The ADAPT Foundations program

Bill Withers has a passion for organisational resilience. In 2013 he founded ADAPT by Design to address the many challenges business owners face, specifically in the SME sector.

Over 22 years, Bill built a software company called acQuire, servicing the global mining industry. Because of the boom and bust nature of mining, he discovered the need for a total systems approach to building business to ensure resilience.

Bill has deep empathy for entrepreneurs and values 'having a fair go' in life. He enjoys coaching and mentoring others so that they too can meet their aspirations.

Bill has won numerous awards in his time as a business owner, including Austmine Champion of Innovation Award, Best SME Succession Plan and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Technology and Emerging Industries).

After working in the corporate world for 10 years Suzanne went on to co-found two businesses; MODAL, an organisational development and learning business, and Cahoots Photos an online photo book and design company. She successfully started, grew and later sold both of these businesses.

Suzanne's experience running these companies has given her insight and empathy for the many challenges owners of SME's face and a passion for supporting them.

Her experience has shown her that most businesses would fall apart without the owner holding it all together. She works with companies across many industries to transform their business to be less reliant on the owner, giving them the time to work on what matters.

Whether your goal is more freedom, succession, selling your business or growth, Suzanne is committed to helping you achieve it.

Dave is a Chartered Accountant with 35 years’ experience. He has a special interest in forecasting, ownership and international business having been involved in setting up businesses in Asia, Africa, Europe and both North and South America.

Zoe founded a successful manufacturing business in Sydney for 16 years before selling and moving back to hometown Perth. Her passion is working directly with founders to systemise their business in a way that supports a healthy culture and gets the founder working ON their business not IN it.

Tadhg is a founding member of ADAPT by Design with a long-term career in SME software organisations. It was the human element of software development, the way leaders and their teams learn and develop, which piqued Tadhg's interest in coaching.

In Tadhg's previous role at acQuire, he pioneered the implementation of Lean and Agile. Some of these principles underpin the work we do in the ADAPT Foundations program.

Tadhg approaches his customers with a curious mind to understand their strengths and weaknesses. He is passionate about continually building their resilience. For Tadhg, there is no more rewarding or purposeful work than seeing the impact of this; Leaders making real progress within their organisation.

Tadhg values fairness and equal opportunity for all and is proud of the fact ADAPT can provide a service to SME leaders that was only previously available in the corporate world. He has over six years' experience coaching the ADAPT Way, with customers ranging from software to scaffolding.

With almost 20 years’ experience as a consultant, Gillian’s passion for SMEs led her to become an ADAPT Coach in 2018. She enjoys working directly with the decision-makers of a business, building long term relationships, watching her clients grow their leadership capabilities and having some fun along the way.

Gillian is an experienced trainer, mentor, and facilitator, qualified in leadership coaching with a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. Her qualifications, along with her strong skills in facilitation, training and change management have helped Gillian successfully tailor and deploy business improvement systems with many diverse teams in many industries, ranging from health to mining, engineering to software.

Martin is a business coach with 35 years’ experience. He has a passion for leadership and business, sparking off his first small photography company at the age of 24. That weekend business made more income than the meagre full-time teacher’s salary at the time (1983). Now, after 30 years in business consulting, he enjoys nurturing new and established businesses to focus their attention to working on the business, not just in the business.

Merinda is passionate about mindset to help with change, achievement and growth in people whilst supporting their business journey. She customises her vast knowledge to each situation and client to gain the best result. She has a vast area of tools to draw upon to assist clients in building their capacity and their teams. Merinda excels at inspiring leaders to optimise their potential, expand their awareness, confidence, and effectiveness in their business and beyond.

Merinda Smith has 30 years’ experience in dealing with people, managing teams across training, sales, and operations. During this time, she has set up business structures to support ongoing success, increased revenue through marketing strategies and successfully achieved operational results. Since 2009 she commenced her journey into mentoring, coaching and running a consultancy practice which has assisted numerous businesses to achieve success, and compliance around Australia.

Merinda says “One of my passions is to assist clients in being confident in themselves and their systems whilst helping them to increase profits. Ultimately, I leave my clients feeling like they finally have the business and lifestyle they want.”

Her formal qualifications include the Diploma of Occupational Health and Safety, Diploma of Training and Assessment, Diploma in Business (Management) and Graduate Diploma of Adult Language, Literacy and Numeracy Practise.

Andrew is a dynamic business consultant with a passion for helping individuals, teams and organisations. Andrew has been a catalyst for change, working within organisations and as an external consultant since 2003. His experience spans many sectors, including Telecommunications, Resources, Agriculture, Information Technology, Visual and Performing Arts, Education, and Disability & Social Services.

In 2009 Andrew shifted focus to work almost exclusively with small to medium businesses that were more aligned to what he values; building long-term trusting relationships through sustainable, transparent and resilient business systems, enabled by honest and constructive individual behaviours. He is most energised by working to create organisational strategies and goals, helping to develop constructive cultures, coaching individuals, instructional design, and facilitating high impact experiential learning events.

Andrew holds many qualifications and certifications applicable to the areas he works within and has been recognised by his customers through satisfaction ratings consistently above the 90th percentile and through their repeat business. His peers also recognise his value, resulting in an invitation to deliver a speech at the National Learning and Development forum in Sydney.

Mike is a big believer in the power of small and medium-sized businesses and, inspired by the sporting world, strives to get them in ``The Zone``. He wants your company operating effortlessly and delivering remarkable experiences.

Mike has 29 years' experience working in financial services, an area and profession which he is passionate about. His experience ranges from advisory to business development and sales management and overall played a significant role in progressing strategies and structures of many of Perth's leading financial advisory SME's.

Additionally, and what Mike considers a career highlight, he has been a part of one of the world's leading executive coaching organisations, TEC, for ten years. Experiencing first-hand the impacts of exceptional coaching and how this can enhance the lives of business leaders is what gets Mike's blood pumping. In building trusted relationships, Mike will increase the effectiveness of your business and get things flowing seamlessly.

Dom Sheldrick is passionate about helping people maximise their potential. He’s driven by helping others to succeed. He has spent the last 22 years facilitating the growth of individuals, teams and organisations by engaging with them to build upon their strengths and identify and challenge themselves in their areas of development.

Dom’s journey towards becoming a business coach stems from his career as an elite athlete where he experienced both the highs of attaining his goal of representing his country but also the challenges of missing Olympic selection. His subsequent battle with Leukaemia interrupted his swimming for two years during his prime.

While his experiences as a swimmer are integral to his approach to performance and coaching, it was the impact of his battle with Leukaemia and return to competitive swimming that most equips Dom as a Resilient Business Coach.

Given Dom’s experiences and his genuine and authentic approach, he’s able to empathise with the huge challenges (not only to our intellect but also to our ego and sense of self) and to help business leaders and teams develop a sustainable approach to business success.

Throughout his 22 year career, Dom has maintained long term relationships with organisations. He consistently receives outstanding feedback for his ability to create an environment of safety through which individuals and teams can explore and grow.

Debbie is a people person who understands the numbers. Her clients refer to her as the friendly face of finance. Having spent much of her career in and around founder-led, entrepreneurial businesses she knows how to add value to the leaders, teams, and organisations she works with. A Chartered Accountant, Debbie is often described as a high achiever. She is a graduate of Oxford University and the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Telstra Business Women’s Award Finalist.

As Chief Financial Officer and a member of the leadership team of a large WA family business for 15 years, Debbie understands the specific nuances, challenges, and rewards of family business. Her career journey began in global consulting and accounting firms, complemented by certification as an Executive and Organisational Coach so she brings experience from a diverse array of businesses to her clients.

Debbie values herself as a professional, always striving for continuous improvement, challenging the status quo, and developing high performers. As a Coach, she can be relied upon to support you on your journey, empathise, but also hold you to account, challenge your thoughts and perhaps ask you some difficult questions. She can help you demystify the numbers and make better decisions, empowering you to build a strong, resilient, and sustainable business.