Better execution starts with better thinking.
Grounded Growth is built on a simple belief: when the people leading the business have the clarity, structure and confidence to think well, make better decisions and follow through, strategy is far more likely to turn into action and results.
Grounded Growth connects strategy with execution by working with the people responsible for turning direction into action and results.
Meet Maria Nolan
Your guide to clearer thinking and action
From the schoolroom to the boardroom.
The thread through more than 30 years of my work has remained remarkably consistent: guiding people to think clearly, build their capability and turn important ideas into action.
I began my career as a teacher in regional Queensland and took my first steps into leadership as an Assistant Principal. Those early years shaped the way I still work today. They taught me to listen closely, stay grounded in what is actually happening, make complexity easier to understand and ensure good ideas can work in the real world.
I carried those lessons into business, establishing SeeChange Consulting in 2001. Over time, my work expanded from leadership and team development into organisational change, strategy and execution. Working with Boards, executives and leadership teams across a wide range of businesses, including regional and rural Australia, has reinforced the importance of staying close to the realities people face and making sure strategy can work on the ground.
Today, I bring those layers of experience together through Grounded Growth, guiding growing businesses to strengthen the connection between strategy and execution and achieve the results they set out to deliver.
I don't tell leaders what to do.
I help them think.
That experience has shaped not only the work I do, but the way I work.
For me, the work is never only about what needs to be achieved. It is also about what people learn along the way, the confidence and capability they build and the ownership they take for making it happen.
My role is to design and facilitate the process that enables the right people to think clearly together, consider different perspectives and make better decisions. The outcome belongs to the business. I bring the structure, questions and process that guide people towards it.
I bring calm, structure and clarity to complex work, together with warmth, energy and a willingness to challenge thinking when it is useful. I take the work seriously, but I don’t believe it always needs to feel serious. Important work can still be engaging, energising, enjoyable and fun.
My role is not to create dependency. I want to leave behind stronger thinking, clearer ways of working and greater confidence in how decisions are made, so the business can keep making progress with its strategy after the engagement ends.
The story behind Grounded Growth
Grounded Growth is a new name, but not a new beginning.
SeeChange will always be the foundation of the work, the relationships and the learning built since 2001. Grounded Growth marks the next chapter, not a departure from that history, but a clearer expression of the work I do now and the growing businesses I am here to guide.
The name reflects how I work and the businesses I am here to guide. Grounded means practical, considered and connected to what is really happening in a business. It means taking the time to understand before deciding what needs attention and how best to address it.
Growth reflects the businesses I guide. Growth creates opportunity, but it also asks more of the strategy, systems, leaders and teams that must carry the business forward.
The visual identity tells the same story. The two interlocking Gs represent connection: strategy with execution, Boards with executives, priorities with action, and people with the role they play in delivering results.
The palette brings together three colours: Navy, Red Earth and Warm Soft White. Navy represents clarity, confidence and quality. Red Earth brings warmth and grounding and connects personally to my early teaching and leadership years in Cunnamulla and Charleville. Warm Soft White creates calm and space to think.
Together, the name and identity reflect what Grounded Growth stands for: thoughtful, carefully crafted work that is grounded in reality and designed to build lasting clarity, capability and results.
Smart decisions come from structure, not speed.
Experience at a glance
30+ years
Working with leaders and teams
25+ years
Building and leading SeeChange Consulting
Board and executive experience
Guiding Boards, executives and leadership teams on strategy and execution
The depth behind the work
My judgement draws on continuous learning and practical experience across education, leadership, team development, organisational change, facilitation, strategy and execution.
Rather than treating these as separate disciplines, I draw on their connection to understand what is happening and determine what will create meaningful progress.
Qualifications & Accreditations
Business, strategy & change
Company Directors Course™, Australian Institute of Company Directors
Prosci Change Management Accredited Practitioner
Diploma of Project Management
Leadership, teams & facilitation
Myers-Briggs Accredited Facilitator
Belbin Team Roles Accredited Facilitator
DISC Advanced Accredited Consultant and Facilitator
LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® Accredited Facilitator
Education & learning
Diploma of Teaching, Australian Catholic University
Graduate Diploma in Literacy, Charles Sturt University
Are you ready to close the gap between strategy and execution?
If your business has a strategy but is not seeing the results on the ground, or you need to develop or strengthen your strategy before turning it into action, let’s start with a conversation.
