Rachael Casella is a wife, mother, author and detective working for the Australian Federal Police.

I’ve followed Rachael’s story for a few years through her account on Instagram, My Life of Love. In October 2017 Rachael and her husband Johnny lost their 7 and a half month old baby girl, Mackenzie to SMA, Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

I’ve always watched in awe at how Rachael and Johnny first of all navigate their grief, share much of it publicly but also how they have been handed so many challenges since the death of their daughter on the quest to bring a healthy baby into the world. Rachael’s story is one of love, loss, hope and resilience.

I thought a little while ago that I’d love to interview her for the podcast. I didn’t dream that she’d accept but with no time to question it, she happily said yes and said that she loves taking opportunities to talk about her daughter.

Afterwards I asked her if she had any connection to the Australian bush as I describe my podcast as being about resilient Australian women from the bush, and she said ‘I grew up in Canberra, the bush capital!’ With that, we set about organising a time to record and I was looking forward to our conversation.

There is so much to learn from Rachael, from how to set a goal for your career and work hard to achieve it, to rising up above the worst type of grief in order to try and make a difference for other families who might be facing similar challenges.