Meet Katie
Offering support, inspiration and education through every stage of the cleft journey.
Welcome, I am so glad you are here, I’m Katie, mum to Ella, who was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate and my husband, Ella’s dad, was born with a unilateral cleft lip and palate. Although being born with a cleft does not define anyone, it does have an impact and cleft is woven into our family, our love, our learning and the way we see the world.
Why This
Work Exists
When we received Ella’s cleft diagnosis I needed to understand how to support my body through the fear and worry that came with it. I needed to understand the power of that support. When Ella arrived, I didn’t just need medical information, I needed to see faces like hers reflected back with dignity, beauty and truth not as a “before” photo, not as a problem to be solved, but as a whole person worthy of being witnessed.
That gap became my why.
What we experience in life shapes how we are able to move and respond within it. How we speak, how we walk, the choices we make and relationships we have, how our body ages; everything. We learn how to survive and ‘get on with it’. I will forever be proud to challenge this narrative. Life is wonderful and we all deserve to live it.
Bridging the medical and human experience of cleft
Growing up, so many people affected by cleft and facial difference have described feeling like the only one, carrying their feelings quietly and alone with very few examples of what thriving can look like. Community changes that. Representation changes that. Understanding human behaviour changes that.
There is no shame in grief, anger and fear. But when we don't feel safe expressing these very real emotions, shame can grow in the silence and deepen through isolation. Here, we are doing the opposite with complete acceptance of the whole range from deep pride to worry. However you find this work, you are not alone.
Being Seen
Changes Everything
Here we are creating a world where children stand proudly beside their portraits and parents can name their grief, fear, tenderness, courage, joy and the desire for a world that doesn’t ask their child to “fit in,” but learns to be more kind, informed and connected.
My work exists to challenge stigma and celebrate cleft and facial difference through positive representation, colour, joy, and love. It’s art, advocacy, nervous-system awareness, and a global message of collective humanity.
The Cleft Conversations
The Cleft Conversations is my personal audio journal, where I share honest reflections on parenting, identity, grief, hope and life beyond a cleft diagnosis. Through each episode, I explore the challenges, growth and connections that shape our journeys, both as parents and as individuals.
Listen on Spotify
The Heart Of This Work
The centre of this work is about giving back, restoring what the world has taken, whether that's confidence, self-connection, self-love, or whatever is needed by whoever is here.
It's about helping people rediscover what has always belonged to them.
We are bringing families together across the world, strengthening compassion in the wider culture and helping children, and their parents grow a deeper sense of belonging in their own faces.
Beyond the Diagnosis
Supporting families has always meant looking beyond the medical journey alone. It means creating spaces where people feel safe and supported, while recognising that emotional wellbeing is just as important as physical care. Feeling seen and understood creates the foundation for healing, growth and connection.
Supporting Emotional Wellbeing Through Partnership
As a Brand Partner with The Mental Wellbeing Company, I'm honoured to weave their science-informed wellbeing tools into my trauma-informed approach to supporting the cleft community. It's a partnership built on shared values, compassion, curiosity, connection and a belief in our capacity for healing. Together, we're creating practical, nurturing ways for individuals and families to care for their nervous systems and reconnect with themselves.
Supporting Families and Professionals
Whether I'm supporting a parent following a diagnosis, working alongside professionals within a cleft team, delivering workshops or speaking at events, this partnership with the Mental Wellbeing Company strengthens the practical support I can offer. Through simple, accessible wellbeing practices that nurture the nervous system, I help individuals and families build emotional resilience, strengthen self-connection, and navigate the cleft journey with greater confidence, compassion and hope.
Bringing Wellbeing into Education
Through my partnership with The Mental Wellbeing Company, I support educators and school teams to better understand what may be happening beneath a child’s behaviour.
Together, we explore practical, science-informed tools that can help children feel safer, more connected and better able to regulate, while also giving adults the confidence to respond with greater compassion, clarity and care.
My aim is to help create learning environments where both children and the people supporting them feel more understood, more resourced and more able to thrive.
