Grief Guide is a Finalist in the 2026 Mount Ommaney Small Business Awards
This one feels strange to post, so please bear with me.
Grief Guide has made the finals in two categories in the 2026 Mount Ommaney Small Business Awards: Best Customer Service and Micro Small Business.
Voting is open now (as of mid October 2026.)
Why this matters to me
Asking for votes isn't really within my comfort zone, but this isn't about my ego, it's about visibility.
🪷 Visibility for grief support.
🪷 Visibility for Death Cafés.
🪷 Visibility for the idea that talking about death and dying shouldn't be strange or hidden.
I work (and live) in a culture that doesn't do grief well.
We rush people through it, and we use soft words for hard things. So much of what I do happens quietly, in a counselling room, on a telehealth screen, or around a table at a Death Café.
Being named a finalist tells me something I care about. It tells me that people in my own community think grief support is worth recognising and that matters to me more than the badge does.
It also matters because Grief Guide is a small business. It started with one person who wanted to do grief differently, and it has grown because people trusted me with some of the hardest times of their lives.
I don't take that lightly.
And if being a finalist helps more people hear that grief support exists, and that it's okay to talk about death, then it's worth feeling a bit awkward about.
Thank you
Thank you to everyone who has been part of Grief Guide so far, whether that's by being here in this little corner of the internet, coming to sessions, or attending a Death Café.
To the people who have shared their stories with me and trusted me with their grief, thank you. This work is only possible because of you.
🪷 I'm so grateful you're here. 🪷
If you'd like to vote
Voting closes at 9 pm on Monday 26 October.
If you've got two minutes and feel moved to vote, you're welcome to visit the link below. No pressure, no expectation. I just wanted you to know it's happening, and what it represents if it goes somewhere.
There are plenty of other wonderful local businesses on the list too, so it's worth having a look at who else is there.
What comes next
The awards night is still to come, and I'll share more when I know the details.
In the meantime, I'll keep doing what I do: sitting with grief, saying the word died, and doing my best to make this a little less lonely for the people who come through the door.
Thank you for being part of it.
Ali
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