When life changes everything

Making space for grief and loss along the road to renewal.

By Briana Blackett

Published 9 September, 2026

When life changes everything

Making space for grief and loss along the road to renewal.

By Briana Blackett

Published 9 September, 2026

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We’re all about joy here at FW, but we also know how important it is to talk about the hard things. Sometimes those are practical challenges, like navigating AI or juggling kids and career. Or systemic ones, like persistent gender bias and ageism.

And sometimes, the issues are deeply personal.

Grief and loss are familiar to many of us, yet we rarely talk about their impacts. The ebbs and flows of how grief affects us can make it hard to stay connected to the world, not to mention our efforts to engage – or re-engage – with the workforce.

So let’s carve out a little bit of space to talk about loss in its different forms so we can recognise how it shows up and be kind to ourselves in those moments.

Grief has many faces

The death of someone we love leaves a void that makes the world feel entirely unfamiliar. It’s a profound, disorienting grief that can make everyday tasks – let alone career goals – feel almost impossible to navigate.

If you are finding it hard to keep your head above water right now, please know that what you’re feeling is entirely human and you don’t have to force yourself to perform through the pain. We’ve linked some support services below if you need to talk.

Grief can also surface in response to other losses, such as the quiet endings that happen when we have to say goodbye to what was or what could have been.

Shifting out of a career, stepping away from a title or facing a sudden change in your circumstances can leave you asking, “who am I now?”. This loss of identity can trigger a grieving process for which there are no rituals.

Same too, for those of us mourning lost plans and opportunities due to challenges life has handed us. Developing a chronic illness, managing a disability, becoming a caregiver or escaping violence can all mean missing out on paths you were ready to walk. It is entirely valid to grieve those closed doors.

If this feels familiar, you are not alone. Here at FW, we’re always working with, hearing from, and being inspired by women who are on their journey through loss. Here are some of their stories.

1

Courtney Ugle on grief and losing a loved one

At an FW NAIDOC event, Proud Noongar woman, athlete and advocate Courtney Ugle shared her personal journey of trauma, recounting the profound grief of losing her father to suicide at age 11 and her mother to family violence eight years later. “Now I still cannot comprehend the death of my mum,” Courtney told us, “sometimes it doesn’t even seem real but it is. And that is ultimately why I’m in [this] space and I do what I do is to keep my mum’s name alive. My mum’s dignity alive.” You can read Courtney’s story here.

2

Jordyn Fisher on grief and chronic illness

In her deeply personal article, Jordyn Fisher reveals how chronic illness takes more than just your health. “It quietly steals ordinary things you never imagined having to mourn: spontaneous weekends away, saying yes to plans without checking your symptoms, trusting your own body, or knowing you’ll be able to show up for work tomorrow,” she says. “I spent a long time grieving the person I thought I would be before learning how to become someone new.” Jordyn’s story can be found here.

3

Ayesha Inoon on grief and cultural identity

Author Ayesha Inoon shares experiences familiar to many migrant women in Australia who are straddling cultures while starting new lives a long way from home. In her article, she speaks beautifully about making space for new identities while letting go of old ones. “You can grieve the loss of the person you once were,” she writes, “while being open to the joys of the person you are becoming.” You can find Ayesha’s article here.

4

Rosie Waterland on grief and mental illness

Comedian and podcaster, Rosie Waterland, knows the anguish of being offered the opportunity of a lifetime, only to have to hand it back. Speaking at our Leadership Summit, she shared how mental illness derailed a dream role she had scored with a leading Hollywood figure. You can watch Rosie telling her story here in which she also shares how she’s come to terms with how illness can impact her working life.

5

Geraldine Bilson on grief and family violence

Family violence victim-survivor, Geraldine Bilson, says she still mourns the loss of the person she was before she met her abusive former partner. “Sometimes I still grieve for who I should have been,” she says on our podcast, There’s No Place Like Home. “But I also know that he couldn’t take away my hope. And that is something that I hold on to. And even though I can’t be who I was supposed to be, I am putting myself back together and I am finding a way to harness that hope.” You can listen to Geraldine’s story here.

Whatever form loss has taken in your life, remember that your grief is valid and your timeline is your own. Your FW community is walking alongside you as you find your way forward, one step at a time.

You don’t have to carry this alone.

If you or someone you know is navigating loss, these services offer free and confidential support:

Griefline: Free national helpline, online forums, and support groups for all types of loss. Call 1300 845 745 (10am – 8pm AEST, Mon–Fri)
13YARN: Culturally safe crisis and grief support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Call 13 92 76 (24/7).
Red Nose Australia: Specialised support for pregnancy, infant, and child loss. Call 1300 308 307 (24/7).
Lifeline: For urgent 24/7 crisis support, call 13 11 14.