The Formative can be hard to define, because the work we do doesn’t fit easily into a box.
At the heart of The Formative is Caitlin Stanway — a strategist, facilitator and somatic practitioner with 15+ years working across strategy, leadership, facilitation and social impact. She works at board level and in facilitation rooms, with early stage startups and multinational organisations, in crisis and in growth.
Caitlin is also a 300-hour trauma-informed yoga teacher and somatic facilitator. She has a deep passion for making wellbeing and embodiment education and support equitable and accessible.
These aren't two separate practices. They are deeply integrated in The Formative's work, and who Caitlin is.
Clients first started coming to The Formative for the thinking that lands on a page and builds organisational strategy.
Now they come for support that stretches beyond the page, into the body, and the work itself.
“I came to this space after a lifetime navigating chronic health challenges, neurodivergence, burnout, and a restless artist's heart in constant tension with a curious business mind. For as long as I can remember I've had a deep connection to nature as a teacher and healer, and this constant underlying sense that something is fundamentally wrong with how we approach living, working, being.
The Formative arrived in this world first as a place to explore some burning personal questions. Why am I the way I am? Why is this world the way it is? How can I work and be well in a system designed to extract from me?
The work I do, and Embodied Impact in particular, is the manifestation of lived experience, and 15+ years of curiosity and working with teams passionate about asking — and answering — similar questions.”
— Caitlin Stanway, Founder
“Caitlin guided our large and diverse team with skill and care. Our work contains many nuances, and we value the voices of all involved.
Caitlin honoured and upheld the values of Collective Being, enabling an authentic and transformative process to unfold. We never felt rushed, but always felt guided. Hugely grateful!”
— Jo Buick, Founder and Director, Collective Being