About Grace & Growth Network

Hi, I’m Cathie, the person behind Grace & Growth Network.

When people grow, their relationships often need room to grow with them.

A friend once stopped me, laughing, as I described my ideas for expanding Grace & Growth Network into consulting.

I had said, “I don’t mind being dropped into the middle of a complicated situation.”

It wasn’t a polished description, but it was true.

When people, ideas, relationships, and systems are no longer working together, I want to understand why. I observe. I listen. I ask questions. As I begin to see what matters, I pay more attention to those things.

Then I help people find a way forward and create the support needed to make that way forward possible.

My Work Grew Beyond One Classroom

I spent more than twenty-five years in education, teaching students, mentoring teachers, collaborating with colleagues, building teams, working with families, and serving in leadership.

Teaching was good and meaningful work. Over time, though, my skills and the scope of what I wanted to do grew beyond one classroom, one schedule, and one school.

I had also learned from working with groups in many different settings, through professional roles, volunteer work, faith communities, personal interests, and international study. Each experience gave me another way to observe how people participate, communicate, respond to change, and work together.

Grace & Growth Network gives me the flexibility to bring those experiences together and offer support wherever growth is happening, within an individual, among a group, or throughout an organization.

What You Notice Matters

Leaders carry the vision, decisions, and responsibilities of the organization. The people doing the day-to-day work notice how those decisions take shape in practice. Each person brings a perspective shaped by their role and experience.

When I begin working with an organization, I meet with the people who invited me in and listen to what they are noticing. They help me understand the work already happening, the knowledge and experience they bring to it, and what they hope will be different.

The work can look different on paper than it does in practice. I want to understand the goals and how they take shape in the day-to-day work.

As I spend time in the organization, I meet the people doing the work and listen to how they describe their experience. I notice what is already working, where people have developed creative solutions, and where a process may require more time, effort, or support than expected.

Different perspectives do not automatically mean that someone is wrong. Often, they reveal what question I should ask next.

Once a possible way forward begins to take shape, I open opportunities for people to try it, respond to it, and help refine it. Their experience helps answer practical questions. Does this make the work clearer? Does it fit the time and responsibilities people already carry? What needs to be adjusted? What skills or support would help?

I continue listening as we build and refine the solutions together.

Experience That Doesn’t Fit on a Résumé

Some of what prepared me for this work can be found in job titles, degrees, and certifications. Much of it came from the people I worked beside, the communities I joined, and the places where I entered as a learner.

Each setting taught me to notice something different.

Room to Find What Works

Whether you are looking for support for yourself, gathering people around a shared experience, or leading an organization through change, we begin with what you are noticing and what you hope will be different.

Then we take the first steps. You have room to try, ask questions, watch, and reflect on what happens. We discuss what works and adjust the approach until you feel confident that it is helping create the change you hoped for.

As the work develops, the support changes with it. I may offer more questions, structure, or reassurance at the beginning. As you practice and become more confident, there is more room for you to make choices, use what you have learned, and recognize what you are now able to carry.

Over time, the way forward becomes yours. You can continue using what you have learned within the life, relationships, group, or organization that brought you here.

When the Work Becomes Yours

At some point, the questions begin to change. You are no longer checking every step. You are drawing on what you have learned, noticing what is happening, and making adjustments with greater confidence.

Success will not look exactly the same in every setting. You may recognize it in a decision you can make with confidence, a group that knows how to move forward together, or a process that works in practice as well as it did on paper.

The pressure begins to leave the conversation. You know what to do next, and you trust your ability to respond when something changes.

That is when I know the support has done its work. You have what you need to continue, and the work has become yours.

A Place to Grow With Grace

Growth can begin with a question in your own life, people you want to bring together, or change taking shape across an organization.

Grace & Growth Network makes room to understand what is happening, try new approaches, and develop support that fits the people and circumstances involved.

Wherever the work begins, the hope is the same: that you have room to grow, support for the next steps, and confidence to carry what you learn forward.

© Copyright 2026. Grace & Growth Network. All Rights Reserved.