How I Work

The role I play

Brand and marketing execution often begins before underlying business decisions are settled.

I work with early- and growth-stage CPG and service founders to clarify and lock those decisions before agencies, packaging, or campaigns make them expensive to change.

My focus is ensuring the business direction creative teams are building from is clear, specific, and usable.

When it matters

This work is most useful when execution is about to move and direction is still in debate.

You may be:

  • Hiring an agency but struggling to answer basic positioning questions cleanly

  • Adding new SKUs without tightening the core

  • Hearing different versions of the strategy from marketing, sales, and leadership

  • Preparing for retail conversations while internally split on who you are for and what category you’re entering

When those decisions stay open, creative work absorbs the ambiguity. Briefs expand and revisions multiply. Packaging, campaigns, and decks start revealing unresolved trade-offs.

Speed only amplifies confusion.

Locking direction before scaling prevents it.

What we focus on

We work on the decisions execution depends on, including:

  • Who the business is for now and who it is not

  • What you are building toward and what you’re deliberately turning away from

  • The trade-offs required to serve your chosen audience

  • The claims, language, and positioning execution must stay inside

The outcome is a clear direction others can build from without constant debate and reinterpretation.

How decisions get locked

The work happens over two to three focused working sessions.

We surface what’s already been decided, what remains open, and where clarity is being avoided. We pressure-test assumptions against real constraints: category dynamics, customer behaviour, operational limits, and growth plans.

Decisions are made explicit. Trade-offs are named.

What is agreed is documented in plain language so it can guide briefs, design, and marketing without reopening every quarter.

What changes after

Once direction is locked:

  • Briefs get shorter

  • Agencies stop guessing

  • Fewer strategic debates resurface mid-project

  • Marketing spend compounds instead of fragmenting

Execution moves faster because core questions are already resolved.

Who this is for

This work is for founders preparing to invest in brand, packaging, or marketing who want to commit to a clear, defensible direction.

It is not for teams seeking creative production, idea exploration, or better execution without making trade-offs.

Start with a 20-minute decision check

We’ll identify where direction is solid, where it’s still open, and whether that gap is likely to create risk once execution scales.

If your direction holds up under pressure, great.

If it doesn’t, you’ll know before you spend more money.