Welcome to
Woman in Progress
Take control of your circumstances
Life Coaching to take control of your circumstances
Feeling overwhelmed and finding it hard to see the positives in your current situation?
We empower to transform life’s toughest challenges into opportunities for growth.
Let us help you take control of your life.
"Life is an arm wrestle. But if a woman can come at it with confidence and commitment to working on herself and a community that’s got her back, she can win hands down."
Rita Montalto
Founder, Woman in Progress
Our Services
Life Coaching
Gain clarity and confidence as you set meaningful goals and create lasting change.
Learn how to optimise your wellbeing so you can face life’s challenges with energy and purpose.
Identify and overcome the obstacles holding you back, and uncover hidden patterns of self-sabotage.
Receive ongoing support, motivation, and celebration as you reclaim your wellbeing and build a life you truly love.
Hello, I'm Rita
Founder of Woman in Progress
Single full-time working mum of two gorgeous humans
In 2011, John, their dad, my first love, was diagnosed with Huntington's Disease, a degenerative neurological illness. In 2014 on the day we were handed the keys to our new house, John lost his job.
I was now our sole income provider. Our youngest child was a year old. I had to find full-time work, So I did. My salary (around half of what John had earned) had to cover everything, including the mortgage and childcare.
Four years later, John's illness had progressed to the point where we needed to place him in full-time care. I was well and truly on my own. Cue five-plus years of hand-to-mouth existence. until I got fed up with having zero petrol in my physical and emotional tanks and decided to change how I felt about myself and how I lived.
Slowly but conscientiously, I started to research and read and learn how to do things differently to take control of my circumstances, starting with finances and fitness.
So ladies, here we are ...
Me
A Woman in Progress, taking charge, pretty good in my skin, but with many things I still want and need to work on. I’m all about gradual betterment, that’s the essence of being a Woman in Progress.
You
Wondering if you've rocked up to the right place at the right time.
If you're looking for people and places to help you trade overwhelm and exhaustion for taking slow but certain charge of your life.......you've found it.
Hello, I'm Rebecca O
Co-Founder of Woman in Progress
Health & Life Coach and mother of 3 beautiful children
I’m Rebecca, a health and life coach, a mum to three beautiful children, and a woman who, like so many others, has spent much of her life learning how to care for the people around her while also trying to find her own place within it all.
I grew up with strong values around generosity, service and putting others first. I still believe deeply in those things, but the popular message of “put yourself first” never quite sat right with me either. I always felt there had to be a better way — a way to honour ourselves and the people we love without having to choose between the two. How do we put the oxygen mask on ourselves while still being there for our families? That question has shaped so much of my own journey.
When my first son was born, it was one of the happiest times of my life, but it was also the beginning of an incredibly difficult chapter. My dad became very sick, and for many years our family lived alongside the uncertainty, heartbreak and reality of his illness. When he eventually passed away, I was deeply shaken. Losing him forced me to stop, look inward and begin a journey of self-discovery that I hadn’t realised I needed.
Eventually, life found a beautiful rhythm again. Our two older children were at school, becoming more independent, and we had found some space again — physically and emotionally. Then our third child arrived, very much wanted and deeply loved, but his arrival also opened something up in me that I hadn’t expected. I mourned parts of my old life, I mourned my dad, and old wounds resurfaced. For the first time, I gave myself permission to really feel the grief, the guilt, the exhaustion and the desire for something more. And in that honesty, I found clarity.
I began to understand that being grateful for the life we have and wanting more from life are not contradictions. We can deeply love our families and still have dreams of our own. We can be grateful and still want to grow. We can care for everyone around us without completely losing ourselves in the process.
That is what I believe so strongly today. Life isn’t something we are meant to simply get through while waiting for the next chapter. It is happening now. Yes, dream big. Yes, build the career, take the trip, create the beautiful home and chase the things that light you up. But don’t wait for “one day” to feel alive. There is so much possibility in the life we are already living, even in the ordinary, messy and imperfect moments.
My journey has taught me that fulfilment isn’t about creating a perfect life. It is about creating a life that feels meaningful to you — a life where you can care for others without abandoning yourself, where you can evolve without apologising for it, and where you can continue becoming the woman you know you are capable of being.
So ladies, here we are ...
US
Rebecca and Rita have lived very different lives, but somewhere within those differences we found something deeply familiar: the feeling of being a woman who is still becoming.
Woman in Progress was born from that shared belief — that no matter what season of life we are in, we are never finished. We can rebuild, rediscover ourselves, change direction, dream again and create something new. We don’t have to choose between caring for others and caring for ourselves, between being strong and being vulnerable, or between being grateful for what we have and wanting more.
We are all women in progress. And you don’t have to navigate the journey alone.
You
We can be all of it.
Woman in Progress is a reminder that becoming isn’t something we ever finish.
Life changes, we change, and sometimes we simply need the space, support and tools to work out what comes next.
We are all women in progress. And you don’t have to navigate the journey alone.
The Woman in Progress Community
WIP Podcasts
Real conversations. Honest advice. We’re in this together.
The Woman in Progress podcast is a space for honest conversations, empowering advice and real stories that remind women they are never alone in their journey. Together, we’ll explore the challenges, changes and possibilities that come with being a woman, while sharing practical tools, encouragement and inspiration to help you move forward. Most importantly, it’s about building a strong community where we lift each other up, learn from one another and remind ourselves that we’re in this together.
WIP Online Community
Wherever you are in your journey, you don’t have to walk it alone.
The Woman in Progress online community is a place for women to connect, share, encourage and support one another through every season of life. Whether you’re starting over, finding yourself, navigating motherhood, changing direction or simply figuring out what comes next, you belong here. Through our social media and growing community, we share real stories, inspiration, advice and reminders that we are all works in progress — and we’re in this together.
WIP Journals
Practical tools and support for your journey of becoming.
Our journals are designed to guide women through meaningful change, one step at a time. They offer practical tools, thoughtful prompts and gentle encouragement to help you understand where you are, let go of what no longer serves you and create positive change in your life. More than just a journal, they are a companion for your journey — reminding you that you have the power to grow, change and become the woman you want to be. You don’t have to have it all figured out — we’re walking through it with you.
