Hello substack
Ideas to illuminate your tomorrow
My aims and objectives
It’s often very difficult to pin down exactly what I do. Currently it’s ‘Brand and capability advisor / author ’ but I somehow feel this is limiting. I have a wide range of experiences from starting my career as a Global Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble (where I became one of their top digial experts working on the future of brand management) followed by agency brand strategist, agency owner / entrepreneur and then author/producer of an innovative graphic novel to help young people shape their futures. Which box does that all fit into?
Federico Herrero: Saatchi Gallery
Illumination takes many forms
I’ve been working with some of the finest minds in branding and communications since I was 22 years old and have a lot of experiences to share. I’ve also always loved helping people grow - as a coach, manger, trainer and most recently author. For me, the beauty of coaching someone to create results and exceed their expectations is hard to beat.
In the first agency I founded - Reluctantly Brave - I worked with some terrific visionary leaders. People who have overcome adversity, built businesses and nurtured rounded, healthy lifestyles. Part of our creative model was the (Young) Braves. In this programme, I trained over 170 people 16-24 yrs old to work with senior leaders at brands such as Nandos, Kellogg’s Starbucks and Walgreen Boots Alliance. I realised that if you can give the right tools to people, age and background is not a limitation, it’s an advantage.
This was the inspiration for the graphic novel [Re]Start: It’s Never Too Late, a 300 page story and guided journal to helo young (and old) people design their futures. Creating this was a humbling experience - I built and led a team of 65 people from all ages (80% 16-24yrs old) to deliver this. It taught be a lot about leadership and resilience. Especially as this started in March 2020 at the height of covid before publishing in Feb 2023.
Learning from the best
However, all of this is in the context of my time at Procter & Gamble as a Global Brand Manager. I managed to survive this intense (and excellent) environment despite my relative weakness in maths. I learnt so much about strategy, leadership and values. Indeed many of my mentors and managers are now some of the world’s top CEO’s and changemakers. Perhaps the most lasting impression (not appreciated at the time) was the centrality of values and ‘do the right thing’. Subsequent experiences have made me appreciate how essential it is to have integrity, trust and honour at the core of business (they are definitely not a given in many places I’ve seen since!).
Looking back, this corporate experience was vital in being able to understand and navigate corporate culture and structures. It helps be guide people to face, engage and thrive in these environments (as workers and clients).
Reluctantly Brave, 2014
Creativity fuels growth
It’s only around 6 years ago I would describe myself as ‘a creative’. With hindsight, I now realise that my creativity was being put to use as one of the leading thinkers in P&G’s emergent digital marketing efforts. And also as course owner for ‘inspirational presenters’ - the top rated training course in Western Europe (helping people overcome their fears and become confident and engaging presenters). After P&G I retrained as a brand strategist, creating ways forward for designers and our clients. That was tougher than I thought it would be. And then having my own agency took it to the next level. There is no hiding when you have youw own business!
Bringing this to you
It’s funny looking back to make sense of this all. This substack hopes to draw some of these industry-leading experiences together with current day challenges to provide insight on a) coaching and training. b) brand and creativity and c) leadership.
I’d hope it will be a valuable resource. Please contact me if you have questions or I can help with anything.
Illuminating pathways together
Raising our collective aspirations, skills and resilience is something that cannot be done alone. It “takes a village to raise a child” and we now are fortunate, in many respects, that we live in a global village. So this community is about bringing light, insight and inspiration into our growth as leaders, family members and part of society.
It will be weekly
I will post a topic weekly here. The content will fall into three topics a) business coaching and training tips, b) brand, marketing and creativity and c) leadership and strategy. Some of the posts will be longer training style content, some will be pithy anecdotes and some will be short observations on market activities. This will be free. Hopefully if you like it, you’ll invite me to speak at some point!