When Rohana Wood joined the Startmate Women Fellowship, she wasn’t new to startups. She’d built her career in marketing and helped grow a VC accelerator in Singapore. But after moving back to Australia, she found herself wanting something different.
Not just a new job, but a shift in direction.
“I’d built my career in marketing, but I knew I didn’t want to do that forever,” she said. “I didn’t know what was next, but I wanted to figure it out.”
Instead of searching for a specific role, Rohana used the Fellowship to zoom out. She worked with her coach, Cathie (Atlassian’s Chief of Staff), to figure out what kind of company would give her space to grow. Together, they took a longer-term view, not just what job to take next, but what kind of work would energise her over time.
That led her to InvestorHub, a Melbourne based startup who she first met when a fellow alumni of the Startmate Women Fellowship posted in the Startmate Slack. Rohana initially joined as their onboarding manager and has just shifted into her current role as operations manager. The new role brings her closer to what she loves most: solving problems across a whole business.
One of the most impactful parts of the Fellowship was coaching. During our conversation, Rohana touched on using this time not to ask for introductions, but to understand how someone like Cathie thinks. Ultimately describing their sessions as mutual, thoughtful and insightful - a chance to grow. “I wasn’t there to say, ‘Can you get me this role?’ I just wanted to learn how she saw the world and framed approaches to roles and transitions within companies. Watching her structure problems or respond to a challenge taught me so much.”
That mindset shift away from “what job should I get” to “how do I want to operate” was echoed throughout the Fellowship. Rohana reflected on her time, describing sessions on values, energy management and career design all gave her a new framework for decision-making.
“There wasn’t one big turning point, but there were lots of small nudges. It helped me figure out what energises me, what drains me, and how to make career choices based on that.”
Since then, she’s felt a real shift in how she approaches her work.
“I’ve learned to be more patient. I’ve put more thought into how I spend my time and what I prioritise.”
To cap off our conversation, we dived into the wins and elements of the past few months that she’s truly proud of.
“I’ve done some really cool things in my career, but the past year I’m proud of how I’ve shifted my thinking. Not everything has to happen all at once. It’s about being intentional, knowing what you want to learn, and surrounding yourself with people who push you forward.”
