Rochelle Appleby
Founder and Owner of Red Frog for Families
Why we chose Rochelle
Rochelle founded her own allied health clinic after taking inspiration from her son’s autism diagnosis. While founding the clinic, Rochelle also trained as a health consultant and now champions a robust wellbeing strategy at her new clinic.
What’s your ‘why’? How do you balance work and life responsibilities to fulfil it?
I’m the owner of Red Frog for Families which is an allied health clinic. We specialise in occupational therapy, speech therapy, behaviour support, and relationship development intervention (RDI). This came about because of my beautiful boy Alexander who was diagnosed with severe autism at two years old.
My husband and I struggled to find services that would maximise the quality of life our son would have. This is why I started Red Frog for Families and began professional training as an RDI consultant. I became passionate about establishing and providing a high-quality service to families living with similar experiences.
I am able to balance my role as a mum, wife, therapist, and business owner by surrounding myself with a wonderfully supportive team. This team includes my friends, family and the wonderful professionals I employ at Red Frog for Families – most of them women who are inspirational role models themselves.
Can you explain an initiative you've implemented that has made an impact in your workplace?
We have a high-quality wellness initiative operating in our clinic. I’ve worked hard to ensure we have embodied a culture of wellness built around open communication to ensure any difficulties can be solved together.
We provide regular rest and recharge sessions to help our team manage their workload and stress. There’s a working from home day once a week to ensure valuable time for administration and report writing is completed. And we also have a work retreat to celebrate our team’s achievements together.
As a female leader, what have been the most significant barriers in your career?
Like most mum’s balancing family needs and commitments can be tough, especially when you are parenting a child with additional needs that requires many doctor appointments, specialist appointments, and therapy sessions. My son needed specialised education which required him to be homeschooled. During this time my business allowed me to have a flexible schedule to work around his needs.
What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?
Pay attention to your energy levels and determine the experiences and people that fuel your energy.