24 Oct Natalie Phillips-Mason named a 2026 Top 50 Small Business Leader

Natalie Phillips-Mason, founder of Melbourne consultancy Inclusive Change, has been named one of the Inside Small Business Top 50 Small Business Leaders for 2026. The recognition is presented by Inside Small Business with Octomedia and Salesforce. Inclusive Change helps Australian employers and retailers build sensory-friendly, neuroinclusive workplaces and shops.

I received a package. A black canister and on the back, fifty small black-and-white headshots of this year’s leaders. On the front, the Inside Small Business magazine cover and three words: No small feat.

I run a small business that asks large organisations to notice small things. The flicker in a fluorescent tube. The printer parked beside someone’s desk. The meeting room with no window and an air-conditioning hum nobody else seems to hear. The sensory elements that impact how we work, communicate, socialise and process. I’ve shown up every day, in my own way, to point at those things and help people notice them. Seeing that work on a list of Australian small business leaders is humbling.

What is the Inside Small Business Top 50 Small Business Leaders list?

Inside Small Business publishes an annual report profiling 50 Australian small business leaders. 2026 is its tenth edition. Any small business leader making a difference to their clients or community can be nominated.

This year’s list was presented with Octomedia and Salesforce. Heather McIlvaine, managing editor of features and premium at Inside Retail, described the cohort as small businesses bringing new thinking, giving back, and making an impact in diversity and sustainability.

What does Inclusive Change do?

Inclusive Change is a Melbourne-based consultancy working in neuroinclusion and sensory-friendly design for workplaces and retail. I started it after three decades running change programs inside large organisations.

Most offices and shops were designed around an assumed norm. Music on a loop over the shop floor. Open-plan chatter. A thermostat nobody is allowed to touch. For many neurodivergent people, and plenty of neurotypical people, that friction builds through the day until they leave early, switch off or stop coming back.

Inclusive Change is the exclusive licensee and co-creator of The Sensory Compass™, a digital tool developed with the School of Health Sciences at Western Sydney University

Our work covers:

• Masterclasses, leadership programs and staff education on sensory-friendly working
• Sensory-friendly retail consulting, informed by Inclusive Retail Pulse, the shopper research we ran with Nature
• Change management support to plan, implement and track a neuroinclusion program
• Keynotes, speaking and panels.

Why is sensory friendly change a small business story?

It takes one Founder to see an opportunity and to use their purpose to bridge gaps.

Small businesses have an advantage. Fewer approval layers and greater agility. The person who signs off on a desk lamp is often the person sitting under the glare. I’d like more small business owners to see neuroinclusion as something within reach, rather than programs reserved for companies with a diversity budget.

Large organisations have an opportunity to treat neuroinclusion as more than a one-off training event. Leaders need a practical, low-friction way to build neuroinclusive capability, reduce avoidable sensory barriers and learn what will create the greatest value. I built Inclusive Change on thirty years of changing mindsets and creating business champions.

What’s next for Inclusive Change?

• The Sensory Compass™ launched in October 2026, during ADHD Awareness Month and National Safe Work Month. It gives individuals and teams feedback on their sensory and social preferences at work. Book a demo on the Sensory Compass page.
• Open Wired, my podcast, is streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
• Book a team Sensory Compass Masterclass on the Sensory Compass page.

Thank you to Inside Small Business, Octomedia and Salesforce for including my name on this list. And thank you to the clients who have let me educate their teams, dim their lights, turn down their music and challenge their thinking.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Natalie Phillips-Mason?

Natalie Phillips-Mason is a Melbourne-based change management practitioner and the founder of Inclusive Change, a consultancy specialising in neuroinclusion and sensory friendly workplaces and retail. She has three decades of experience in change programs, co-created The Sensory Compass™ and hosts the Open Wired podcast. She was named an Inside Small Business Top 50 Small Business Leader in 2026.

What is the Inside Small Business Top 50 Small Business Leaders report?

An annual report from Inside Small Business that profiles 50 Australian small business leaders who make a difference to their clients and communities. The 2026 report is the tenth edition.

What does Inclusive Change do?

Inclusive Change is a neuroinclusive change consultancy. Combining practical education, research-informed tools and strategic advice to help leaders design workplaces, processes and customer spaces for different sensory needs and neurotypes (such as autistic people and ADHDers).

Inclusive Change offers leadership programs, sensory friendly Masterclasses, retail advice and change management support.

Does Inclusive Change work outside Melbourne?

Inclusive Change is based in Melbourne and works with organisations across Australia, in person and online.

Want to talk about sensory friendly working in your organisation?

Get in touch or book a demo of The Sensory Compass™.

About the author: Natalie Phillips-Mason is the founder of Inclusive Change and a 2026 Inside Small Business Top 50 Small Business Leader. Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/natphillipsmason