I come from kitchens, not consulting rooms. 

In my view few environments teach entrepreneurial instinct better than a professional kitchen: judgement, resourcefulness and execution under relentless real-world stress.

Kitchens taught me about pressure, craft, performance, hierarchy and teamwork. They taught me what happens when talented people operate at their limits — and how to perform when everything is going wrong.

They also taught me that sometimes the same heat that creates something exceptional can burn the people making it.

I bring that understanding into my work with founders: keep the intensity, creativity and drive — but understand the hidden cost before the bill comes due. 

Keep the gift. Lose the tax. 

WHAT I CAN HELP WITH

Every business has constraints. Most founders don't realise that one of the biggest constraints is the founder's own available capacity.  Drive, intensity, vigilance, perfectionism, creativity, sensitivity and resilience can make you exceptionally good at what you do. 

But they can also become expensive.  Most founders don't realise they're paying a tax. The strategies that once helped you succeed often continue running long after they're needed, like unclosed apps on your smart phone, drawing energy, reducing capacity.   

At first they look like strengths. Then the bill comes due. The cost isn't just burnout. It's paid in your nervous system, your body, your energy, your relationships, your creativity, your decision-making and ultimately your ability to lead. 

I help founders understand the part, recognise the pattern and reduce the hidden tax—creating more capacity for the business and the life they're trying to build. 

Building & bootstrapping

Different businesses are different machines. You can’t launch a restaurant like a start-up, build a consumer brand like a hospitality business or approach a personal brand like either of them. I’ve built across very different sectors and business models. I help founders understand what game they’re actually playing, what matters at this stage, where to put their limited resources — and what to ignore. 

Transitions

Sometimes the way you built the first version of yourself or your business - cannot build the next one. I work with people when the old operating system has stopped working but the new one hasn’t properly formed yet. 

The goal isn’t endless introspection. It’s clarity, capacity and movement. 

Pitching & communication

I’ve personally raised more than £2m in investment and spent decades performing, presenting, pitching and selling ideas. I help founders clarify what they’re actually saying, find the story, understand the audience and communicate their proposition with confidence. Pitching is performance — but the strongest performance starts with knowing exactly what you mean. 

Brand, proposition & creative thinking

What are you actually making? 

Why does it matter? 

Why should anyone care? 

Sometimes the problem isn’t another marketing strategy. It’s getting underneath the noise until the real idea becomes obvious enough to communicate simply - the signal.   

I'll help you find the signal inside complexity. 

Founder relationships

You don't just bring your skills into a founder relationship. You bring your patterns.

We often understand our businesses substantially better than we understand ourselves — or the person we're building them with. But the relationship between founders is part of the infrastructure of the business.

I help founders understand themselves and each other, recognise what happens between them under pressure, work through conflict and consciously design better ways of working together.

Because knowing yourself gives you an edge. Knowing the person you're building with gives you another one.