About Us
Natalie Swedosh
Founder of Strike Up A Chat, Wellness Trainer, Self-Empowerment Educator, Mental Health Therapist.
Natalie is at the heart of Strike Up A Chat. She is a social entrepreneur and chat activist who devotes her time and energy to developing the Strike Up A Chat vision.
Her idea for the Strike Up A Chat social enterprise grew from her sense of frustration with the lack of friendly communication within her community. As a Mental Health Therapist, she was well aware of the growing rates of anxiety and social isolation amongst the population, and despite this being considered normal she found it unacceptable, and wondered what could be done to bring people together again. She noticed that working with effective communication skills helped enhance confidence, improved conversational competence and built friendly connection in the community. Natalie created Strike Up A Chat and developed the Strike Up A Chat social initiative framework as a response to this.
Natalie’s a qualified clinical hypno-psychotherapist, teacher, wellness facilitator, mindfulness coach.
Dean Sprague
Founder of Little Kitchen Can Cook and Single Origin Skincare; Chef, Author, Mentor, Social Entrepreneur
Dean values the Strike Up A Chat vision of creating a kinder world for all. He is passionate about making a difference to people`s quality of life, and has spent much of his time working in the not for profit sector. Dean has a particular interest in education, sustainability and ethical business practices. He is actively involved in the development of community projects that address food systems issues. His Single Origin Skincare merges his interest in wellness with his passion for sustainability, organic produce and ethical business practices. It is a start-up commercial venture/social enterprise with proceeds used to fund his Little Kitchen Can Cook social enterprise.
Dean is a qualified Chef, Food Technologist and Vocational Trainer, and lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Christine Priestly
Communications specialist, group facilitator, clinical hypnotherapist and relationships counsellor at Connexion Therapies.
Christine brings to Strike Up A Chat her passion for improving understanding between people. She has a special interest in interpersonal connections and building better relationships. Her goal is to help people reconnect and start listening, to appreciate each other, and accept difference, breaking down social isolation and siloed communication.
Christine is a qualified clinical hypnotherapist and relationships counsellor, MA, MSciMed (HSSH) (Counselling) AHA, AACHP, SAS.
Greg Swedosh
Writer, Musician , Business owner/operator, Cyber security analyst, Addicted to travel
Greg came to Strike Up A Chat due to a strong identification with the organisation’s aims of creating more inclusive communities through conversation. As a frequent international traveller, Greg has had the opportunity to meet many people of different ethnicities and cultures, strengthening his belief that in essence we are all really the same. At a time where there seems to be a gathering voice of “us and them” in world politics, Greg hopes to help foster a greater sense of togetherness, one chat at a time.