Courage to Be Me is a powerful and deeply personal memoir about resilience, reinvention, and finding the strength to rebuild your life when everything you thought was certain begins to unravel.
For much of her life, Di Geddes was focused on caring for others. As a nurse, mother, wife, daughter, and leader, she dedicated herself to supporting the people around her, often at the expense of her own needs. Like many women, she sought validation through achievement, service, and the approval of others, believing that putting herself last was simply part of being responsible and caring.
But life had other plans.
Di's world was turned upside down when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Faced with one of the greatest challenges of her life, she underwent a bilateral mastectomy and endured the physical, emotional, and psychological impact of treatment and recovery. As she fought for her health, she was also forced to confront difficult truths about her relationships, her identity, and the life she had built.
Alongside her cancer journey came profound personal loss. Di shares the heartbreak of losing her father and the emotional toll of supporting her mother through dementia. Through these experiences, she reflects on the complexities of family, grief, responsibility, and the enduring bonds that shape who we are.
Her professional life brought its own challenges. Despite years of dedication and leadership within the healthcare sector, Di experienced workplace bullying and toxic workplace cultures that left her questioning her value and future. Rather than allowing these experiences to define her, she used them as a catalyst for growth, gaining valuable insights into leadership, empathy, courage, and the importance of staying true to your values.
Determined to create a different future, Di made the bold decision to step away from the security of employment and build her own business. What began as a leap of faith became a thriving organisation dedicated to providing compassionate care and support to others. Through perseverance, resilience, and a commitment to leading with integrity, she transformed adversity into purpose and created a legacy that reflects everything she believes about dignity, respect, and human connection.
Throughout the book, Di shares the lessons she learned about self-worth, boundaries, courage, and the importance of choosing yourself without guilt. She writes with honesty and vulnerability about the moments she doubted herself, the fears she had to overcome, and the strength she discovered when she stopped seeking permission to live life on her own terms.
More than a story about cancer, loss, divorce, or business success, Courage to Be Me is about what happens when a woman decides she is worthy of her own love, respect, and belief. It is a reminder that even in our darkest moments, there is always the possibility of renewal, growth, and transformation.
Heartfelt, inspiring, and profoundly relatable, Courage to Be Me is a testament to the power of resilience, the importance of authenticity, and the extraordinary courage it takes to become the person you were always meant to be.
BIPOC, Disability Themes, Genre Bender, Indigenous Own Voices, Indigenous Themes, LGBTQIA+ Own Voices
Memoir, Literary, Short Stories, Poetry, Breast Cancer, Divorce, Business
About The Author
Di Geddes is the Founder and Director of Exceptional Care for You, a Victorian disability and aged care provider delivering compassionate, individualised support to clients and meaningful employment to carers.
In 2021, following a series of life-changing personal challenges — including breast cancer, a difficult divorce, the loss of both parents and experiences of workplace bullying — Di founded Exceptional Care for You with a clear purpose: to transform the quality, culture and heart of community care.
Today, the organisation employs 90 people and generates over $5 million in annual turnover, and is widely recognised for its values-led approach to care and its culture of kindness, inclusion, and excellence.
With more than 40 years’ experience as a Registered Nurse across acute, community, corporate and aged care settings, Di brings deep clinical expertise combined with lived resilience and emotional intelligence. Her leadership philosophy is grounded in compassion, optimism and integrity, values that define both her organisation and her personal journey.
Outside of her business, Di is actively involved in the community, volunteering with the Salvos and contributing her expertise to various boards and committees focused on care and wellbeing.
Her memoir, Courage to Be Me, is an honest and empowering account of rebuilding life through self-belief, courage, determination, resilience and emotional intelligence. It explores how she found happiness and success by staying true to her values through adversity, ultimately creating a life and career aligned with who she truly is.
