My brand strategy philosophy is simple: feel it, believe it, say it, live it.
If your strategy ends up in a drawer – it’s not a strategy.
I exist to get people clear on who they’re for, what they stand for and what they’re here to change – so they can speak with conviction and stop bending to norms that don’t fit.
Strategy should move. It should guide decisions, shape conversations and show up in how you lead, sell and create. It should live in the work – not sit beside it.
And that starts with clarity.
Clear on who you’re for.
Clear on what you stand for.
Clear on what you’re here to change – so you can stop bending to industry norms that don’t fit.
When you’re unclear, even a simple “What do you do?” can throw you. You overthink. You ramble. You dilute.
Specificity changes that. So do the right words – words you can say out loud with conviction.
Work that is felt.
Missions fully revealed.
I hold this work to a high standard because I hold myself to one.
This isn’t about surface polish. It’s about building something solid enough to stand on.
Know your work properly – so you can get on with the work that matters.
Walk it. Talk it. Live it.
‘The old rules don’t fit. Niche is leverage. Use it.’
– Penny Lee
This philosophy isn’t theory. It’s earned.
Bringing the vibe since 1977.
I’ve been around the block.
In my twenties, I moved to Amsterdam. I worked with international ad and design agencies, set up my own boutique studio on the canals, travelled across Europe for work and lived on a swanky-ass houseboat.
I launched a punk baby clothing line that got stocked in Harrods and blew up in Spain. Went to China and taught branding to Design Academy students.
I came back to the UK for cottage life: up a hill, down a lane. The Brand Directoress® was born, working online with clients around the world.
Alongside the strategy, I’ve always brought people together in real life. I created a conference-in-disguise in the Highlands (with whisky) for disruptive entrepreneurs. I built a morning networking community for creatives that’s still going strong.
My forties? A recalibration. Menopause came in hot. I discovered I’m AuDHD – which explained a lot. I worked, rested, healed, and asked myself what I really want.
I’ve built.
I’ve pivoted.
I’ve evolved.
I build differently now. On purpose. Without apology.
Swanky-ass houseboat
heart of Amsterdam.
Barcelona client shoot,
shot by Johan Kramer.
Up a hill, down a lane
for cottage life.
Speaking at PechKucha,
Chengdu, China.
My superpower is listening.
Not just what’s said – but what’s not said.
After a decade working somewhere you don’t speak the language, you get really skilled in body language. In reading the room. In hearing what someone actually means – not just what they’re saying.
I feel everything and everyone deeply. I’m a highly sensitive rebellious empath – and that’s both a blessing and a curse.
But channelled in the right way, with the right people? It makes for real understanding. It gets to the heart of what you’re about and what matters to you.
I get you. That’s what I hear time and again from the people I work with.
Turns out – listening, finding what someone is really about and putting that into words they can use to tell the world – is what I’m here for.
It took me a good long while to really hear that.
Funny that.
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”
— Dolly Parton
Here’s to the next era – for me and for you.
If you’re ready to build differently too – let’s get to work.
