Think of me as your idea-distillery.
You know how a whisky distillery takes in gallons of water and tonnes of raw barley, adds a few magic ingredients, processes the whole lot over a few days then outputs the pure, distilled spirit that the world is waiting for? Rich with flavour notes that make it distinctively, wonderfully, uniquely itself; ready to stand the test of time …
That’s how I work with founders, to distil businesses into strong, authentic, distinctive brands.
It’s a very human process: no AI, no templates, no forms to fill in, no set list of questions. We will talk. I will ask you questions. Not about your marketing, but about the things that make you and your business tick: hopes, dreams and values; loves and hates; the people you work with; the difference you make; the future you want to see; the fears that hold you back.
This isn’t just another business conversation.
We’ll go deep, because the magic ingredients that bring the unique flavour, identity and WOW factor to your brand identity aren’t lying around on the surface: they’re woven deep into the fabric of what you do and why you do it.
One of my personal gifts is pattern recognition: not visually, but thematically. When we talk, I will ask the questions that will uncover those recurring themes, threads and features. If your brand were really a whisky, these would be the unique flavour notes that make it stand out; the special combination of elements that gets people talking and keeps them coming back for more.
I’ll show you how to transform the complexity of your business, your intentions, your ambitions, the work you’re doing right now and the projects you dream of launching, into one, coherent, powerful brand.
That brand will express who you are, what you stand for, and who you help. It will feel credible and compelling, because it is authentically true and aligned with your journey so far. The distilled essence of your business identity, it will provide the basis from which you can create anything your business needs or tackle any decision you’re facing, with cohesion, conviction and confidence.
From offer development to website structure; content creation; marketing strategy direction; questions of where to invest your time and energy: the answers are hardwired into your brand identity.
My process is the product of my own experience.
Studying English literature at graduate and postgraduate level through the late 90s and early 00s with degrees from the universities of Oxford and Durham, I became an expert theme-detector: intuitively picking out key words, recurring ideas; reading the subtext for the clues that illuminate an author’s true concerns and intentions.
I trained myself to see the hidden truths that others often miss. Stepping in and out of thousands of imagined worlds; shifting through innumerable character identities, it became second nature to notice false notes and distractions, and focus in on the mechanisms that make an author’s message hit home.
My first encounter with marketing was as an intern in a London publishing house in the late 90s, where I was overwhelmed by the onslaught of bright colours, exclamation marks and adjectives. The buzz of activity was exciting - yet at the same time somehow hollow: as if marketing were a stand-alone discipline, a great, glamourous game of smoke and mirrors.
Then, one day I heard something that changed everything:
“Your brand is a promise between your business and your customer. Your logo is the signature”
From that day onward, I understood marketing completely differently: not as selling, but as communication; connection. When we ‘market’ a product, a service, a business, our job is not to manipulate nor to exaggerate: our job is to make it easy for the right person to understand that they have found exactly what they want, and to help them to make a buying decision that they will feel good about.
That’s what I want for you, your business and your customers. I help businesses to build a brand that is simple, true, and brilliant, so that you can build customer connections that feel good; do marketing in a way that feels purposeful; develop offers that solve real people’s problems, and grow a business that you’re proud of.