Yeh, but what do you actually do?

I’ve worked with brands for 26 years - from big corporates like BP, M&S and the BBC - to social enterprises, independents and start ups. I help you remember what makes you, erm, YOU, help you articulate your fabulousness, then help you focus your marketing strategy on tribes who care about the same things you do. Simples.

Except it isn’t.

Where to start? What platform to use? Who to target? What media? And if you get over all those hurdles, the nagging demons are usually not far behind - why am I doing this? And who’s going to care anyway?

After years of helping clients answer these questions in my role as a brand consultant, over lockdown, I put my tried and tested process and tools online in my Online Marketing Academy for Dangerous Dreamers.

A bit about me

I’m an award-winning writer, creative producer, brand consultant and social entrepreneur.

I work across many creative disciplines, but mainly I help organisations and brands remember why they are in business and articulate their purpose (find your why), focus on the tribes who are most likely to care about the same things you do (find your who), and pull inspiring marketing and content strategies together in a manageable and motivating way (plan your how).

Marketing, branding and copywriting

I began my career as a writer for start-up graphic design agency ‘The Workshop’, which quickly made Design Week’s top 100. Here I worked with some of the most complex brands in the world, including BP, M&S and various Government departments; and scooped numerous national and international awards including: BP Chairman’s Award for Innovation and being featured in the D&AD annual.

Here’s just a few brands and campaigns I’ve been involved in over the last few years.

Social enterprise

After 15 years at the agency, I left to set up my social enterprise, ‘Silent Cities’, to run community journalist programmes and creative projects with anyone without a voice in mainstream society. My community journalists were cited by the Big Lottery as being critical to winning £6 million of ‘Age Better’ funding for Sheffield to reduce isolation and loneliness for older people.

I then set up a creative incubator to help people furthest away from employment set up their own creative businesses or social enterprises, and helped establish the University of Sheffield’s social enterprise student incubator in my role as the University’s first Social Entrepreneur Residence. The incubator ignited many successful social enterprises, including the UK’s first student housing co-op.

I’m a fellow of the School for Social Entrepreneurs - a support organisation that I will be forever be indebted to. I’ve tried to pass on my thanks to them by supporting many local charities over the years in Non-Executive Director roles including Trustee of Roundabout Homeless Charity; Director of Arts on the Run and Director of the Shalesmoor, Kelham Island and Neepsend Network (SKINN, now Chop Shop, one of our city’s first fabrication shops, who recently created the first social housing wiki house for South Yorkshire Housing Association). 

Alongside the my fellow Creative Curmudgeons Joanne Mateer and Iain Broome, I was co-founder of Words Aloud, one of the founding spoken word nights in Sheffield, that went on to spawn a host of previously hidden talent and other spoken word nights.

Anyway, here’s just a few of my fave social enterprise projects from the blog.

Neurodiversity and autism

Three years ago, I received a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (Aspergers). I’m now enjoying harnessing my creativity to challenge our traditional expectations of autism and raise awareness of female neuro-diversity in all its glorious (and not-so-glorious) messiness - our challenges and our superpowers. Here are a few neurodiversity projects currently on the go.

Wonderfully Wired Women. I’m part of a beautifully bonkers podcast trio with two other incredible creative autistic women. Led by my creative partner in crime, Vicky Morris, we get together, drink, eat and then talk over each other at speed on the topics that most acutely affect our lives. You can check out one of our recent ramblings below, where we discuss some of the early signs that we may be a bit ‘different’.

TEDx Doncaster 2019. I delivered a TED talk ‘How my autism diagnosis could help how you feel about Brexit (and the election)’. (Unfortunately the organisers had an issue with the sound recording on the day, but you can download a transcript of it here).

From the blog…
Neurodiversity and late diagnosis female autism

Research

My passion for research has led to several ‘co-investigator’ roles on various academic research projects in partnership with The Open University and The University of Brighton. These included: ‘Scaling up Co:design’ and ‘Evaluating Intangible Legacies.’

I’ve also carried out research for various organisations including Comic Relief and Nesta with James Boardwell, advising on a digital legacy for young people in Stoke.

Awards

I won the Sarah Nulty Award for Creativity along with my creative partner in crime, Vicky Morris, by The Sheffield Star newspaper in the ‘Stand Out Women Awards’, for “outstanding contribution to creativity in Sheffield and beyond.”

Our Age Better in Sheffield Campaign won Outstanding Campaign of the Year in the National Housing Awards, in addition to helping secure £6 million funding for Sheffield. Other awards include: Lord John Browne award for Innovation, Design and Art Directors award for copywriting, and a Silver Screen Award for ‘Let’s Get Digital’- a film that recorded one of my first intergenerational digital projects with SYHA.

Experiments

I’ve cobbled a few films together over the years, mainly as a record of my social enterprise projects. Many of them have been recorded and edited by participants and volunteers, and most done in a matter of hours. Some of these are over 10 years old now, but what they lack in production quality, they make up for with the authenticity of what they stand for, and for me, are beautiful reminders of some of the wonderful people I’ve been lucky enough to work with over the years. Here’s my first film that kickstarted it all, plus a few other faves from the blog.