Lead Facilitator – Culturally Informed Trauma Integrated Healing Approach – Workshop 1
We Al-li Programs – Facilitator Training – Recreating Songlines from Trauma Trails
Certificate (Aboriginal Narrative Practice)
Diploma (Wayapa Practice)
Post Grad. Diploma (Counselling)
Cert IV Government (Contracting)
Diploma of Government (Contracting)
Blue Knot Foundation – Working Therapeutically with Complex Trauma Clients (L2) – Three Phased Approach

Accredited in Acculturation Scale for Aboriginal Australians (IPS)
Accredited in Acculturation Stress Scale for Aboriginal Australians (IPS)
Accredited in the Westerman Aboriginal Symptom Checklist – Adults and Youth (IPS)
We Al-li Programs: Dadirri: Ancient Aboriginal Mindfulness Traditions
Bachelor of Arts (Aboriginal Studies)
Horse Archery Instructor (Level 2)
Equestrian Australia Vaulting Coach (intro) – to be renewed
Equestrian Australia (horse management)
Equestrian Australia (official lunger – vaulting) – to be renewed
International Federation for Equestrian Sports Vaulting Steward (Level 2) – to be renewed
Equestrian Australia Steward (vaulting) – to be renewed

An invitation

If you are tired of being told what is wrong with you. If you are seeking healing that honours your story, culture and inner knowing. If you are ready to reconnect with your inner fire and move forward on your terms.

You are welcome here.

My work, and Warida, exists to remind you that you are not broken, and you do not have to walk this path alone.

Healing is not linear. Leadership is not solitary. And transformation happens when we come together.

Bianca xx

Accolades

The following sections offer a deeper look at my professional background, including awards, publications, board roles, professional associations and academic information. These are not the whole story, but they do show the breadth of the work, the communities I have walked alongside, and the different spaces where Warida’s message continues to ripple.

Awards

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2024 Outstanding Leadership Awards – SME Business Leader – FINALIST
2024 Women Changing the World Global Awards (held in UK) – Indigenous Business Leader – FINALIST
2023 Stevie Award for Women in Business (international): Social Change Maker of the Year – Race SILVER; Maverick of the Year BRONZE.
2023 Women Changing the World Awards (International): Social Enterprise Award GOLD.
2022 Ausmumpreneur Awards: Indigenous Business Excellence BRONZE, Women will Change the World BRONZE, and Wellness and Wellbeing GOLD
2021 South Australian finalist in the Telstra Best of Business in the Indigenous Excellence category
2021 Global Business Mothers Awards: Women will change the World Award GOLD; and Oceania Business Excellence Award GOLD