HOW IT ALL BEGAN
You know that feeling when you're doing everything you're supposed to do, but something still doesn't feel right? That was me.
I built my first business at 25 - an ecommerce wedding stationery and jewellery company - against pretty much everyone's advice.
Then 2009 happened, and I lost the house, the car, and the business in one go. Rock bottom isn't the end. It turned out to be the foundation.
So I started again.
With £2,000, a DIY website and absolutely no intention of giving up, I began making handmade wedding jewellery and stationery again.
That grew into a wedding accessories boutique in a gorgeous converted chapel, a wedding blog, and eventually a wedding and events company that turned over seven figures.
On paper, I’d made it.
In reality, I was working 90-hour weeks and had built a business that needed far too much of me to keep succeeding.
Eventually, I burned out and sold it because I’d realised that successful and sustainable are two very different things.
And that completely changed the way I think about business.
WHY THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
For a long time, I thought business success was about growth.
More customers. More revenue. More people. More everything.
Now I know better.
Growth is only good if it takes you towards the business and life you actually want.
And a strategy can be perfectly good on paper and still be completely wrong for the person trying to follow it.
That’s why I don’t believe in blindly following blueprints, copying what’s working for somebody else or doing something simply because an expert says you “should”.
Every strategy can work. But not every strategy will work for everyone.
The question is whether it makes sense for you.
HOW THAT SHAPES THE WORK I DO NOW
I started coaching in 2019 and, over time, realised that the work I was doing went much deeper than telling people what to post, what to sell or which marketing tactic to try next.
In 2024, I qualified as a Certified Business Strategist.
Today, I help online service-based business owners make better strategic decisions about how they grow their businesses.
And one of the biggest things my experience has taught me is this:
The problem you think you have isn’t always the problem you actually have.
You might come to me thinking you need more visibility, when the real issue is that the people already finding you aren't converting.
You could spend months posting more, trying new platforms and chasing more leads without fixing the thing that's actually holding the business back.
That's why I diagnose before I prescribe.
We look at what's happening in your business. The numbers, the evidence, what you want, what you have capacity for and where the real constraint is. Then we decide what to do about it.
Because you can't make a good strategic decision until you're solving the right problem.
AND THEN THERE’S AI
I use AI every day, both in my own business and in the work I do with clients.
But I don’t believe AI should replace your thinking. I think it should help you think better.
Used well, it can help us analyse information, challenge assumptions, explore options, reduce decision fatigue and execute good ideas faster. Used badly, it can have you churning out the same generic content and strategies as everybody else.
So the human stays firmly in charge.
Your experience. Your judgement. Your values. Your voice.
AI supports the strategy. It doesn’t set it.
I DON’T TEACH BUSINESS FROM THEORY ALONE
I’ve been running businesses for more than 20 years.
I’ve started them, grown them, lost one, rebuilt, employed teams, made money, made expensive mistakes, worked far too many hours, built a seven-figure company and sold a business.
I’m also a Certified Business Strategist, and I continue to study the areas that make me better at what I do, including commercial strategy, strategic decision-making, human behaviour and AI.
I don’t want to be the person with the quickest answer in the room. I want to be the person asking the questions that help us find the right answer. For your business.
WHEN I’M NOT TALKING STRATEGY...
I’ve been running businesses for more than 20 years.
I’ve started them, grown them, lost one, rebuilt, employed teams, made money, made expensive mistakes, worked far too many hours, built a seven-figure company and sold a business.
I’m also a Certified Business Strategist, and I continue to study the areas that make me better at what I do, including commercial strategy, strategic decision-making, human behaviour and AI.
I don’t want to be the person with the quickest answer in the room. I want to be the person asking the questions that help us find the right answer. For your business.
READY TO WORK OUT WHAT YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS NEXT?
If your business feels harder, noisier or less consistent than it should, you don't necessarily need another tactic.
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